Musings

A jaadu ki jhappi is enough to wash away the blues of life, if even for a few seconds. A handful of love, a fistful of warmth, a guileless smile, a shoulder to cry on and the golden shower from above is all that one needs to get through in life. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

“Madam Ji, aapney socha kya, try maarne ke baare mein?" Santosh Bakaya's aspiring milk vendor has been driving an aggressive sales campaign to make her his customer. His latest sales pitch ends up like a fielder diving to catch the ball. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

Dreams are touch and go for people who toil with blood and sweat day and night. They can break like fragile glass and the next moment can burn bright again as a newly formed wax candle. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

Everyone in India is a cricket expert. Team India may have tumbled out of the World Cup 2019 but there has been no slowdown in the postmortem being done by devastated fans. On the flip side, gully cricket continues at fever pitch. "Howzzzat?" resounds. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

A bunch of happy faces make the morning brighter. The cheerful camaraderie all around shows the way to a good day. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

The rain clouds have put everyone in a romantic mood. Santosh Bakaya wonders at the beauty and romance all around, even on the back of a rumbling truck. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

Grandparents are the go-to people, the quiet, unassuming support system that works on its own autopilot, untiringly, opening up the blocked channels so that the children can have a better life. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

And sometimes when the night is slow The wretched and the meek We gather up our hearts and go A thousand kisses deep. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

No one plans to fall in love, it happens like poetry. Well, the writer too happens to fall in love during a visit to an animal shelter. And while the world may think the object of his affection is a jackass, the author doesn’t.

From disrupted and dislodged plastic bags to ritual circumambulation of the tulsi plant, from walking the dog to a dog and hen collision - a rainy morning wrapped in humidity, has a collage of colourful, freshly washed sights to offer. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

Glowworms abound around us, reinforcing our belief that it is a beautiful world we live in, but only if we care to see. Clasping two glowworms to her overwhelmed heart, Santosh Bakaya gets ready to conquer another day. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. 😊 ☕️

What feline grace! How unfazed! How cool! Ah, had Macavity been finally found? Santosh Bakaya finds out. Enjoy Morning Meanderings with a hot cup of tea or coffee and some cookies to munch on the food for thought. :)

Entertainment is all around us, in small measure and big dollops. Even a simple game of cards can turn into a wrestling match in no time. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

All your spite and power, can get soggy in a moment's shower. Nature is the great equaliser. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

The bond between a mother and child is inexplicable. It transcends all barriers, obstacles and situations. Santosh Bakaya realizes how a few moments of separation from her child can make the world collapse for the mother. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A Hungrysaurus is a sub-species of animal who has the most doleful eyes that seek you out and try and hypnotise you into doling out inappropriate amounts of food. Hungrysauruses have hungry eyes!

There are unsung heroes around us who are relentlessly waging a lone and courageous struggle to get through life. Most often we don't notice them. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

The reprimand of fathers is often enough to shake kids out of their reverie and make them dive for cover. A cute incident sends Santosh Bakaya on a trip down memory lane, recalling her childhood escapades of trying to avoid the chores and getting nicely pulled up by her father. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Amid the jungle of concrete and two little children fascinated by a shard of glass, Santosh Bakaya's mind floats back to the memories of hillocks, big and small that made a perfect picture postcard scene just a little away from the boundary wall of her University campus. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Who is the real ghar ka chirag? A post-doctoral scholar may not be half as educated as an illiterate housemaid when it comes to deciding who is the 'light of your family'. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Is Churu hotter than Jaipur? As the cities sizzle, people try to beat the heat in whichever way they can and sugarcane juice comes as a much needed relief. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Rajinder Krishan could pen songs for all seasons, his repertoire was huge and varied. Born on 6^th June 1919, he was not only a song writer but also a successful story and screenplay writer and dialogue writer. In a tribute to one of the greatest lyricists in Hindi film songs, I pick one song that has stayed nearest to my heart forever.

An intruder comes knocking at the door one morning and his irresistible charm and loyalty makes the author's heart melt. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A little boy's trousers dance away in the boisterous breeze. And then a miracle comes to his rescue. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A sky full of clouds, swaying trees, singing koels and squawking peacocks make the morning fresh and fragrant with even the leaf trying to say something. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Marveling at the resuscitating powers of a mother’s love, Santosh Bakaya watches a bawling baby turn into a happy bundle of chortles under a smiling sun. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Summer signals the advent of mangoes. And the fixation to have as many as you can accommodate - some eat, some drink, some suck on an unpeeled mango with much ado and noise. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A lazy morning has its own charm, everything moves at a languid pace and yet the world thrives with beauty. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

The struggle of two three-year-olds against the injustice of being packed off to school to become scholars. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A socially conscientious monkey gives two men lessons in appropriate social behaviour. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

In this rain- drenched piece, Santosh Bakaya wonders about the magical powers of rain, how it infuses energy in everyone – even the birds and animals are not left untouched. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Santosh Bakaya wonders at the invisible painter up there, splashing bright hues on two lovebirds, while their heart-warming sight brings out the darker side of people around. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A hilarious incident where we witness a milkman yearning to drench the author with the milk of human kindness (!), and the author's plight. This piece is going to tickle your funny bone! Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Santosh Bakaya takes a dig at our skewed priorities and at the universal mindset of peeping into celebrities’ lives and callously ignoring the invisibles of society. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A young couple struggle to light their sigri in a rain-washed morning as the lapwing flutters around and a dull dog watches halfheartedly. Life chugs on a new course as the sun rises. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Among life's many chases are those that happen to recover things taken away, even if it is a humble towel. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Two adorable toddlers play near their roadside shack as their mother cooks lunch on a makeshift chulha - each life has its own way of finding joy. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Even before you can ask "kyun", pat comes the answer to "poochho kyun?". The Superwoman, a squirrel on steroids, is more practical and grounded than many so-called intelligent people. Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

The morning begins differently for each one. 'Munch' can be far away from munching and chocolates for some.

Watching two tiny human chunks, shunned and ignored by the stiff-upper-lipped society, clowning around, Santosh Bakaya is delighted to see the rays of the early morning sun falling on these two gems of ‘purest ray serene’ and hugging them tight. Everything is not lost. On World Book Day (23rd April), she wonders how books amaze children who don't have access to them. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

Life can be pretty mundane and lacklustre, but the power of love can work wonders. In this Morning Meandering, Santosh Bakaya tells us how canine affection brings a complete metamorphosis in a shabby old man. Love, in any form, has great magical powers. Morning Meanderings is a popular musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of tea. :)

A rainy day – the sort of day that makes kids burst into a jig, and poets into a poetic tizzy. Louder, louder grows the rumbling, and the frogs gradually lose their croaks. The emergent sun, a pink ball of muted fire, probably intimidated by this cloudy bellicosity, hides behind a strip of lavender-tinted cloud. Morning Meanderings is a popular musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of coffee :)

The slogging labourers, the tea-seller, the egg-seller, the dog hiding the piece of roti and the sweepress - they leave no stone unturned in order to satisfy the pangs of hunger. The labourers leave the comfort of their houses, so do the birds and animals. All for those notorious hunger pangs. With sharp strokes of her pen, the writer recreates the following scene which she witnesses during her morning walk . Morning Meanderings is a popular musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of coffee. :)

Hey, who was that in the distance, that tiny speck peddling away in my direction? I rubbed my eyes, trying to see clearly. A tin box welded to a creaking, ramshackle bicycle, and wonderful smells erupting from the box. A man hunched over the bicycle, humming an old off-key song and peddling away. The breadvala of yesteryears had appeared. Morning Meanderings is a popular musings column by Dr Santosh Bakaya. Enjoy her jottings with a hot cup of coffee :)

Canada based artist-author Suparna Ghosh presents some of the verses in her latest collection of poetry, Occasionally, written in the form of ghazals in a classical Indo-Persian style.

A personal essay/memoir dedicated to my first tryst with writing alphabets, then gradually maturing into words, sentences, letters, love letters et al, which is a part of my book Woman And Her Muse .

On the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya and Navaratri that marks the homecoming of Goddess Durga, Learning and Creativity presents a special picture story by two Dallas-based creative minds. As talented artist Kusumika Ganguly, an artist and teacher based in Dallas, Texas, gives her beautifully soothing touch of artistry to a painting of Ma Durga, Durga Durgati Nashini, the supreme woman power of Hindu mythology on the auspicious eve of Mahalaya, the initiation of Devi Paksha, author Lopamudra Banerjee complements the painting with her memoir on how she perceives Uma and Durga and herself as a woman staying in the foreign shores, ten thousand miles away from her Bengali hometown. The piece is from the Durga series of her book 'Woman And Her Muse'.

Ronin recounts the melancholic walk he took in a meadow, experiencing the sounds, silence and magnificence of nature, responding to its beckoning.

If the world's population 200 years ago was just 1/7th of the current population, where did all these 6 billion new souls come from? Ishika seeks an answer.

Drama in real life: A race against time through rough terrain to catch up with a train and reunite a lost girl child with her parents.

A heartfelt wistful reminiscence of her Grandpa by 20-year-old Arshita.

Brilliant artworks by Joyita Basak, a Kolkata-based blogger and artist to commemorate the Women’s History Month in March. Along with a short poem and a note for the Women's History Month in March, written by Lopa Banerjee, Dy. Editor of Learning and Creativity e-zine.

Pratima Apte recalls the most influential teachers and mentors who have impacted her English language skills since childhood through youth.

A cab ride on a wintry morning left me smiling at the cab driver's passion for music and his deep understanding of the essence of "music made from the soul".

Lopa Banerjee, deputy editor of L&C pays a humble homage to her first teacher of English during her school days, Manik Chatterjee sir who passed away on September 29, 2017.

Renowned author Santosh Bakaya pens her many hued musings on Kolkata, the city that never fails to charm her. Visiting Kolkata in the sultry July heat for the launch of two diametrically different books – one an anthology of spooky ghost stories Darkness There But Something More, which she co-edited with Lopa Banerjee and the other a book of verses by Lopa Banerjee Let the Night Sing, Santosh writes about Kolkata’s sights and sounds in a series of diary notes.

Renowned author Santosh Bakaya, co-editor of Darkness There But Something More pens her many hued musings on Kolkata, the city that never fails to charm her. Visiting Kolkata in the sultry July heat for the launch of two diametrically different books - one an anthology of spooky ghost stories and the other a book of verses, Santosh writes about Kolkata's sights and sounds in a series of diary notes.

Holi is an especially popular holiday in Lansing. The Bharatiya Temple hosts the area’s most prominent Holi festivities. Budding editor-writer and booklover Nitish Pahwa writes about how joyous a festival it is for Lansing, Michigan's residents.

The remarkable collector Sunny Mathew has over 1 lakh (100,000) rare records, including records in their earliest form and about 260 gramophones/record players/phonographs of different varieties in his self-built Discs and Machines Museum, in Kottayam, Kerala. It is a shrine for music lovers and students of history of sound recording. M Dharma Kirthi, Sundeep Pahwa and Rocky Abraham find themselves transported into a mesmerising world of discs, gramophones and record players, painstakingly collected, archived and preserved by an unassuming, retired Forest Officer, Sunny Mathew. Dharma Kirthi chronicles this amazing journey of discovery as Sunny Mathew takes the visitors through his collections and creations with passion, energy and enthusiasm.

Finding inspiration where we might, we can remember our pasts, participate in our present, and possibly have hope for a better future, and survive the crimes, conflicts, and chaos which tend to swirl and encroach so much of life, and provide such inspiration to our arts and literature.

A wistful musing about that one awakening moment when Nature's all-encompassing beauty manifests itself as balm to the soul, reaffirming its infinite spirit and giving strength, even as the world fleets by on its own course.

Film and music enthusiast Sundeep Pahwa belongs to a family which was closely connected with the film industry and had produced a couple of films in the '50s and '60s. In this personal essay, he recounts his visit to the National Film Archives of India (NFAI), Pune, and an exciting journey of discovering memorabilia of Bahu (1955) and Bombay Race Course (1965), produced by the Pahwa brothers. His father, the youngest of the three Pahwa brothers was introduced as Basant Kumar in Bahu, a film that marked the directorial debut of legendary film director Shakti Samanta.

Rabindranath Tagore’s association with the recording industry began in 1904. An exploration of the sound recordings of Tagore and Rabindra Sangeet by Sounak Gupta.

A moving account of reminiscence and nostalgia of a mother as she visits down the memory lane on the occasion of her dear daughter's birthday.

A heartfelt, romantic plea from a lover to his lady-love, a simple celebration of their blissful days together.

A touching musing about the emotional bond that a mother and daughter share with each other. Santosh Bakaya pens it down as a funny birthday musing.

A tongue-in-cheek look at the irrepressible Mashima who has an opinion on everything. By noted cultural ambassador and dancer, Sohini Roychowdhury.

"Sehwag has been described as a simple cricketer who didn’t think much and just batted. The see-ball, hit-ball cliché must have been used a million times on him. Adjectives like brutal, primitive, savage have been used by copywriters to describe his batting." Raj Swaroop explores how the maverick Virender Sehwag wore different hats to blaze his way through the most vicious of bowling attacks.

Legendary singer Geeta Dutt's nephew Ashis Basu recounts some golden moments spent with 'Geetu Pishi'.

Ramendra Kumar recalls some beautiful memories of his childhood of Diwali celebrations that were sparkling times of innocence, fun and merriment.

Ramendra Kumar writes a tongue-in-cheek account of his tryst with Haemangioma and playing dumb charades to communicate. An inspirational account of battling a serious health problem with a positive attitude.

A sweet memory of a sharing a taxi ride with Sankar, writer of the famed novels Kato Ajanare, Chowringhee, Jana Aranya, Seemabaddha and others.

A humorous look at the vagaries of the newly English speaking community of the IT world.

A short piece about the gifts of generosity, the fourth one in the musing series by Dr. Bakaya where she yet again shows the benevolent spirit of love.

In a real life David vs Goliath story, an unassuming 15-year-old elocutionist gives the mighty Indian broadcaster a stiff and determined challenge.

A mother's sweet, endearing rumination about her daughter, her growing up and the interrelation between both the mother and daughter.

In her series of humorous musings, Santosh Bakaya looks at the disasters WhatsApp can create for the young generation hooked on to selfies.

A delightful, short personal essay about the endearing chemistry and camaraderie of a mother-daughter relationship portrayed with humor and razor-sharp wit.

I have witnessed almost all of it, the unsung glory of a writer in a business setting, the doubtful eyes of friends and relatives who did never quite understand why I kept changing workplaces for more creative freedom, who still do not understand, or, now that I am married and have kids, do not bother what I do for a living.

I had two friends Ami and Iam with whom I played and conversed on the vast canvas.

A regular metro ride becomes an eye-opener when an African family gives the writer a glimpse into the oneness of humankind.

At the slightest opportunity he would slip into the bathroom or the tank in the garden, get thoroughly wet and then charge at everything and everyone in sight.

As nights passed, I tried everything to win Ankita’s confidence: doing callisthenics, making faces, creating sounds and even yodelling. The result was the same. She would just howl...

Writing about love and beauty, roses and tulips is a form of escapism, in which the modern poet rarely indulges.

A year later I found that Aryan did not need any mentoring. He had succeeding in imparting ‘Obedience Training’ to all of us. When he took us for a walk he decided when to stop, when to start, which street and which road to take.

I imagined myself letting out a shriek, my eyes behaving like a blinking tube-light to control the damage, to avoid the dog and to escape him somehow.

As far as my Father was concerned, fox hunting was music to his ears. In a pack of six or eight hounds, he could tell by their bark and wail, which dog was in the lead.

A friend asked me once why I liked sunsets especially when they herald darkness. He hated them.

Is Santa for real? That, alas, is a question that is being posed by a large number of children. In fact the age of disillusionment with faith is setting in earlier than noticed, heretofore.

That just about sums it all up in a few words. Life in the Kolkata Metro beats even “Life of Pi” by a long shot when it comes to popularity ratings. The Jamiroquai number is quite apt to sum up my feelings about it,......“I’m going deeper underground…there’s too much panic in this town.”

It is true that making a film from a book is a tedious enterprise as it’s difficult to capture the essence of a novel in about two hours. But then it is not an impossible task as films like The Godfather and Pather Panchali have shown.

Now I have an answer. An answer about which I am convinced. All these things have a STORY behind them.

The works of Boticelli, Michaelangelo, Raphael or Titian enrapture the spirit and have capacities to heal moribund souls.

Wastefulness is a virtue not a sin, and wasting must be carried out religiously

I pull out my caring Face from my bag, wide, round, with almond pink tourmaline eyes, and place it on.

He came to an abrupt stop, touched the skin of his sister's cheek and then I saw a tear falling down from his face.

The ticket made me feel secure till I reached the station. Then came the shocking news.

They had both acted out of an intense desire to do the best for a student and his future, so what if the boy wasn’t actually their student. That was their mission in life as teachers. A Teacher's Day special memoir based on a real life incident.

"6th," he was quick to respond and then to help me further, he retorted, "Tommorow is 7th, Lolo bhaiya's birthday."

Nehru decided to play mother to the child. He walked, close to where the child lay, bent, picked the baby in his arms and rocked it gently.