The Bong Connection

Bong Tip 137: Babu shonaaa!!...baayere thanda ache!..Bina Monkey tupi berobena kintu!..(troll face)

It is pretty late at night and here I am, poring over a computer screen, my brain feeling the effects of an afternoon siesta gone wrong, or long shall we say. Going through the funnier parts of a 20 year Bong upbringing and quietly chuckling to myself has so far seemed to be a much better alternative to sleeplessly tossing and turning in bed. And as usually happens at night, I find myself reflecting on something I’ve never attached any importance to, let alone give any serious thought; my bong connection

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Born in the heart of Bengal but raised in the diametrically opposite part of the country, in faraway Gujarat, my life has certainly been dichotomous to say the least. Raised in a pretty standard Bong home, learning reading and writing Bengali even though it wasn’t a part of the school curriculum, you’d think there was nothing in me that wouldn’t be like the quintessential Bong. And maybe I was, for all I know.

But over time, as my peer influence started having a greater impact on me and my friend circle started comprising of kids other than those whose houses I visited with mom and dad, I started seeing other cultures, their habits, their way of life, and started relating to them. Even then, I was still as much a bong as ever before, still relishing ever morsel of my favorite rice and fish. But something more essential in me had started changing, something that somehow seemed to be much more deeply ingrained in the other Bongs I knew.

Bongs, they say are immensely proud of their history and culture. They can go on about their achievements for hours at an end. Ouch! Did I just say they?  But then I don’t really feel comfortable using the first person pronouns here, having never done the same myself. I personally always felt more proud of Tagore being the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize than Tagore, the Bengali being the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize; always related more to Amartya Sen the economist than Amartya Sen the Bengali.

My mom says I’m weird; my friends say I’m more a Gujarati than a Bong; and I say, how different is being a Bong from being a Gujarati really? Why is it so bad if I relate more to my Indian identity than my Bengali one? Yeah I know; sounds extremely pretentious. But true nonetheless. I truly believe that a time will come when national identity shall far supersede regional identity, when a Gujarati living in Gujarat is no different than a Bong living there, when values are not a reflection of where you were brought up, but how you were brought up.

But then what do I know; I’m plain weird.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S- A Decade of Giving, Receiving, Having and Sharing!

“Hey Ross, here’s a science question.  If homosapiens are really ‘homo’, is that why they’re extinct?

“Joey, homosapiens are people.”

“Hey, I’m not judging!”

Its past 2 am at night, and I just finished watching the last episode of friends; again, for the umpteenth time. And once again I find myself experiencing the very same mix of sadness and joy that I did the first time I finished friends; a feeling which one would rarely ever associate with finishing a television series. It is more than a feeling of accomplishment, much much more than that actually. It is an indescribable feeling to be honest.

And I sit up to think, what is it about this TV show which catapulted it to such heights? It is after all a story involving 6 friends, 6 routine people with routine lives and stories, albeit with hitherto unparalleled humor. But then, humor alone is not what made friends what it is. It is not for humor alone that year after year, day after day many more people like sat up nights to watch this story unfold, over and over and over again!

And tonight finally, I guess I know the answer. Friends reminds people of all that is good in life. It reminds them that life needn’t be complicated at all; that there is joy and happiness in the small things. The small things, but with the correct people, that is what makes life worth living; what makes 10 years of drinking coffee in central perk pass by in the wink of an eye. Essentially it is all that every human wants from life; happiness, just that it takes them an eternity to realize the fact. And happiness isn’t that tough to have. Having the right people in your life, doing the small things right, facing everything with a smile, that’s all there really is to life.

If you think about it, each of you will realize that the story of friends wasn’t really that removed from reality. Each of you will actually have these characters in your life; a Joey who never fails to make you laugh with his nonsensical thoughts; a socially awkward chandler who makes jokes when he’s uncomfortable; a phoebe who’s straightforward to the point of being uncomfortably blunt; a Monica who’s a freak in more ways than one and yet somehow extremely likeable; and a Ross and Rachel who’s names you somehow always end up taking together.

There’s a small part within all of us which never wants to give up being a child, which relishes the childlike friendships and fights, and the freedom to do what the heart desires. I guess it is to that part that friends appeals. It is that part of us which is contented and happy, just as long as there’s someone to hold our hand and say,

“I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall. I’ll be there for you, like I’ve been there before. I’ll be there for you, coz your there for me too!”