Soumitra Chatterjee's jingle :)

Source

Good food and music is what defines a Bengali and when it is Soumitra Chattrejee added to the package, nothing gets better!! Saw this jingle on YouTube during my random surfing and I couldn't resist posting about it here. The child-like delight and his witty comments throughout the entire process of the making of the video is extremely entertaining.

Yes, after the great Amitabh Bacchan himself, it is now pour very own beloved Feluda, Soumitra Chatterjee who has taken his talents to altogether a newer height. Soumitra Chatterjee has been awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke , the Padma Shree and later the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to the Indian film industry. He has made innumerable characters come alive on the celluloid. And not to mention his magnanimous voice as he recites Kobiguru Rabindranath and Kazi Nazrul Islam, he transports his audience to a world away from the real. He has also been actively involved with the theatre and has been performing in Suman Mukhopadhay’s Raja Lear.

Soumitra Chatterjee is a name every Bengali knows. Every kid here has grown up idolizing the man. He is the face of the great Bengali sleuth, Feluda.  The creator of this eternal character, Satyajit Ray had himself said that it was the great actor himself who had inspired him to model a detective, our own Bengali Sherlock. And to say Soumitra Chatterjee has done justice to the character would be an understatement. Feluda came to life through him. Even though other actors have taken up the role to continue with the series, but it will always be Soumitra Chatterjee who would come first when we remember Feluda. Starting from his first role as Apu in Apur Sansar (from the famous Apu Trilogy), he has done numerous roles and is best known for his roles in Sonar Kella, Joy Baba Felunath ,Akash Kusum, Jhinder Bandi , Teen Kanya, Sesh Prahar, Charulata and Abhijan amongst multiple others . And it is no big secret that he was Ray’s very favourite.

The man has not just outdone himself by singing a song this effortlessly; he is an inspiration for all of us. His undying spirit for adventure and trying out something he has never tried before at an age of 80+ years is truly amazing.

You have to take a look at the video of the making of Soumitra Chatterjee's jingle for Nutrela Kacchi Ghani Mustard Oil to know the multi faceted genius the man is.

Till Next,

Facts about Bengalis You Didn't Know

Hello dear readers!!

Yes, I am not dead yet. I'm on my bi-yearly pre-exam hibernation. Will be back soon. Till then I shall leave you with a few pearls of wisdom. This post is inspired from the Some facts about Punjab and Being a Punjabi post series by Bikramjit sir on his blog. (Check out his blog to read all his Oh-So-Awesome LOLarious posts). So here I bring you some lesser known (or ill famed) facts about us Bengalis-

1) Every third person in the state has a name with the "Debo" prefix, irrespective of gender. Debopriya, Deboprotim, Debashish, Debojit, Debopriyo, Debnath - the list is never ending my dear ones.

2) Every child in the house has two names - one his proper and official name that we call the "good name" (first thing Bengali uncles/aunts ask you when you meet them for the first time - "Shona, your good name??" ) and his pet name which is usually something not even remotely close to his real name and serves the purpose of embarrassing the person in public. Most common of them being shona, mona, babu, pocha, buri et cetera et cetera.

3) No meal is complete without a sweet - rosogolla, mishti doi, shondesh , cham cham or any other variant is a compulsory for every meal.

4) Sourav Ganguly and Mamata Banerjee are the universal "dada" and "didi" respectively (literally translating to "brother" and "sister" resp.). And we don't give a damn to what India scores in the match...all we need to know is if Dada scored a century or not. And anybody who has wronged our Dada dear is our sworn enemy. Topping this enemy list is Greg Chappel closely followed by Shah Rukh Khan.

This is our Mamata Di !!
Source

5) This one is a corollary of 4 - Every male you meet on the road is your "dada" and your maid is your "mashi" (literally translating to "maternal aunt")...irrespective of their age.

6) Evenings are not complete without "parar adda" (sorry dear people, there is no direct translation for this word. The closest would be rendezvous, but then it wouldn't carry the essence of the evening "addas") and "telebhaja" (fries and fritters). Oh I forget the "chaa" (tea).

This one is called vegetable chop.

7) Corollary of 6 - Every street has a "chaa er dokan" (tea stall) and a "mishtir dokan" (sweet stall) and of course a phuchka wala (Golgappa stall. Sorry, dear non-Indian reader, there is no English word for this extremely unhealthy but heavenly yummy street food).


8) No dish is Bengali enough unless cooked in high-cholesterol Mustard Oil. Yeah, it is not good enough unless the spicy zesty fervor of the dish makes your eyes shed a few tears of joy (literally!!). And no meal is complete without fish.

Source

9) Every Bengali is a born artiste - painter, poet, chef, singer, musician, dancer, football player, swimmer - either or all of these!! And no, I am not kidding. (Sadly, yours only is the most unskilled Bengali that was ever born on this planet :-| ).

10) We do not buy clothes during sales or on our birthdays like most people on this planet. Our species buys 15-20 sets of clothes a month or two before the Durga Pujo :D

I shall leave you with 10 for this time. Might add a sequel to this one if I come out alive after the exams :P

Till then, bubbye.
Wish me luck!!

P.S.- This post is not meant to insult or demean Bengalis. Everything here is meant to be taken in good humor and with a pinch of salt.