Blogger's Prayer:
*******************************************************************
"Our Father, that art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily blog.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the blogdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen"
*******************************************************************************
Today is Teachers' Day: I remember the date well: September 5th. Precisely 5 years ago my wife and I presented ourselves in the SBI Balkampet Branch in Hyderabad and nervously deposited my Retirement Drafts to the very very user-friendly Relationship Manager. He got them credited to our Savings Acount in 5 minutes and asked us what we wished to do with the money. I told him that I would go by his precious advice. He suggested that half of it should be 'fixed' for one year at the going rate of 6% (I felt cheated, for I was paying my EMIs @ 14% for the past 5 years); and advised us that I 'fix' the other half in the Senior Citizen's Savings Scheme @ 9%. I heaved a sigh of relief. But there was a catch: it can't be 'broken' for 5 years: i.e. till September 5th 2010. I cringed: would I live that long?
But here I am: living, kicking and blogging furiously. Today is the D-Day. I kept my 'many promises to keep'.
*******************************************************************************
Yesterday Vinit called in the morning and wished me Happy Teachers' Day. I told him he was one day early. He replied that he didn't remember the date, but his son in Class VIII told him it was being celebrated in his School yesterday; and he was taking his son's word for it. Teachers' Day falls on a Sunday this year; and the Teachers of his School couldn't wait till Monday: they had advanced it by a day instead of postponing it (who knows!).
I am told that in the US, the practice is that if July 4th falls on a weekend, its holiday is taken on the coming Monday, not the earlier Friday. In parts of India too there is this custom: If your Birthday or Wedding Anniversary couldn't be celebrated for some reason on the precise date, you can only celebrate it later but not earlier.
Vinit wished me again today, to make up. And he surprised me by mentioning that some of his colleagues found the post: "Read or Write" useful. So far I had been told my blogs are instructive, educational, evocative or even inspirational. But now it seems they tend to be useful too.
It is therefore time that I solemnly disown the consequences of all such unintended applications. I consider myself a Guest Buffoon in the Entertainment Industry. If any, my posts are supposed to be mild mood-elevators and nothing else: they are too full of bluffs to merit any other use.
*****************************************************************************
This year there is a well-wisher from the blogosphere wishing me Happy Teachers' Day:
****************************************************************************
-
Sir,
Happy Teachers' Day to you.
I am 47, and a teacher myself; and one of your old boys at IIT-KGP, Nishant Kamath now in the US, told me about your blog. I have just been reading all the posts on your home page with delight and admiration, and chose to comment on this one at random - well, not quite, but because I am a bibliophile myself (as you will see if you ever visit my blog, http://suvrobemused. blogspot.com), and don't meet too many like that these days, even among educated people.
May God grant you long life, and happy blog writing. If you kindly see it fit to give me your email i.d., we might talk directly too.
With respect, and best wishes, Suvro Chatterjee
Thank you Suvrojee! And a hearty reciprocation!
******************************************************************************
I always had a problem with the Bengali spelling of 'bh'. Some times, they write: Shubhra Chatterjee, as our KGP Physics lady alumnus does; and at other times use 'v'. My name (Prabhakara) is spelled with a 'bh' in all official records, and in my Bank. But at the SBI KGP, whenever I asked for a Demand Draft in my favor, they used to spell it with 'v' and it used to bounce from my AP SBI Branches. After a couple of such mishaps, I had to double and triple-check it.
This recalls the famous Wellerism:
******************************************************************************
"What's your name, sir?" inquired the judge.
"Sam Weller, my lord," replied that gentleman.
"Do you spell it with a 'V' or 'W'?" inquired the judge.
"That depends on the taste and fancy of the speller, my lord," replied Sam; "I never had occasion to spell it more than once or twice in my life, but I spells it with a 'V'."
.............................'Pickwick Papers"
==================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment