Sat, May 10 12:50 AM
Meet the Mukherjees, in several degrees of separation from Rabindranath Tagore and in close proximity to Thai art. Ramkrishna Paramhans - think Baba Ramdev without the yoga-baba routine and a million times more cultural and spiritual cachet - and Goddess Kali, the other two pillars of the Holy Trinity in drawing room aesthetics of Bengali homes are also missing from the walls.
But not having a Tagore photograph up there is a miss - a big miss. Is this news? Or is this a revolution? Indranil, a global programme manager with Microsoft, calls the living room collage - framed pictures of Puri's rathyatras, Thai temple dancers, a Chhau mask, Rajasthani dolls - "eclectic.
" His family that has been part of his caravan trail along nine cities in his 20-year work-life has also mixed and matched the exotic with the essential fibre - their Bengali-ness. While mother-in-law Sheila Mukherjee keeps an eye on the calendar of fasts (at present she is looking forward to a Joi Mongolbar, 'Hail Tuesday'), daughter-in-law Sanghamitra has slipped in a Joi Bhaibhav Lakshmi fast, picked up from their stint in south India.
"Bhaibhav Lakshmi is Goddess Lakshmi too - from Bangalore," says she with a wink. The reason why fast-days come many days in a year in this household is now more for reasons of health.
Religion subtracted from ritual is as modern as you can get with prasad thrown in with pujo (worship). Mealtimes have also started showing a shift in ceremony.
Ayush, the Mukherjees' 14-year-son may know what goes into the making of the Bengali platter in theory ("shukto, the bitter starter, ghonto, the mashed vegetables and all") but he would much rather order-in a pizzafor dinner. What's for dinner tonight? It is bhindi, dal, chicken and rotis.
Could this have come from any other kitchen in India? The answer to that is 'yes.' The new Bengali family is also going through a change sartorially.
In the Mukherjee household, the drivers of change have been the women. Sanghamitra is mostly in pants; her saris are for "special occasions".
She and her mother-in-law Sheila have also shared the same hair-stylist. "I saw an ad in the paper of a certain William, a student of Habib's, and both Ma and I got ourselves the same haircut," says Sanghamitra patting her bob.
Her mother-in-law, also points out that hers is actually a variation, it's "the Suchitra Mitra haircut". (Those who don't know who La Mitra is, should know that Suchitra Mitra is to Rabindra Sangeet what Ella Fitzgerald is to jazz.
) Ayush has uncomplicated his identity: "Call me Ayush from Dilli," he says. For the IPL, his team he says, is neither Kolkata Knight Riders nor Delhi Daredevils.
It's Jaipur. Why? "Because it's winning!" he says thumping the table.
His father's profession, IT, is the last in his list of ambitions. He wants to be a footballer.
"Earlier, people wanted to make money, buy a house and stay there," he says. "I want to play football.
If I play well, I'll be highly paid, and the girls will come even if I break my nose.".
Beckham takes home a whopping 12 mn dlr in salary plus the endorsements. Here's what soccer stars are worth of...
| Copyright © Yahoo Web Services India Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved. Questions or Comments Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright Notice |
