Rath Yatra 2008 - Bowbazar, Central Kolkata, India

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Pluckth, Pluckth, Pluckth !!!

What is Pluckth by the way? Do you know? Did you ever hear such a sound? Did you ever try to hear it? I am sure many of you have heard it many times in your life time but no one knows about it and has never paid attention to it except Gaurav and me. We both are fans of the sound called "Pluckth". The term was invented by Gaurav. It is quite difficult to hear Pluckth for guys like us at such a young age. But luckily, many guys do hear them in many situations and conditions.

Pluckth is a sound that requires ruler, oil, fat, force, a positive and negative energy to react and a suitable environment to occur. It soothes the mind, the heart, the soul and the body. So it has turned out to be a heavenly sound for people throughout many generations.

Both Gaurav and I felt that we could hear the sound Pluckth at New Town last month, when we visited there and met one of the source (MotaSush) of the heavenly sound Pluckth. But we unfortunately could not arrange for a suitable environment and the source of the sound Pluckth. But we are sure we will be able to hear it soon from various other sources. Lets see, when the golden moment arrives for us. Eagerly waiting for the moment.

Pluckth, Pluckth, Pluckth !!!

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LAW OF THE JUNGLE

Two guys were hiking through the jungle when they spotted a tiger that looked both hungry and fast. One of the guys reached into his pack and pulled out a pair of Nike.

His friend looked at him "Do you really think those shoes are going to make you run faster than that tiger?"

"I don't have to run faster than that tiger", his friend replied. "I just have to run faster than you".

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Bengali Brides at Bengali Marriage Ceremony

Bengali Brides at Bengali Marriage Ceremony

Yesterday, I had the good opportunity of visiting a Grand Wedding Party and there I had clicked some of the pictures of the beautiful women and girls (with their permission) and after clicking each picture, I had showed them how they looked in that snap through my Camers's LCD. Thus I was very happy (in fact for the first time) to click such good pictures. But due to limited space in my flickr and picasa account I could not upload them. But we should keep in mind that "Something is Always Better Than Nothing".

Hope you also enjoy this picture. I am looking forward to get all your feedback in my mail id vaichatt@gmail.com or in the comment section just after this post.

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PROPOSAL FOR SKYBRIDGES IN CENTRAL KOLKATA

As a citizen of India, I am proposing a new project in Central Kolkata that would help both Esplanade-Sealdah bound pedestrians as well as traffic in Central Kolkata. The stretch between Sealdah Station through B.B. Ganguly Street till various entry points in Esplanade can be thought of as the place where the project can be built. ( see the diagram below)

The Red Coloured Markings depict the path of the Sky Bridges

(click on the picture above to see the bigger view of the picture)

Currently what happens is that because of the huge rush of lakhs of walking office-goers in this stretch, the traffic system cannot move freely. So does the office-goers who walk in this stretch has to stop on the crossings to let the cars pass bye. Thus is becomes difficult for the traffic police to control the traffic as well the huge rush of pedestrians during office hours. If this project is thought of and implemented, then it would be a boon for the everyone who pass bye this area during various periods of the day.

The interior of the Sky Bridges might look like this

Some of the issues related to the project: -

Advantages: -

1. No earth work (do digging of earth like in subways)

2. Shade from bad weather (if a shade is provided on the top of the way)

3. Easy and economic travel from one part of the city to another (no cost travelling is what people want)

4. Completing the walk within 15 - 20 minutes which normally takes more than 40 minutes

5. No traffic, no jam

6. Small parts of the whole traffic can be built elsewhere and assembled in the actual site of the sky-bridge to ease confusion and chaos.

7. Electric elevators could be set up to carry people to the height.

8. Environment friendly way of transporting people as well as least use of power (power might be needed for elevators and lights during the night)

9. Because of less people on the roads, the roads will be less congested and the traffic can move freely on the roads without much disruption.

10. No tension during waterlogging in the streets.

This is how the Sky Bridge might look from outside

Disadvantages: -

1. A bit of chaos when the whole unit will be set up in the area.

2. Less space in B.B. Ganguly Street.

3. Newly proposed underground metro railway and its construction along with existing tram and other vehicles might cause a chaos in the area.

4. Buildings which are on the two sides of B.B. Ganguly street might be at a threat but if the sky-bridge is closed with high railings on both sides as well as a shade on top, it might bring respite to the residents of the area. (thus stopping unsocial activities)

Another interior view of an expensive Sky Bridge

Who will be benefited: -

1. Office-goers who travel from Sealdah till Esplanade ( as they want a cost effective way of travelling through the stretch and what can be a more cost effective way of travelling other than this?)

2. School goers

3. Daily commuters (who wants to cover the stretch during different times of the day)

4. The old people

Who should not be allowed inside the bridges: -

1. beggars (as they might create unnecessary resistance among walkers)

2. hawkers who wants to set up their business inside the sky-bridges (as they might create unnecessary resistance among walkers)

3. Cyclists with cycles (as they might be a danger to the walkers)

Open timings of the sky-bridge: -

• 8.00 AM in the morning (when most of the traffic starts increasing) till11.00 PM at night (when most of the last trains set off from Sealdah)

It might be kept: -

• One way from 8.00 AM to 12.00 NOON (passengers moving from Sealdah to Esplanade)
• Both ways from 12.00 NOON to 5.00 PM (when the passenger intensity is less)
• Again one way from 5.00 PM to 11.00 PM (when the passengers will be travelling from Esplanade to Sealdah to catch trains)
• Closed for people from 11.00 PM to 8.00 AM to prevent unsocial activities inside the sky-bridges. Thus all the entry points will have to be closed during this period.

Conclusion: -

No such projects have been proposed for Kolkata yet, and if it is done it can provide a great ease for the daily commuters as well as the traffic system in Central Kolkata. Once completed, it would be a grand project for easing the traffic tension in Central Kolkata for centuries to come. If this Sky Bridge is a huge success, then many such bridges can be built all over Kolkata for smooth flow of pedestrians.

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Dynamic Tower - Shape Shifting Tower

Dynamic Tower - Shape Shifting Tower

Italian architect David Fisher is building his first skyscraper, the Dynamic Tower, and it happens to be one of the most ambitious construction plans since the Pyramid of Khufu. Every floor of the 80-story self-powered building rotates according to voice command, and nearly the entire construction of the $700 million structure is pre-made

Fisher was inspired to design the Dynamic Tower during a visit to a friend's top-floor Midtown Manhattan apartment. "I had a view of the Hudson River and East River at the same time, it was beautiful and I wanted to make that feeling accessible to more people." He loves the idea of seeing the sun rise and set in the same room, and considers the building to be four-dimensional. "Time is always changing the shape of the building," he told me.

The rotation takes up to 3 hours (so you're not always spilling your coffee), and gets power from photovoltaic solar cells and 79 wind turbines, one located between each floor. The system is meant to create enough energy to power to the entire tower and still have juice to spare for some surrounding buildings. According to Fisher, two of these $700 million futuristic scrapers are planned so far, one each in Dubai and Moscow. They will be built using a truly radical technique.

Construction on the Dynamic Tower will be unlike anything that preceded it. The only part of the tower built on site will be the skinny center core. It is strong enough to hold the floors in place, and will contain the building's elevators, which transport people and cars right to their door. Each floor will be made piece by piece in a factory in Italy—a throwback to Fisher's previous life in prefabricated bathroom design—and placed onto the core using a lift system. With this method, each story is completed in about six days. By comparison, traditional ground-up methods can take six weeks per floor.

Groundbreaking for Dynamic Towers in Dubai and Moscow is expected to happen in the fall, with construction reaching completion by the end of 2010. If you're game—and very, very loaded—you can sign up now for a villa or office space. The going rate is $3000/sq foot.

Source : Dynamic Architecture

Also See: Kolkata's Skyline

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Chakar Hawa na Batash?

Last day I was travelling in an auto back to home from office when a funny incident occurred. I should narrate the incident in Bengali otherwise the fun-factor will not be clear.

2 middle aged couples arrived to the auto where I was sitting, and the auto driver requested me to come and sit on his right. I did so. The 1st couple and the wife of the 2nd couple were sitting on the back seat and the husband of the 2nd couple was sitting on the auto driver’s left. This is what that had happened after that: -

We were going towards our destination (Lotus Cinema) and on the way: -

Auto driver (to the man to his right): Dada ektu dekhun to, hawa aache kina?
The man (swayed his hand on the air to his left and yelled): Na dada, ja garom poreche, ekdom hawa nei.

I understood what the auto driver meant by that, but I kept quite and enjoyed what was going on there.

Auto driver (silent for about 15 seconds in his mind): Se abar ki? Garom-er saathe chakar hawar ki somporko…?
Auto driver (to the man): Na dada, ami shei hawa-r kotha bolini. Ami aapnake chakar hawa aache kina dekhte bollam.
The man (in shame): Oh ho, ami bhablam aapni onno kichu.

The whole conversation went on so quickly and seriously that to this all four people, the auto driver and me burst out into laughter. I thought that there was Mirakkel at 9.30 pm that night but here in the auto I had a trailer of Mirakkel at 8.30 pm.

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Recharge Reliance Mobile in Kolkata

I had searched the Reliance Website as well as the whole Internet for the Prepaid Recharge Code for Reliance Mobiles in Kolkata, for one of my friend but sadly I did not find it anywhere. So I planned to write this post by which people who search the net for the code can get it from my blog.

To recharge a Reliance Mobile in Kolkata, one has to type the following thing given below: -

*305*serial_number*recharge_code# and then press Call.

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My Crush on Divya Bharati in Class 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divya_Bharati

It was the summer of 1992 when I heard a song called "Koi Na Koi Chahiye, Pyar Karne Wala" and I hated the song like anything. Reason being that it was played in our locality in the loudest of volumes during my Exams at class 5 then. I watched the Chitrahaar to find out what the song actually was and found that the song was picturised on a new hero called Shah Rukh Khan.

I saw that there was a another song called "Aisi Deewangi" from the same film called Deewana in which there was the same newcomer called Shah Rukh Khan but he did not impress me so much. The heroine who danced with the new hero was the one who captured my heart, mind and all senses. She danced in the song in a black tight dress which impressed me a lot and her cute looks encaptivated my heart. Later I came to know in a Bengali Film Magazine called Anondolok that her name was Divya Bharti.

I had started to have a crush on Divya Bharti, whom I started liking anything. I was so much infatuated with her that I planned to collect pictures of her. In those times film magazines was a strict "No No" at our house and by some good chance I came across a fat Anondolok Magazine from the Pujas Edition from somewhere and I found a black and white picture of Divya Bharti. I somehow tore the page and cut the picture and gently placed the picture in one of the least read books in my bookshelf to avoid elders from seeing it or in the fear of getting humiliated and scolded by them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divya_Bharati

Everyday I used to have a glimpse of the photo of Divya Bharati and used to admire her beauty. I just loved the way she looked. She was like a Diva to me. She was the Goddess whom I loved to worship. She was undoubtedly my first crush and I liked that. Everyday before going to school I look at the photo and saw whether it was safely kept there or not. Again after coming back from school, I came to my room and checked whether the picture of my Goddess was still there or not. Again at night before going to bed, I saw her face and went to bed. This is what I used to do with her picture.

I never thought of collecting more pictures of hers that is because there was no safe place in my house where I could keep them. So I was contented with that black and white passport sized picture. Once I had thought that the black and white picture looked gloomy so I coloured the picture with my water colour. Though that colouring made the picture look different, still I loved it and kept it within the safest book.

I even wanted to see all her films but that to was like a daunting task for a small boy like me. But somehow I managed to see the 3 films, Deewana, Dil Aashna Hai, Vishwatma out of the long list of 19 films she did in the short stint of 3 years and the 12 films in which she could not act. "Rang " was the film which I wanted to see but I could not see it till date due to several reasons.

Years later, maybe in 2007, while I was going through my old books, I found the picture safely kept in the book where I had kept the picture about 15 years ago and later forgot about it. Yes, Divya Bharti's sudden unexpected untimely death made me panickstriken and sad. But somehow, I tried hard to forget her. Even then she kept wandering around my heart and mind but later that too faded away with time.

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Front View of South City Mall

Front View of South City Mall

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I had taken many pictures of South City Mall earlier but I had always forgotten to take the front view of the Mall. Today I got it from one of my friend named Paramita who had gone to the Mall yesterday with her hubby for their Marriage Anniversary and she took the photo from the front. Thus I borrowed the pic from her. Thank You Paramita.

If you look carefully, you can see the top portion of one of the towers of South City Towers on the top right hand side of the picture.

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