Comments on: The Dying Traits of the Bangali http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/ Thu, 24 May 2012 07:16:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Jaideep http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1150062 Jaideep Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:40:42 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1150062 Hi All, I recently moved to Bellandur area in Bangalore. As I am working in Intel, Bellandur is very conveinent for me. Recently I came across a very nice Fish Store in Bellandur area. THe name is FRESCO ( Bellandue, Green Glen Layout, OPP Sobha Quartz). I was surprised to find lot of Bengalis shopping there. The Owner of the Store is also Bengali and they have lot of Bengali Varieties. One must also try their Mutton.....Too good. For all Bongs this one is a must Visit. Hi All,

I recently moved to Bellandur area in Bangalore. As I am working in Intel, Bellandur is very conveinent for me. Recently I came across a very nice Fish Store in Bellandur area. THe name is FRESCO ( Bellandue, Green Glen Layout, OPP Sobha Quartz). I was surprised to find lot of Bengalis shopping there. The Owner of the Store is also Bengali and they have lot of Bengali Varieties. One must also try their Mutton…..Too good. For all Bongs this one is a must Visit.

]]> By: Priyanka Aggarwal(Bhattacharya) http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1134312 Priyanka Aggarwal(Bhattacharya) Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:42:30 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1134312 All facts are amazing...Though I am married to a punjabi...But Bengal is in my heart...and the fact about the fish shopping is 100% true...Khub bhalo... All facts are amazing…Though I am married to a punjabi…But Bengal is in my heart…and the fact about the fish shopping is 100% true…Khub bhalo…

]]> By: Sanchita Chakraborty http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1134311 Sanchita Chakraborty Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:36:52 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1134311 Awesome...being broughtup in Mumbai...its very difficult for me to have the typical bengali girl traits...But I love Bengalis ,my culture and my language a lot...Loved the bandor tupi fact...I hav seen almost 100 men roaming on the road wearing this...And the thing about acidity is totally true...Each and every bengali household(as far as i know)has a book written by Rabindranath tagore,a musical instrument(probably harmonium or tabla),and a packet of acidity tablets....And u forgot the three important P's in a bengalis' life- phis ,phootball and pujo.... Awesome…being broughtup in Mumbai…its very difficult for me to have the typical bengali girl traits…But I love Bengalis ,my culture and my language a lot…Loved the bandor tupi fact…I hav seen almost 100 men roaming on the road wearing this…And the thing about acidity is totally true…Each and every bengali household(as far as i know)has a book written by Rabindranath tagore,a musical instrument(probably harmonium or tabla),and a packet of acidity tablets….And u forgot the three important P’s in a bengalis’ life- phis ,phootball and pujo….

]]> By: souvik mukherjee http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1082428 souvik mukherjee Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:05:39 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1082428 awesome..excellently done..the "bangali" within us is eternal..no amount of western influence or "kaalture shock" as you would say, can change that... awesome..excellently done..the “bangali” within us is eternal..no amount of western influence or “kaalture shock” as you would say, can change that…

]]> By: Soma Mukherjee http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1055186 Soma Mukherjee Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:17:10 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1055186 Amazing read what a laughter riot.. Truly there are certain gems typical to us the bengalis..dying or not but a true bengali must have atleast acidity and gastric problems which can only be cured by regular intake of huge gulps of divol or gelucil... as for shopping for vegetable and fish "Hindustanis" and madrasis( people of india who are not bengalis or madrasis)eat just roti and achhar and madrasis shop a lil so we have a great responsibility of shopping in huge amount to create somesort of balance in the market...:-) Amazing read what a laughter riot..
Truly there are certain gems typical to us the bengalis..dying or not but a true bengali must have atleast acidity and gastric problems which can only be cured by regular intake of huge gulps of divol or gelucil…
as for shopping for vegetable and fish “Hindustanis” and madrasis( people of india who are not bengalis or madrasis)eat just roti and achhar and madrasis shop a lil so we have a great responsibility of shopping in huge amount to create somesort of balance in the market…:-)

]]> By: Debolina Raja Gupta http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1042970 Debolina Raja Gupta Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:19:05 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-1042970 Loved it ;-) Being a 'bangali' who's been born n brought up in Delhi forever n now calls Mumbai home, I must say this was quite an amusing as well as nostalgic post...amusing coz yes, I too have been guilty of laughing over these 'typicals' that our people have...especially the monkey-cap...seriously yaar, whats with it??!!!! And for my few trips to Calcutta where most of my relatives still reside, I still have fallen in love with the city and love to spend the few days I get there.... But oops...suddenly saw the 'Debolina' at the end of the post....hehehe....coincidence, that too so bhaari-bharkam....good job 'bondhu' ;-) Loved it ;-) Being a ‘bangali’ who’s been born n brought up in Delhi forever n now calls Mumbai home, I must say this was quite an amusing as well as nostalgic post…amusing coz yes, I too have been guilty of laughing over these ‘typicals’ that our people have…especially the monkey-cap…seriously yaar, whats with it??!!!!

And for my few trips to Calcutta where most of my relatives still reside, I still have fallen in love with the city and love to spend the few days I get there….

But oops…suddenly saw the ‘Debolina’ at the end of the post….hehehe….coincidence, that too so bhaari-bharkam….good job ‘bondhu’ ;-)

]]> By: Nasreen http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-922521 Nasreen Sat, 05 Mar 2011 03:07:00 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-922521 Hi - this was forwarded to me by email from a friend. And I read it with such nostalgia. When I go back to Kolkata, yes I miss the things that are dying out...but am so glad that there are some things that will remain forever. Nolen gurer sandhesh, rosogolla, and phuchka. Nowhere else do you get the phuchka that exists only in Kolkata. Panipuris and golgappas just don't make the grade of the Russel Street/ParkStreet or any other street of Kolkata phuchkawalas phuchkas. Some of the things that you mention as 'dying out' are inevitable. Times have changed. The internet has invaded all the world. Instead of travelling to Digha for the holidyas, Bangalis are able to travel to Singapore, Dubai and even New York, London, Paris and the great fashion hotspots of the world. How can you expect them to remain the same? How can they sport a monkey cap with confidence anymore, it would draw derision from those who never did wear it and why should the bangali invite this? Yes, it is sad - somehow when a hindi/urdu speaker attempts to talk in bangla, it sounds sweet and charming, but when a bangali speaks hindi/urdu and pronounces culture as "kaalchar", it makes people disdainful. I find something akin to "racism" here, and it is disappointing. So the bangali had to transcend all this and change himself. That is why we had to have a Sourav Ganguly, etc. To just keep pace with the rest. And yet, just like the writer, I also feel that the romanticism of the bangali, the Debu-da type, will take a longer time to die out. I am a bangali (in spite of my name) and for me, one of my many dreams is to be sitting in front of a pukur in a bangali graam, with jhaal muri being handed around and my mother reciting some passage from Rabindranath's writing (so much of which she amazingly seems to know by heart). Long live this kind of bangali. Hi – this was forwarded to me by email from a friend. And I read it with such nostalgia. When I go back to Kolkata, yes I miss the things that are dying out…but am so glad that there are some things that will remain forever. Nolen gurer sandhesh, rosogolla, and phuchka. Nowhere else do you get the phuchka that exists only in Kolkata. Panipuris and golgappas just don’t make the grade of the Russel Street/ParkStreet or any other street of Kolkata phuchkawalas phuchkas.

Some of the things that you mention as ‘dying out’ are inevitable. Times have changed. The internet has invaded all the world. Instead of travelling to Digha for the holidyas, Bangalis are able to travel to Singapore, Dubai and even New York, London, Paris and the great fashion hotspots of the world. How can you expect them to remain the same? How can they sport a monkey cap with confidence anymore, it would draw derision from those who never did wear it and why should the bangali invite this?

Yes, it is sad – somehow when a hindi/urdu speaker attempts to talk in bangla, it sounds sweet and charming, but when a bangali speaks hindi/urdu and pronounces culture as “kaalchar”, it makes people disdainful. I find something akin to “racism” here, and it is disappointing.

So the bangali had to transcend all this and change himself. That is why we had to have a Sourav Ganguly, etc. To just keep pace with the rest.

And yet, just like the writer, I also feel that the romanticism of the bangali, the Debu-da type, will take a longer time to die out. I am a bangali (in spite of my name) and for me, one of my many dreams is to be sitting in front of a pukur in a bangali graam, with jhaal muri being handed around and my mother reciting some passage from Rabindranath’s writing (so much of which she amazingly seems to know by heart).

Long live this kind of bangali.

]]> By: Jaya http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-910460 Jaya Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:02:51 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-910460 Landed here googling fish recipes to link back in my blog ..Cant believe I spent almost half an hour here or may be more reading your lovely post and then the readers comments here..Is this virtual adda session about being Bengali..Such nostalgic memories..and so well written article...khob bhalo laglo.. Landed here googling fish recipes to link back in my blog ..Cant believe I spent almost half an hour here or may be more reading your lovely post and then the readers comments here..Is this virtual adda session about being Bengali..Such nostalgic memories..and so well written article…khob bhalo laglo..

]]> By: Arpita Chatterjee http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-847481 Arpita Chatterjee Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:43:03 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-847481 Despite agreeing with the sentiments expressed, I couldn't resist responding,perhaps to add to the rather long list of comments. On a purely personl note, I believe growing up outside Bengal has made me an even greater 'Bangali'. School was in Mumbai and College in Delhi, so there are fond memories of different markets of both cities where we went for 'maach'.It's almost 40 years, but I still remember Sassoon Dock, Santa Cruz & one really strange time when we went all the way to Chembur, for fish! Hauz Khas in Delhi was pretty 'Bangali', but we still went to INA market and when Chittaranjan Park began developing, there were some set shops there as well. My son has begun working in Delhi this month, living at C R Park, but even after almost a whole month he hasn't bought fish even once! Perhaps his father wasn't as much of a Bangali as mine!? I wonder....... Despite agreeing with the sentiments expressed, I couldn’t resist responding,perhaps to add to the rather long list of comments. On a purely personl note, I believe growing up outside Bengal has made me an even greater ‘Bangali’. School was in Mumbai and College in Delhi, so there are fond memories of different markets of both cities where we went for ‘maach’.It’s almost 40 years, but I still remember Sassoon Dock, Santa Cruz & one really strange time when we went all the way to Chembur, for fish! Hauz Khas in Delhi was pretty ‘Bangali’, but we still went to INA market and when Chittaranjan Park began developing, there were some set shops there as well. My son has begun working in Delhi this month, living at C R Park, but even after almost a whole month he hasn’t bought fish even once! Perhaps his father wasn’t as much of a Bangali as mine!? I wonder…….

]]> By: Amit Choudhury http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-847451 Amit Choudhury Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:46:52 +0000 http://greatbong.net/2009/07/07/the-dying-traits-of-the-bangali/#comment-847451 Great article and all true.No matter whether the Bong is prabashi or true blue Kolkatan,the traits remain embedded.Things like chiratar jal and Cantharidine hair oil are soaked into the genes.Who else can go into raptures over poshto and and arhar dal or Khichudi and begun bhaja.There is no other group that blames the local drinking water for gas and indigestion after feasting on shoshe ilish,kashamangsho,luchi, aloor dom and payesh.The bong is obsessed with his stomach and conversations usually begin with enquiries about each others "peyt".Food is central to the bong and every meal is an event.One aspect the write up has missed is the bongs obsession with mangal-amangal,sattick-tamasik,shubho-ashubho and so on.In short every bong worth his name was brought up on a fair dose of superstion.There was alwayas the Didima or Thakuma to open the Panji and announce the best date for a journey or a event.Observe the fingers of a true blue bong and more often than not it will have a few ugly rings of different color stones.One for the heart,another for diabetes and a third to ward off the evil eye.No other city has the number and frequency of sweet shops, chemists and astrologers and babas than Kolkata.Perhaps now with globalisation and mobility things are changing and Cantharidine is passe.but hey the bong spirit and essential kaltaar will remain as sure as Joynagar er Moa and Mishti Doi. Great article and all true.No matter whether the Bong is prabashi or true blue Kolkatan,the traits remain embedded.Things like chiratar jal and Cantharidine hair oil are soaked into the genes.Who else can go into raptures over poshto and and arhar dal or Khichudi and begun bhaja.There is no other group that blames the local drinking water for gas and indigestion after feasting on shoshe ilish,kashamangsho,luchi, aloor dom and payesh.The bong is obsessed with his stomach and conversations usually begin with enquiries about each others “peyt”.Food is central to the bong and every meal is an event.One aspect the write up has missed is the bongs obsession with mangal-amangal,sattick-tamasik,shubho-ashubho and so on.In short every bong worth his name was brought up on a fair dose of superstion.There was alwayas the Didima or Thakuma to open the Panji and announce the best date for a journey or a event.Observe the fingers of a true blue bong and more often than not it will have a few ugly rings of different color stones.One for the heart,another for diabetes and a third to ward off the evil eye.No other city has the number and frequency of sweet shops, chemists and astrologers and babas than Kolkata.Perhaps now with globalisation and mobility things are changing and Cantharidine is passe.but hey the bong spirit and essential kaltaar will remain as sure as Joynagar er Moa and Mishti Doi.

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