What were your parents doing at your age?

They were already grandparents and I am still catering to an eighteen year old 😀

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

A very apt question.. especially right now for me.This is the space I built for myself as a cosy corner to detox with a book and a cup of coffee …the warm winter sun caressing my face and the cool breeze lulling me into relaxation ❤️

Love you Life😍

If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

This is one question that really is close to my heart and a closely nurtured secret! See…my name is not a proper name and throughout my childhood I was traumatized by it. The first question people asked on hearing my name was ,” Mom? as in mommy? mother?” It was so difficult to make people understand that ‘Mom’ in Bengali means candle or wax. Even then there was justification for the name. And it was all due to my sister.

During that time, enrollment to school was easy if you had a sibling. My sister was in class V when Sister Superior visited the class and enquired whether anybody had a sister who would like to take admission in Nursery . Immediately,she raised her hand and on asking the name of her kid sister, blurted out ‘Mom’ without thinking. Actually I was still unnamed ( had an informal name for home use only) till the age of 3😅. We Bengalis have two names, one for schools and formal places and the other for home usage. And that home name is usually a source of embarrassment in public 😂 It could be ANYTHING… meaningless, a name of affection. 

Coming back to ‘Mom’, the name stuck and till date no change. Imagine the embarrassment when you try to save a password with your name and the computer flashes INVALID NAME FOR PASSWORD 😁. How do I make the machine understand that it’s my NAME and not a term for mother 🥹

Still, I would like to have a proper name but nothing seems to fit.

Once a Mom always a Mom💞

Mr.Galliano’s Circus by Enid Blyton.

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

As a child it never failed to amaze me.And I was secretly glad that Jimmy Brown’ s father lost his job…this gave Jimmy and his family the opportunity to join the circus.What could be more fun than travelling and staying in a caravan, the smell of  slightly burst frying sausages under the open sky! It was sheer heaven for a child.

For a long time I pestered my father to buy a caravan 🤭. Something that was alien in India during that time.I remember the death glare I received from my mother. But what to do, I wanted a slice of Jimmy Brown’ s life. Tending to animals and performing 😁

Even now, once in a while I pester my husband that we should own a caravan and receive a similar death glare.🤣

If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?

Nancy Drew must have been every growing teenagers role model…as she was for me at that impressionable age😄. Now I watch my daughter going ga ga in the same manner I used to.

Spending time with Bess and George and solving critical cases, having a friend like Ned ….it was like a dream life for us while growing up.And driving the blue convertible 🥹🥹🥹.

Moreover I wanted a father like Carson Drew ( keeping it a hush hush – my own father would have been heartbroken had he known 🤣).

And the cherry on the top was Daryl Gray 😍 in Case File 1- Secrets can Kill. Daryl became almost a real life character for our girl gang.During tiffin break at school we all huddled together and  spoke only of Daryl.

There was almost a break in our friendship predicting who would Daryl prefer to date😂😂.

My god! Those were the days.Though I am laughing while writing yet a part of me wants to go back to that uncomplicated phase of life.

Loved my childhood and giving the same kind to my daughter ♥️♥️♥️

What job would you do for free?

Getting to read books during work hours would be more than payment.😄

What is your favorite type of weather?

Extreme cold with biting wind and bright sunlight is the kind of weather I would love to have throughout the year. Unfortunately, Kolkata weather is hardly cold nowadays.But once in a while when we do get this kind of weather,I am full of bubbling energy and my productivity shoots to a different level.

Wind in your hair and face , sunshine on your shoulders and a coffee cup in your hand….what more is required for life? 💘💘💘

What do you wish you could do more every day?

Of late I am not getting enough time to read and that’s making me grumpy.

What bores you?

If I can’t travel periodically, I get extremely restless which ultimately leads to boredom.Even a weekend travel helps. Looking forward to these snatched moments of relief helps me trudged ahead.

What is your favorite drink?