Off-course is Ofcourse
 
Digg us Stumble it! Save us on delicious Find us on twitter Find us on facebook
78
135
08:25 PM
01 August 2009
like it
Comment(s)
(0) Comment(s)     (7) like it

Stories

Posted By elena





My most lasting memories from work in the mobile clinic in Topsia are the stories told by the grandmothers of the area. Complaining of aching backs, knees, and hands they told tales of cruel daughters-in-law and unlowing sons. But sometimes, when the pounding rain outside gave the old ladies an excuse to linger longer in the clinic, they settled into the red plastic chairs, and showed us the vegetables they bought to cook for lunch and vigorously chewing paan, also praised Allah, talked about their sweet grand-children, and used the most colourful of curses with a mischievous smile.

These ladies have lived through the cruelty of partition and saw their fathers killed mercilessly. Some of them came to Kolkata s children from Bihar to work in the now long-closed iron factories of Topsia. One of these children who came to Kolkata 60 years ago, Zinat Aman, has been living on the street as long as anyone remembers, mumbling: “Na baap, na bhai. Hum akele hai. Shaadi nahi kiya. Kai karenge? Baap toh nahi hai. Khud kaise karenge? Koi toh tha. Dusre se rishta lia.” And after all her years the street is the only reality that has remained with Zinat Aman. “Ami Masjid Bari Lani jabo,” she stamps her feet when someone tries to take her somewhere else. Zinat Aman barely sits, and wanders instead constantly away from and to her beloved Masjid Bari Lane.

Not many pause to listen. In Topsia, people wave the grandmas away, not recognizing the value of the stories they are dismissing . But if we do not record these remarkable women’s stories, they will leave without a trace. Recording these old ladies’ experiences of the past and their thoughts about today is a project that I would like to realize one day.

06:20 PM
01 August 2009
like it
Comment(s)
(0) Comment(s)     (3) like it

Politics on Kolkata’s Walls

Posted By elena

Just before the West Bengal elections, the most colourful cartoons and party symbols appeared on walls around the city. While Congress-supporters limited themselves to innocent tricolour flowers, the sharp minds and brushes seemed to be on the Communist side. Which, alas, did not help them in the end.
I wonder if Mamta was able to appreciate the wit in the caricatures?

 







gaurav's avatar
05:47 PM
01 August 2009
like it
Comment(s)
(3) Comment(s)     (3) like it

Sport enough? Game enough?

Posted By gaurav

Rahul : man! What is this ? Imagine what! I get this mail through a friend regarding Driving Challenge and I saw ur name…!i was like wtf…is he the same mota Chhabruuu we used to tease in the class..! How come all this ?
me :    abey tu bata pehley…kar kya rah hai aaj kal..!hai kidhar?
Rahul : yaar apna toh wahi..petrol pump sambhaal raha hoon papa ka.Par tu bata…yeh sabb kya hai ? voting band ho gayi?
me:    haan voting band ho gayee thi yaar 17 ko..aagey dekho.
Rahul:  Par yaar u have changed a lot…I mean tu sala.. kahan gabdu sa fussad sa banda hota tha class mein… and aaj kal toh chhaey huey ho chaaro taraf ! kee gall hai yaar..
Rahul:  Shadi waadi hui ke nahi ?!
me:    hehe… na yaar.. no shaadi plans ..tu bata..
Rahul : na yaar.. bygod… tu badal gaya hai bilkul…!!  tu 10th class tak toh sala kisi se baat kar ke nee raazi tha.. koney mein pada rehta tha foot ball bann ke…yeh change kaisey aaya ? lol ..we called u ‘gainda’ and king kong ...yaad hai ?
me:    lol. .abhi bhee mota hoon yaar..haan pehley waali haalat nahi hai !! yaad hai yaar sab.. jeena mushkil kiya hua tha tuney ..aur guptey ne mera class mein !! :’(
Rahul :  achha..yeh bata .. gaadi-shaadi kaun see rakhi hai ??
me: lol.. gaadi hai .. dou-pahiya vahan !! apni pyaari basanti ..bullet !!;)
Rahul:  car waar nee lee kiya ? driving challenge se layega kya ??hehe
me :  hahah… na yaar… car etc ka kabhi mood nahi hua ... bikee he theek hai apan ko ...i feel at home with a bike rather than a car..! 8 saal se bike hee chala raha hoon sirf smile
Rahul : abey chup kar.. Driving challenge walo ko bateyga toh g pe laat maar ke bahaar karengey ..!
me :  hahahah… abey woh gaadi nahi de rahey… and waise bhee this is not a race ya rally.. a bit dffrnt competition.. photography , video ..writng etc sabb dekhnegy…race hotee toh thodey n apart leta !
me:    baaki dekho kya hota hai ..i just want to explore photography ..after almost 4 years yaar.. it has been long..!:(
Rahul : chal koi na Chhabru…. bike samajh ke chala liyo gaddi ko ... oyeh Mudcakefund kya hai ? i saw the film.
me:  film dekh lee toh poochta kahe ko hai… websiet chekc kar lena…link diya hua hai..
Rahul: haan hai,,,chal theek hai fir .all the best motey ..HIPPO ..King-kong Chhabruuuuu!!!hehhe
me :  lol lol….thnx yaar…
Rahul :  aayio gurgaon…miltey hain ...guptey ke saath aajaiyo woh aat arehta hai chandigarh se idhar.
me:  yupp pakka.. let this TGDC thng happen… then plan karta hoon ...nahi toh tu aa jana ! hugs ..bye bye..
Rahul : tata chhabruuuuuuuuuu


Guess Who ???!!


Thats the ‘me’ in 1996 in my school days 106 Kgs…hence the name Hippo !!

06:38 PM
31 July 2009
like it
Comment(s)
(2) Comment(s)     (8) like it

Swoosh…

Posted By elena

Page 2 of 5 pages    1 2 3 4 >  Last »


Latest SMS Feeds

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 17th Aug 09 12:59:02 PM

Beautiful drive from Nashik to Bombay, one of THE best roads we have driven on!

From : TWaC

Sent : 17th Aug 09 12:40:00 PM

Had fallen in love with Cedia. Now, it s time for detachment.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 16th Aug 09 03:20:55 PM

Bright, blue sky.. Cotton candy clouds.. We head to Nasik

From : TWaC

Sent : 16th Aug 09 01:30:31 PM

Heavy rains in Konkan. Near zero visibility.

From : TWaC

Sent : 16th Aug 09 11:58:04 AM

Back to Maharashtra

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 16th Aug 09 08:27:16 AM

on the road again, heading from udaipur to baroda

From : TWaC

Sent : 15th Aug 09 04:28:50 PM

Rain welcomes us at Goa

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 15th Aug 09 03:54:33 PM

In pot-hole territory. Thank god we are on empty stomachs!

From : TWaC

Sent : 15th Aug 09 03:36:16 PM

Now on the fringes of Western Ghats

From : TWaC

Sent : 14th Aug 09 04:05:56 PM

Touched Kerala once more. At Bekal Fort

From : TWaC

Sent : 14th Aug 09 04:02:45 PM

Morning drive through misty Coorg

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 14th Aug 09 01:31:24 PM

just reached jaipur... Its super warm here

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 14th Aug 09 01:17:21 PM

300km from home! :) :) racing to indore!

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 14th Aug 09 12:18:33 PM

Still pouring, hoping its also raining in MP where the soyabean farmers are looking up hopefully at the sky

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 14th Aug 09 12:08:08 PM

2361 Shivpuri

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 14th Aug 09 11:51:43 AM

Pouring all the way from Agra into Jaipur

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 14th Aug 09 07:54:28 AM

On our way to Jaipur

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 13th Aug 09 11:12:33 PM

Blogging! The bed beckons..

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 13th Aug 09 07:46:54 PM

Just out after seeing the taj mahal!

From : TWaC

Sent : 13th Aug 09 04:51:36 PM

Madikkeri - Ghats, rains and pot-holed roads

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 13th Aug 09 04:10:44 PM

10km from Gwalior, pulled over by the police to be asked Kya yeh sports gaadi hai? ;D

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 13th Aug 09 03:43:28 PM

Had breakfast AND lunch today! Niiiice! :D

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 13th Aug 09 12:38:26 PM

Still on the road to Agra...

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 13th Aug 09 08:04:32 AM

Heading to Agra. Its going to be a long drive..

From : TWaC

Sent : 12th Aug 09 06:31:31 PM

On our way back to Mysore

From : TWaC

Sent : 12th Aug 09 05:35:06 PM

In Wayanad. Western Ghats Kerala episode

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 12th Aug 09 02:42:18 PM

Tan! Tandan!! .. Aaja aaja dilli chhodein! .. Delhi dropped from plans. We head straight to Agra!

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 12th Aug 09 01:46:03 PM

It s hot at the Hawa Mahal! :|

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 12th Aug 09 12:59:33 PM

In Varanasi, walking along the ghats and looking at the Ganga

From : TWaC

Sent : 12th Aug 09 11:48:58 AM

Through Nagarhole National Park

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 12th Aug 09 11:41:21 AM

At Akad Cars, the Mitsu showroom. Mr. Abhinav, the MD, is tellim us the best way around Jaipur.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 12th Aug 09 09:13:27 AM

Good morning world! We are in Jaipur! Today s objective: getting Joe a pink shirt/kurta ;)

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 11th Aug 09 10:20:04 PM

In Varanasi, just got back to the room after the ganga aarti. Stunning.

From : TWaC

Sent : 11th Aug 09 09:03:36 PM

Swine flue alert in Hassan. We cancelled our stay and hit Mysore.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 11th Aug 09 07:55:47 PM

On NH8, long day comin to an end.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 11th Aug 09 04:51:56 PM

Dust storm outside, but IIM Outdoors is snugly cocooned in the Blackhawk :)

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 11th Aug 09 04:06:41 PM

30kms from Varanasi and its pouring..

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 11th Aug 09 01:51:31 PM

Leaving Jodhpur ... On our way to Ajmer.. Hoping to visit the dargah today .. Jodhpur was beautiful! *sigh*

From : TWaC

Sent : 11th Aug 09 01:40:47 PM

Cedia Sports turns its SUV mode on. Climbs Kemmana Gundi peak.

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 11th Aug 09 12:28:05 PM

Superbly bad roads on route to Varanasi. Soaking in the last sights of Madhya Pradesh.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 11th Aug 09 12:20:07 PM

Just had a long conversation with Mr.Brijraj Singh - great-grandson of HRH Ratan Singh .. Visit to Mehrangarh Fort delayed

From : TWaC

Sent : 11th Aug 09 12:20:02 PM

Driving through coffee estates to Kemmana Gundi peak

From : TWaC

Sent : 11th Aug 09 10:23:44 AM

Bhadra dam & WLS. Touch & go.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 11th Aug 09 08:52:51 AM

Just got up, not a single post been uploaded so far, gotta hurry.. ttyl :)

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 11th Aug 09 08:31:52 AM

Passing through the Panna Forest Reserve..stopped on a bridge..

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 11th Aug 09 08:01:54 AM

Heading from Khajuraho to Varanasi..

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 10th Aug 09 08:43:24 PM

Sitting at Raja Cafe having a European thali.. :)

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 10th Aug 09 07:56:44 PM

In Jodhpur old markets - SHOPPING!

From : TWaC

Sent : 10th Aug 09 07:50:45 PM

At Shimoga after a rainy day in rain forests

From : One Foot Wild

Sent : 10th Aug 09 07:40:11 PM

Back at the hotel after seeing the absolutely stunning temples of Khajuraho.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 10th Aug 09 06:47:10 PM

As the sun sets, we enter Jodhpur, today s travel - 396km, but not feeling blue at all :)

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 10th Aug 09 04:50:05 PM

100 km away frm jodhpur, horrible truckyktraffic on the way. Had lunch for the second time in four days! :)

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 9th Aug 09 02:27:22 PM

Just had tea with Mr.Dhanraj Mallik, Rann veteran & advisor to the BBC. Right now, on our way to discover some salt pans, thts how we spend our Sunday! ;)

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 9th Aug 09 12:05:24 PM

On state highway 07. Namrata s driving while I m writing and Enrique s crooning.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 8th Aug 09 07:30:34 PM

At the Vintage Villa of classic cars, droolin over the sports tourers. Got here after blastin the 88km NE1 Expressway in 42mins! Cedia, take a bow!

From : TWaC

Sent : 8th Aug 09 12:01:23 AM

Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary A manmade forest spread over 84 sq km A haven for deers peacocks an many birds

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 7th Aug 09 10:25:40 PM

Ab hum bhi poore punjabi! ... Current track: Kangana .. For Gaurav from Chandigarh :)

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 7th Aug 09 09:56:45 PM

Just discovered d USB connector for the blackhawk s music sys... one of d best moments of d day! :D

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 7th Aug 09 05:28:25 PM

Reached our first destination Daman, it even has its own airport! :)

From : TWaC

Sent : 7th Aug 09 04:38:22 PM

We haven't heard the 'Suprabhatham' chant for many many years. While we were in Chennai and Kerala we used to hear that quite often. First day morning. And as we walk into this nice restaurant at Vashi for breakfast, the 'Suprabhatham' chant welcomes us. Perhaps a good omen on the first stop on first day.

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 7th Aug 09 04:19:19 PM

Just drove 21 km in our cedia, for the very first time! This vehicle is just so smooth!! :) 50 km from Daman. Joe s taken over coz we have to reach by 12

From : IIM Outdoor

Sent : 7th Aug 09 03:09:15 PM

Good morning! :) on our way frm thane to vapi. Jus done upma n rawa dosa at Kamat Vithals. Catch the pic on our flickr n twitter!



About us

Gaurav is a Chandigarh based Social activist ,filmmaker and a trained Doctor . He runs an NGO called Humlog ( we the people ) . Elena is based at Kolkata , works for her company till the evening and then she turns into a 'Bare-foot Doctor' for the slum kids around. We kindly request our dear friends and well wishers to NOT to cast multiple fake votes from their different IDs, that would do NO good to us . Please mind it !

Followers



Other Teams

Radhika Bharath
Joseph Namrata
Unny Bindhu



Recent Posts

RSS

Mumbai Chaka Chak

Tuesday, August 04, 2009


Mittran di gaddi

Tuesday, August 04, 2009


Green Warriors of Chandi’s Fortress

Sunday, August 02, 2009


Monsoon Taxi

Sunday, August 02, 2009


Stories

Saturday, August 01, 2009


Politics on Kolkata’s Walls

Saturday, August 01, 2009


Sport enough? Game enough?

Saturday, August 01, 2009


Swoosh…

Friday, July 31, 2009


The Comm’on Man

Friday, July 31, 2009


What’s in the name ?!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009


For all of us

Wednesday, July 29, 2009


Shipra Express

Wednesday, July 29, 2009


My Only ‘Long Term Relationship’

Tuesday, July 28, 2009


KaRma-sutra™ of a Ruined Artist

Monday, July 27, 2009


Through the Heart

Monday, July 27, 2009


Travel Photography

Sunday, July 26, 2009


Graphic-Fun with TGDC logo and Cedia !

Saturday, July 25, 2009


Why and How did TGDC happen to us ?

Friday, July 24, 2009