Letters To Koko

 Hi Koko,  It is no secret that I love Agatha Christie. If someone says they love reading murder mysteries and in the same breath say they do not like Christie, be very suspicious of them. I remember when I was in my graduation days, the prevalent opinion was to look down upon Christie as "not literature". For a while, I swayed and had not read Christie for some time, because I had the morbid need to "fit in" with the elites. But now as I have grown older (and possibly wiser), I have developed the ability to distinguish bullshit from real knowledge and I have little patience for purists who keep harping on what is acceptable as great and trash literature.  Reading is something I enjoy and if it is entertaining, that's good for me.  The year was 2022 and we were visiting Calcutta, and as it happens we raid the old bookshelves to glean something interesting and I picked up a Bangla favorite, while you cheekily picked up an Agatha Christie. I think it was "And...

Hi Koko, Annual exams are coming and I thought it would be a great idea to sit and start revising. As I finally open your books and have a look at the portions I am surprised, nay, shocked. The chapters are getting serious.  I don’t remember learning directive principles in class four. It definitely came later. But here I was making you read about the constitution of India and our rights and duties. Suddenly, you become serious and ask me, ‘so how old do you have to be to be the prime minister?’ I’m baffled, where is this coming from?  ‘Well when I grow up I will go to the top and clean up everything.’ What do you mean, clean up? ‘Well you know here it says everyone should have a decent living conditions. But that’s not happening. Look at that footpath in Agara junction, the one in front of the temple, those balloon sellers live there. There’s no bathroom, or clean water. They don’t have money, it’s so unfair’ So you’ll clean the footpaths? ‘I’ll get hold of all the villas, br...

Hi Koko, I have not been a good documentarian. Every other day something cute or clever just goes by and I don’t end up noting it down and it gets lost. But this one was hilarious and I thought I will just make a note before I forget!  This weekend we went for a play and in typical play watching fashion I thought of wearing a saree. Ok, that’s not true. It’s just exceptionally hot and I wanted to wear something in cotton. That’s airy. And looks good.  So there I was ready before your Baba. I am standing in the foyer trying to close the right footwear. There will be a fair bit of walking so the heels are out of question. I show you a few Pinterest images and ask what do you think of sneakers or boots with this, And part comes the reply: ‘only 19 year old poor grandmas wear that, you’ll not like it on you’ The fashion pundits have declared anything goes, but my pundit knows I cannot be comfortable in something I don’t understand.  Keep dishing stellar advice.  Love, Ma...

 Dear Koko,  In the last chapter I told you about how we arrived at Amsterdam, so now let's focus on what we did there.  There were a number of things-to-do in Amsterdam (sans the hash browns of course), of which the first thing on our list was the Rijk Museum . As with all our bookings, we always do them in advance, preferably through the museum website. This time was no exception and we got the tickets. I was very excited to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer. It was only when we reached the museum that we found out that the painting has been shifted to another museum in Netherlands, but we did not have enough time to put that in our itinerary now. I was a little bummed for sure, but the museum is so beautiful and so many other wonderful things to offer that I soon forgot this slight heartburn.  Located on Museumstraat (as the name suggests, all major museums are on this street), it was an easy bus ride from our hotel. Boy, was it windy and chilly, we w...

 Dearest gentle Koko,  (Yes, I just completed watching Bridgerton, which nowadays you roll your eyes at - "again! Bridgerton, so boring ." But I was so tempted to start a letter with this address ) So on to the next part of our trip. We reached Amsterdam's Schiphol airport with a confidence which only we have. We had purchased the I Amsterdam card, so we were assured that we can just step into any transport that we like. We were only in for a rude shock - Amsterdam is not for the faint hearted. After the initial confusion, we took on "the small walk" to our hotel from the station.  It was the initial enthusiasm which made us exclaim- "Look that is Rembrandt's house" ; "The canal is so beautiful" ; "Oh these houses are right out of a postcard" ; "Look at these cute cyclists". That's where I draw the line. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing more ferocious than a cyclist in Amsterdam. They are absolute hooligans. The...

 The last few weeks (months, years?) have been quite terrible if you are an independent thinker. If you ask rational questions, like to have an intelligent conversation and want to generally stay abreast of what's going on in the world, the adage is to read the news regularly. I have been in the habit since I was a child and wanted to inculcate it in you. Luckily, you organically picked it up and these days you devour the papers before us.  In the beginning your interest was limited to the sports page and that was fun. Discussing last night's Premier League match is definitely more cheerful than the explanations I am having to give you now that you have started venturing to the other parts of the paper.   Yesterday morning for example.  This says immigrants in the US are eating cats.  What, what was that? Yes, the paper says so.  That's outrageous I think, only to realize that this was a legitimate point made by Trump in his Presidential Debate. What's...

Hi Koko,  In 1996, India played the cricket World Cup in India. I was in school and hopeful of a win. Instead there was a disgraceful exit - not only did we lose, we literally crashed and burnt. This Olympic reminds me of that time - it's heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak.  We were so excited about the games this year. We went to Paris, saw the Olympic village being made, the larger than life rings being put in place, the t-shirts being sold along with other memorabilia. And India started strong mind you - we found 3 medals in quick succession in shooting. You were so excited to see all kinds of sports - you did not leave out any - archery, shooting, rowing, cycling, races, swimming, gymnastics, table tennis, tennis, badminton, hockey, pole vaults, high jumps, javelins - even walking! The first heartbreak happened with our archers of course. That time one of them scored a 4 has to the most bizarre moments ever. But you were hopeful we will better our tally of 7 from...