There's something about Ashtami morning...

8:30- Yeah...Ashtami morning!!!!Panjabi pore anjali dite hobe...ki moja ki moja!! I jumped out of bed,really excited. (It totally beats me! I don't even like wearing panjabis and i don't particularly like waking up early for anything let alone anjali , but there is something about Ashtami morning...)

8:45-"kintu tui ghumochillish toh.seijonne dakini!"My aunt calmly explains that i overslept and have missed the anjali!!!(Again for some unexplained reason i feel really sad for having missed the anjali.What is it about Ashtami morning...*scratching head and gazing into the distant horizon...until bitten by a stray ant emerging from somewhere within the keyboard.*

9:00-"arre tui toh ekhono Nabami r anjali/sondhi pujor anjali ta dite parbi..."Aunt makes another casual remark,resulting in my jumping out of the bed again,really excited again.

9:20-"Arre bhai anjali toh ek khuni sesh hoye gelo.Aeto pore ele hobe!" This important looking guy at the neighbouring pandal informs.*the guy definitely had a i-got-the-last-orange-popsicle-and-you didn't-get-any kind of smile on his face.*I considered the pros and cons of showing him a rude hand gesture but decided against it.But i was very pissed off and sad(missing an Ashtami anjali i never thought such a day would come...)

9-30-"Achha,eta amar choto mashir chele..."Returning from pandal without being allowed to give anjali and meeting a complete stranger(but rather hot looking lady) in the drawing room,that was certainly uexpected.Hence i blurted out "whatever!" as my dada's(eldest cousin's) new girlfriend said "hello" to me.Needless to say the roomfull of mashis,meshos and the solitary mama glared at me at the same time sushhhhing my "whatever" and forcing out a "Hi,pleased to meet you..." out of me.

9:31-12:00-"Ta ma,tomar baba ki koren?"(Inquizitive 85 year old dadu) "Tomar naam ta toh khub shundor..."(the solitary mama's solitary wife) "Hehe...haha...hihi...ohhohoho"(everyone in the room,reacting to the eldest cousin's afore mentioned 'woman friend's' silly-as-Sidhu joke.) "Tumi illish maach khao toh?"(a certain anxious looking mashi who had the responsibility of cooking for the day's 'special' lunch) "O khub bhalo nachteo pare."(the eldest cousin revealing yet another feature of his new aquisition,resting all doubts to who the alpha-male in the room might be.) "nah..nah..ami emon kichu bhalo naachte parina....ekhon toh kono motei naachte parbo na...hnhnhnhna" (the centre of attraction showing her 'lajuk'ness making everyone in the room go "ahhhhhhhh".*the chocolate melting in your mouth kind of ahhhhhhh not the my-head -is-on-fire kind of ahhhhhhh*The quick looks exchanged by the mama,the meshos,mashis and dadu confirms that the eldest cousin might have finally struck gold and she could be the one,the chosen one,the one that'll save us all,banish demons and cook mutton biryani with equal ease.*alright,alright i got a little carried away,so what,i bet she really can cook mutton biryani,huh!*)

12:30-"Illish maachta darun hoyeche..."(Cousin's girlfriend spotting the mashi who had cooked the fish.Scores a lot of points with mashi as she smiles and dumps another illish maach on the girlfriend's plate.Something about dieting and staying slim is mentioned softly,by the 'guest' but is drowned by second mashis hollering of,"ebar chicken ta tomay di?Eta kintu ami korechi." )

1:15-Lunch finally finished.Eldest cousin and his 'girl' make a grand exit but not before 'she' promises everyone for the umpteenth time that she's gonna come again on another day when her back is a lot better and will dance. *Eldest cousin looked really pleased with the day's work
until the time dadu started talking to his 'friend' about how they had to use khata paikhana's when they were younger!*

1:30-Postmortem starts. Amidst most of the blah-blah i get snippets like,"dekhte toh kharap na."..."ager tar theke onek bhalo"..."baba ta bank er manager."..."illish maach khete bhalobashe jokhon bhaloi hobe,ki bolish?"...
I try to concentrate on the illish maach on my plate.


P.S. After the duo left us they were caught on tape near Ekdalia Evergreen,thanks to Star Ananda,the much sought after publicity bit was taken care of,as the mama and the mashis scampered off to let the neighbours know,ensuring that the whole neighbourhood tuned into Star Ananda.I am quite certain that this will result in speculations and rumours being formed in every household of the para that the elder cousin is getting married to "je meyetar saathe Pujor somoy ghurchilo,nah..." this December.