Quiz

I got all the answers right in this Quiz without googling.

You can also try and see how you score.

It's a quiz about cities.

Education should be fun. This surely is :)

It's informative and interesting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbwr239

Here's wishing you Happy Quizzing and Happy Sharing.

Cheers
Aparna

Pyaar

Nice song with nice music, nice lyrics and sung nicely by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik

Music has been given by Nadeem-Shravan

Lyrics are by Sameer

Pyaar Aaya Aur Zyaada from the movie Barsaat (2005)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc3vjkGUme0

Enjoy :)

Aparna

POC

POC

They say
Are people
Of colour
Excluding
Whites.

Why?

Is white
Not a
Colour?

© Aparna Chatterjee

You'll Like This

 A Pic

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/800/cpsprodpb/aa47/live/75a30de0-96b2-11ef-99af-372359b57a36.jpg

A Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArolURVjx_Q

And some Quotes :-)

It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't. -  Bruce Springsteen

People write whatever they want; they just want to fill up the space. 95 percent of the things that were written about me were false. -  Asma Rehman

Being a celebrity is like taking an exam every second of the day. You’re judged 24/7. -  Dimple Kapadia

There was far more interest in my face and figure than there ever was in my intellect. This is one reason that I have loved ageing—it has evened the scales. -  Zeenat Aman

Racing thoughts supersede racing horses with their speed. -  Aparna Chatterjee

It is always the simple that produces the marvellous. -  Amelia Barr

Data is the new oil. -  Clive Humby

A genius is someone who makes more and better use of their subliminal thought processes than the rest of us. -  Frederic Myers

I adored my mother and from an early age was driven by a desire to make her happy and proud. She wasn’t a pushy person, but some innate discipline coupled with my Catholic school upbringing fostered in me the need to be the best at whatever I do. As a child, I excelled at school. I was head girl at Saint Joseph’s Convent and later won a scholarship to the University of South California. -  Zeenat Aman

Happiness or success cannot be pursued, for both can ensue only as a by-product of our dedication to a cause greater than us. -  Viktor Frankl

I am not denying the creativity of designers nor the skill it takes to create fine clothes, but what I am protesting is the obsession with appearance and couture that I see around me. In a world brimming with wonder and suffering, fashion should bring us joy and utility not turmoil and self-obsession. -  Zeenat Aman

What we buy, and pay for, is part of ourselves. -  Amelia Barr

People get bored and forget. Why do they drop in and want to hear about what happened and when? Weak and withering, why am I supposed to repeat every trivia? Genuine interest, or a vicarious pleasure in death and disease? I want to put everything down on a piece of paper. I can offer it to them to read. -  Bibek Debroy

Kindness is always fashionable, and always welcome. -  Amelia Barr

I have led a life of breathtaking highs and profound lows. There is nothing I regret, and nobody that I owe. Any shame or fear that has ever dogged me has long evaporated. -  Zeenat Aman

You can’t live a life without thinking how stupid you were and what a mistake that was, and how self-sabotaging that was. I’ve been in therapy for a long time, and my therapist kept me from some of my more self-destructive impulses to do with substances and bad relationships and stupid behaviour. And having kids has also kept me on the straight and narrow. -  Hanif Kureishi

There’s always tension between a mother and her daughter. The mother is saying something that she thinks is good for the daughter and the daughter will rebel because she believes she knows better. Only when a daughter becomes a mother does she understand where her mother was coming from. -  Dimple Kapadia

My sons have been abroad after graduating from school, more American now than Indian. “Will I hop onto a plane?” For what? You know precious little about India. You will be less of a help and more of a hindrance. There will be a time to hop onto the plane. Not yet, not now. Not in time for the last hug, but in time for the funeral rites. At best, send money, if needed. It was no different for my parents and me. However, that was spread across different cities in India. This is transcontinental. -  Bibek Debroy

Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you think, and of everything you do, is for yourself. -  Wei Wu Wei

Everything we know in aviation, every rule in the book, every procedure we have, we know because someone somewhere died…We have purchased lessons…with blood. -  Sully Sullenberger

If you tied your hands up for a day and had to spend the day without their use, you’d see what they mean to you. -  Hanif Kureishi

Irreparable loss at the age of 70, when life’s productivity is as good as over? In another ten years, what social value will I bring? Can it be measured, quantified, imputed for? I give up the thought, too complicated. There are lives my life has touched, improved, even bruised. If they get to know, they may remember, with fondness and bitterness. Such people don’t write obituaries. -  Bibek Debroy

There are incidents in my life that the public cling to and that are dredged up again and again. I am aware of these, and becoming increasingly immune to them. My life is not defined by a few bad days that transpired many decades ago, and I need neither sympathy nor defence. I am content in myself. -  Zeenat Aman

The universe propels our evolution at a pace in proportion to our passion for uncovering purpose and meaning in our lives. -  Anil Bhatnagar

Time is the only currency you spend without ever knowing your balance. Use it wisely. -  Tiny Buddha dot Com

The nature of the world is transient. Fame, money, love, good times and bad—these will come and go. I found my inner mettle when I accepted this truth. The only thing that is in my control is my attitude. Life is just what you make of it, and mine has been magnificent. -  Zeenat Aman

With renunciation life begins. -  Amelia Barr

I don’t feel like reading, even when I can. I don’t feel like watching TV, even when I can. The same boring news, the same boring high-decibel debates. It all seems so transient and puerile. But so am I, transient and puerile, a dot that might have been wiped off. In that event, what would have happened? A few condolences, perhaps even from important people. “Irreparable loss.” Perhaps a posthumous Padma Bhushan or Padma Vibhushan. A few obituaries. -  Bibek Debroy

Nobody lives forever. Our time on this planet is finite. Don't waste your time worrying about stuff that isn't that important. Focus on the things that are important, focus on your family, the people in your life. Do that thing that you've always planned to do one day, why not do it today. -  Sir Chris Hoy

Shubho Bijoya :-)

Embed from Getty Images 

Wishing you all Happy Vijaya Dashami, Happy Dussehra and Shubho Bijoya with some quotable quotes from this illusory world of Moha-Maya :-)


You don’t forget your first love. Psychologists say it is because it is a life-changing experience and one that can impact your brain, leaving an imprint on its sensory parts. By the same token, you also don’t forget your first break-up. These experiences are the first intense emotions we go through. -  Muna Khan

Nobody is invincible. And it’s vulnerability that makes you human. -  Shabana Azmi

Respect! Though you can’t demand respect, you have to earn it. Love keeps changing. Romance is the first thing that disappears with marriage. But you have to keep working at it – it’s a process of constant adjustment. Togetherness, friendship, interest in each other, and giving space to your partner is paramount. That can only stem from respect. -  Shabana Azmi

Anyone who has looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. -  Otto von Bismarck

It is not merely wine or bhang that makes one drunk; a mad idea also can do so. -  Mahatma Gandhi

Any use of technology that undermines the richness of human relationships must be presumed suspect, especially if it encourages passivity rather than creativity. If a form of technology is proving deleterious to your relationships with others, you have to have the guts to drop it. Don’t be afraid to walk away. It is vital to remain technology’s master, and not become its slave. -  John Rhodes

If you treat me like an option, I'll leave you like a choice. -  Anon

Though sometimes we don’t get along very well-we have never been on beautiful terms ever for that matter — we have always been together. And the credit is hers and not mine. I can assure you that she is a very kind and tolerant woman. And she has been a great daughter-in-law to my parents, cared for and looked after them. -  Raj Kapoor

There was turmoil in our marriage but, at the end of the day, we both realised that we could neither live with each other nor without each other. Today, I realise that a celebrity’s life is like an open book. I regret the days when we didn’t talk with each other. I suppose that is what is called maturity. -  Krishna Raj Kapoor

When I sit back at the end of the day, I feel very sorry for all the pain that I have given you. How can I bring those days back for you? But show business is such that a woman has to be understanding because there are constant emotional involvements, because the work is such. A lesser woman would have deserted me long ago. It is Krishna who has made my home. Unhone mera ghar banaya, basaya, sajaya aur sanwara (she made my home, inhabited it, adorned it, and cared for it). -  Raj Kapoor

I am curious to see how machine learning impacts the future of our relationships. Can AI succeed in re­­plicating hum­an affection? Assuming you are in a relationship with a virtual being that always agrees with you, how will you deal with conflict and hurt, emotions that make us human? -  Muna Khan

It is easy to mock people who use apps like Replika. But at the heart of it, this is a story about loneliness, a growing epidemic that technology is attempting to solve, and profit from. If social media has profited from keeping us glued to their platforms, often at the expense of personal relationships, why blame other platforms from trying to cash in and also address a need? -  Muna Khan

Is the Englishman bad because he is an Englishman? Is it that everyone with an Indian skin is good? If that is so, there should be [no] angry protest against oppression by Indian princes. India can gain nothing from the rule of murderers—no matter whether they are black or white. Under such a rule, India will be utterly ruined and laid waste. -  Mahatma Gandhi

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. -  Franklin D. Roosevelt

I don't always take the right decision. I make the decision and then make it right. -  Ratan Tata

If it’s possible to be in films without taking your clothes off or killing people with machine guns, I seem to have indeed managed. -  Dame Maggie Smith

If you want things to be done well, do it yourself instead of depending on others, provided you are confident you'll do it well. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I read a long time ago that men who love their women, make them bloom! I think there's a lot of truth to that statement. -  Anjana Bhalla

That is, after all, what companionship is about: knowing the other person, listening to them and being listened to. -  Muna Khan

If you find happiness with someone today, you are lucky. One does not know what lies in store in the future. Today, life is what you make of it… the age-old notion that you have to be married to be happy and settled, no longer holds true now. And marriage is a bond, which not always keeps you bonded for life. -  Zarine Khan

Weather is like Life, always full of vagary. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I don’t want you going down the road of bitterness. It leads to hell. -  Anthea

How can a loving, omnipotent God permit disease, war and suffering? -  Anon

Empathy and kindness are the greatest strengths a leader can possess. -  Ratan Tata

Happy Birthday, Mummy 🤗

24 and on the road,

My life has been hectic 

As people come and go

 

New memories are cherished

Some old friendships have perished

Tucked into my bed

I reflect on my life….

 

But no matter the hardship 

No matter the joy,

I always know there is someone

Who makes time for this boy.

 

One call away

And she listens to what I say,

Might not agree on everything 

But that's okay.

 

I love her to bits

Though I’m not the best at expressing it

I love you Mummy.

Thank you for loving me.

 

Happy Birthday  

Photo + Poem © Rajarshi Chatterjee

Onset

With the

Ending of
Summer
And the
Onset of
Autumn,
Days are
Getting shorter,
So I tend to look
A little bit longer,
Lest I miss some
Daytime wonder.

During darkness,
Not much to view
On cloudy nights,
So I wait to see
The moon and
Stars on starry
Nights, though
Overcast nights
Don't put me off
Much, since I have
The nights to ponder.

https://www.boloji.com/poem/29534/onset

© Aparna Chatterjee

Close

Close the PC
And look at the
Clouds,
The birds soaring,
The winds roaring
Greenery abounds,
Seeing the sea :-)
Happiness rebounds.

https://www.boloji.com/poem/29515/close

© Aparna Chatterjee

Dreamy

Dreamy skies

Dreamy clouds

Dreamy trees
Dreamy seas

Dreaminess shrouds

And I seek a shelter
In this dreamy world
Far away from those
Teeming crowds

https://www.boloji.com/poem/29512/dreamy

© Aparna Chatterjee

Bereavement

In the scores

Of words that
Reach you,
Don't know
If mine will do.

I empathise
With your loss.

My condolences
To you.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Work

If your work

Is always
Overwhelming
And all-consuming,
You should never marry.

But if you are
Really thirsting
To marry, first purge
The toxins from your
Work, before you
Decide to marry.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Salary

A six-figure
Salary doesn't
Come easy

You need to
Wake up nights
And feel uneasy

(This is about someone with no work-life balance. I've seen him spend sleepless nights for his office tasks.)

© Aparna Chatterjee

Rural

From city dwellers

We've become
Villagers, loving
The quaint, idyllic
English countryside
Where we're residing
As nature lovers :-)

(Next week, we complete one year of our stay in North Yorkshire)

Photo + Poem © Aparna Chatterjee

Series

Dear Friends,

I bring to you this new series of quips and quotes. 

Have a long, leisurely, summery reading :-)

Man - a being in search of meaning. -- Plato (Greek philosopher)

I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand. -  Confucius

Clarity often comes from paying attention, not seeking it. -  Utkarsh Amitabh

I seriously say to you that business or job as an engineer is not the thing for me. It is totally foreign to my nature and radically opposed to my temperament and opinions. Physics is my line. I know I shall do great things here. For, each man can do best and excel in only that thing of which he is passionately fond, in which he believes, as I do, that he has the ability to do it, that he is in fact born and destined to do it … I am burning with a desire to do physics. I will and must do it sometime. It is my only ambition. I have no desire to be a "successful" man or the head of a big firm. There are intelligent people who like that and let them do it. … It is no use saying to Beethoven "You must be a scientist for it is great thing" when he did not care two hoots for science; or to Socrates "Be an engineer; it is work of intelligent man". It is not in the nature of things. -  Homi Jehangir Bhabha

Everyone thinks it’s a problem to be married to someone doing a similar kind of work, but on the contrary, it’s a great help. We each understand the needs of the other. We spend our days in the same house two floors apart. She’s on the top floor, and I’m on the bottom floor of our brownstone in Brooklyn. We don’t talk during the day … We get together afterwards in the late afternoon or early evening and start living like a normal couple. During the day, silence reigns in the house. -  Paul Auster

Siri is not just a good writer but a genius. I think Siri is the most intelligent, brilliant person I’ve ever known. She has an incredible talent for thinking and absorbing new information, taking on new subjects, going through vast mazes of knowledge, and she has an omnivorous mind. How exciting it’s been for me to watch what she’s been doing all these years we’ve been together. -  Paul Auster (on his wife Siri Hustvedt)

We are so smug. We have such feelings of superiority to the rest of the world. Even the stupidest things we do are considered good because they’re American, underlined six times. -  Paul Auster

 I am a very small and ordinary person with no special qualities.  I am responsible for what I speak, and I am not responsible for what others understand. -  Annu Kapoor

I do not watch movies, TV, OTT, news channels, or read newspapers, so if you wish, you can call me foolish. Being foolish is not a crime. -  Annu Kapoor

Whenever I see my reels or posts go viral, I switch off the notifications. I know there are some who will spew venom for no reason at all. -  Shivam

As an artiste, you always encounter situations when you’re just not ready to go forward with work, but you have to. Sometimes you may be working on a happy song, but your state of mind could be very sad. Sometimes, you could be very happy, but you have to compose a song about sorrow. You need to compartmentalise your mind and work towards finishing the task at hand. -  A. R. Rahman

You need to be prepared psychologically, physically, mentally, emotionally and economically to be an actor. I have suffered depression twice in 11 years. Unless you are not psychologically, economically and mentally healthy, please don’t come in the acting field. I am being brutally honest about it. -  Durgesh Kumar

The teachings from my parents helped me maintain my sanity through high-pressure jobs and challenges. My father's saying that life is an incline, and my mother's emphasis on being a giver, guided me. -  Kiran Bedi

When the media asks questions, understand that they need sensational content for current affairs, which they got from my straightforwardness. I have no relation to politics or religion, and because I have no connection to religion, I have no connection to irreligion either. -  Annu Kapoor

I am the wrong person to give relationship advice. I have always dated wrong people. Please don’t ask me because I will give a very stupid and bad answer. -  Neena Gupta

It is not the audience who rejects us; it is the people in the industry who believe that once you are married you are not desirable to the audience. I think I proved them wrong. -  Dimple Kapadia

In earlier times, you'd be eager to find out if the girl will like you, now we wonder if she is a girl. -  Anon

It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. -  Robert H. Goddard

Each day is the scholar of yesterday.  -  Publilius Syrus

Social media is now the air kids breathe. -  Michael Rich (Pediatrics professor at Harvard Medical School)

It seems like a lot of kids use social media to promote a facade. And it’s really sad. Because social media is telling them how they should be and how they should look. It’s gotten to a point where everyone wants to look the same instead of being themselves. -  Gabriela Durham

No metaphors work against an armed soldier. No poetry can save you from a tank. -  Halyna Kruk

Time is precious, use it wisely. -  Aamir Khan

A greater feeling of control over life can explain about 75% of the association between money and happiness. So I think a big part of what’s happening is that, when people have more money, they have more control over their lives. More freedom to live the life they want to live. -  Matt Killingsworth

The biggest climate issue is a bunch of egotistical men who refuse to change. The polluters know their choices are killing our planet and our people, so there are really no excuses for them not to change. -  Dia Mirza

I was worried for my daughter not having a father while growing up. It was later that I realised that you can have a happy family only when you are mentally happy. It's not a good upbringing for your child to be in a dysfunctional family. If two people can't co-exist, it is better to part ways. -  Shweta Tiwari

There are so many things about my own life that I don’t understand. My actions over the years. Why did I do that? Why that impulse? People spend years in analysis trying to figure out the answers. I’ve never done that so I’ve been more or less on my own, trying to figure things out, and I honestly have to report that I don’t think I’ve made a lot of progress. -  Paul Auster

Our views keep changing and evolving as we go through various stages and phases of living. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I used to want to seize the day – now I just want to embrace the day. -  Jon Bon Jovi

I think all my life’s story is condensed in my face. It is neither innocent nor coy. It speaks volumes. -  Dimple Kapadia

My biggest lesson has been that where you are born is one of the most defining factors in how your life will play out. I feel huge gratitude to live as a European. Although it’s far from perfect, life here is incredibly easy, which is something I never take for granted anymore. -  Fiona Burke

Love is the highest and most powerful vibration of all times. That is why it feels so good to love and to be loved. The human spirit yearns to find and give love. So the most effective way to raise your vibrations is to love. When you vibrate at a higher level, you find true happiness, peace, joy, healing, great health, and you can manifest and attract. Today, give someone your love. Make it unconditional and without expecting anything in return. It could be your partner, kid, parent or friend. Love with all your heart, in whatever way you like to...touch, a warm embrace, a conversation, making something special, a hug or kiss. Love is life...Be blessed!! -  Arup Ganguly

To have lived long enough depends neither upon our years nor upon our days, but upon our minds. -  Seneca

In the journey of life, the final destination is where there are no desires left, all desires have ended and one becomes truly desireless. -  Aparna Chatterjee

Listening

She listening

To me.
I reading
To her.

What greater
Pleasure can
I have, than
This I already
Have :-)

(Our daughter is with us during her summer holidays. Often when she has her meals, she sits near me. I read to her nice poems, articles and quotes. We discuss. It's a lot of fun :) When she leaves, thanking me, I tell her the pleasure is mutual.)

© Aparna Chatterjee

England

Looking forward

To a cool and

Pleasant summer?

Don't stay

In the south.

Come up north.

You'll savour a

Soothing summer.

(I wrote this after seeing that the whole of England is going thru a heatwave except the North-East where we live.)

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/925d/live/b7e0e560-30c3-11ef-a044-9d4367d5b599.png.webp

© Aparna Chatterjee

Stay

Stay away

From obnoxious

People, they don't

Know how to live in

Peace.....and they'll

Ensure you lose your

Peace.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Kishore

Morning,

Evening
And night
Kishore comes
Crooning into my
Ears, even though
He's out of sight.

With a song for
Every mood and
Moment, he comes
Humming into my
Ears, be it daylight,
Twilight or moonlight.
Hearing him is
Such a delight!

Even in the
Depths of
Despair and
Darkness, his
Legacy is like
An eternal candle
Burning bright.

His soothing
Voice fills my
Ears and over
The years, has
Always been
A source of rapid
Relief and respite.

I remain eternally
Grateful to him, thanks
To all his numerous songs
Serenading me, every
Morning, evening and night.



[Dedicated to Abhas Kumar Ganguly known to the world as Kishore Kumar]

[My psyche has a huge stock of his countless songs that often are on auto-play mode. I've grown up on his songs and so I remember many of them. One by one, his songs keep taking turns, flooding my mind with nostalgic memories.]

© Aparna Chatterjee

Tired

You get tired

Of life, still you

Keep trudging.

You don't want to

Take your own life,

So you keep trudging.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Bush

I don't like
Beating about
the bush.

If I love you,
I'll tell you.

If I don't
I won't.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Trio

Some songs never grow old.

This is one such song. I first heard it more than 20 years ago and even now, it sounds as refreshing and invigorating as it did the first time.

This buoyant, energetic, lively and romantic song has been sung by 3 singers - Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Kedarnath Bhattacharya (known to us as Kumar Sanu).

The superb lyrics are by Sameer and music has been given by Nadeem-Shravan.

Here's the song for you.

Aaj Se, Jaan-E-Mann, Dil Hai Tumhara

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyeVnQyOLeo

Happy Listening :-)

Cheers
Aparna

Chaandni

Ho Chaandni Jab Tak Raat

Deta Hai Har Koi Saath,

Tum Magar Andheron Mein

Na Chhodna Mera Haath


Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye

Jab Koi Mushkil Par Jaaye

Tum Dena Saath Mera,

O Humnawa



I first heard this song in my teens when I was in school.

Now even after 3 decades, I still like this song because of its nice music and lyrics and the way it has been sung by Kumar Sanu and Sadhana Sargam.

My thanks to its lyricist Shyamalal Babu Rai (Indeevar) and I'm also thankful to Rajesh Roshan, the composer of this beautiful, soulful song.

Have a listen and see if you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CGgGuuIMCQ

Cheers
Aparna

Relate

He cannot

Relate to

The pleasures

I get from reading,

Writing and poesies.

I cannot relate to

The pleasures he

Gets from listening

To sports commentaries.

Living together,

With our likes and

Dislikes, we are

Opposites and

Worlds apart.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Now

Now is the time

To go, if not now,

When do I go?

At this age,

Time passes

Very slow,

And to every

Yes, life says

No.

(Themed on Dotage)

© Aparna Chatterjee

Some More Quotes

See which of these gets your votes :-)

But before you start scrolling and reading, here's a nice view I would like to share with you.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLYLyjtWYAAh4R_?format=jpg&name=large

Its source is DXB Media Office.

And now here are the Quotes:


If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. -  Mother Teresa

We are all different people. It is up to us to make that difference work, otherwise everything fails. -  John Tinniswood

I think the biggest political force on the planet today is ‘threatened patriarchy’. This has intrigued me for a long time. In cinema, we are seeing the rise of some tropes: the worship of the dictatorial father figure, the omnipotent superhero or the extremely rich and violent man who will save society and the common man. All of these things are happening because men are vulnerable and threatened and are using the levers of power to push back. We are living amidst the last scream of the scared male. -  Dibakar Banerjee

Because they have been enjoying unquestioned privileges for the last 6000 to 7000 years. All the organized religions in the world have catered to them. Now, after the labour movement and the feminist movement, it’s time for the feudal male to feel afraid. Their thousand-year-old habits are being questioned by centuries-old movements. It’s new for them. -  Dibakar Banerjee

If you’re in a relationship, I strongly recommend that you LIVE TOGETHER before getting married! This is the same advice I’ve always given my sons, both of whom have had, or are in, a live-in relationship. It just seems logical to me that before two people get their families and the government involved in their equation, they first put their relationship to the ultimate test. -  Zeenat Aman

I always feel that if I say certain things, I might go to jail, or I will be fined, or my film will get stuck at the censors, or somebody will set fire to my house, or will shoot me, or will file a case against me. -  Dibakar Banerjee

You absolutely HAVE to become ok with not being liked. No matter how loving or kind you are, you will never people please your way into collective acceptance. You could be a whole ray of sunshine and people will hate you cuz they’re used to rain. Be ok with shining regardless. -  Karan Johar

It’s easy to be the best version of yourself for a few hours a day. But can you share a bathroom? Weather the storm of a bad mood? Agree on what to eat for dinner every night? Keep the fire alive in the bedroom? Work through the million tiny conflicts that inevitably arise between two people in close proximity? In short - are you actually compatible? -  Zeenat Aman

I’m aware that Indian society is a little uptight about “living in sin” but then again, society is uptight about so many things! Log kya kahenge? (What will people say?) -  Zeenat Aman

If girls adopt the live-in culture, marriage as an institution will become obsolete. Tell me honestly, would you marry your son to a girl whom you know to have been in a live-in relationship? -  Mumtaz Madhvani

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I’ve never been one to comment on others' personal lives or tear down my colleagues, and I’m not going to start now. -  Zeenat Aman

What is the need to tie yourself down in this day and age? Why marry? For children? Arrey, go out there, find the man who appeals to you, and get his baby without physical intimacy. -  Mumtaz Madhvani

I don’t read anything written about me. That’s one of my coping mechanisms. -  Mariah Carey

Having a tool like social media does two things. Firstly, it makes you perform all the time. You become an actor in your own life. The second thing is, you start escaping your real life and keep running towards your virtual life because that gives instant gratification. I have seen videos of influencers waking up in the morning, brushing their teeth and getting ready. Their lives are just narratives, being dished out for their audiences to consume. -  Dibakar Banerjee

Some tortures are physical and some are mental. But the one that is both is dental. -  Ogden Nash

Parkinson's may not kill you but it will make you wish you hadn't been born. -  Jeremy Paxman

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations. -  Benjamin Disraeli

The vigor of the soul is sophrosyne, the light of a soul free of disturbing passions. -  Demophilus

Sophrosyne controls our penchant for concupiscence. -  Plato


Hope is the only good god remaining among mankind;
The others have left and gone to Olympus.
Trust, a mighty god has gone, Sophrosyne has gone from men;
And the Graces, my friend, have abandoned the earth.
— Theognis of Megara (6th-century BCE)

Elderly

Across the road

I see an elderly

Couple who can't

Drive, can barely

Walk, so morning,

Afternoon, evening,

Night, they keep

Themselves busy

By watching TV.

I feel really sorry for them.

And wonder, if one day,

I may be also like them,

Not being able to do much

Except recline and see TV.

© Aparna Chatterjee

See

While logging into

Your PC, you look

Behind your back,

And then here, there

And everywhere to see

If anybody is peeping in

To see.

Even if nobody's

There, what you

Don't realise is that

You can never be

100% sure, as

There are those

Invisible ghosts

And spirits

Hovering around

You, that may be

Able to see what

You do on your PC

;-)

© Aparna Chatterjee

Quotes

Dear Friends,

Continuing with my quotes collection that I’ve shared with you in my previous blogs, here are some more diverse views for you to peruse.


Love is understanding, authenticity and being able to be exactly who you are with no editing – and it’s a gift. -  Michelle Visage

Some people protect us with wings outstretched, not because it’s their duty to do so but just because they know that it’s the right thing to do. -  Anon

I never read anything about myself online. You never know what you might find, but I certainly wouldn’t find it funny. I believe in the old saying that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. -  Olivia Coleman

They’re all weak, all women. They’re stupid compared to men. They shouldn’t play chess, you know. They’re like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. -  Bobby Fischer (World Chess Champion)

Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever. -  Charles Lamb

We all talk a lot, but I don't think people actually listen anymore, sit and actually listen to one another. -  Amanda Lovett

An incapable person uses the crutches of excuses. A doer goes and does it. -  Aparna Chatterjee

Power is like being a lady... if you have to tell people you are, you aren't. -  Margaret Thatcher

I don't have any rules, because I would only be breaking them, so it's a waste of time. -  Iris Apfel

It takes years to build a reputation. It takes a minute to lose it. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I don’t lie. That’s why I get in trouble: I’m honest to a fault. -  Michelle Visage

One of the biggest and most consistent differences between men and women is that relative to men, women tend to be more interested in people over things. Overall, the differences may be modest, but at the extremes of the distribution, the differences can be extreme. To be among the best chess players in the world requires extreme devotion to "things" over people. Men are much more likely to have over-the-top obsession...and obsession about things and about winning. -  Dan Dalthorp (Statistician & Ecologist)

The more you crave, the more you are a slave. -  Aparna Chatterjee

Learn to appreciate clothing you see online in the same way you appreciate art – admiration doesn’t mean you need to buy it. And love the clothes you have: there are plenty of outfits you haven’t thought about yet among what you already own. -  Emma Hakansson

Close relationships, more than money or fame are what keep people happy throughout their lives. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. -  Liz Mineo

Do not take life too seriously, this is all a sham. -  Michelle Visage

There are many questions in life worth asking, but perhaps if we’re wise we can understand that not every question needs an answer. -  Rebecca Solnit

My attachment to “things” represented a phase in life spent acquiring material wealth. Loss made me realise nothing is more valuable than life. My husband’s possessions were remnants I could still touch, smell and hold. They offered comfort; I was reluctant to let them go for fear he would vanish entirely. But the process of grief has shown he resides in a limitless space within, and in a life that can be short, or long, stuff just weighs you down when you’re feeling nudged to venture forward. So, it’s also time for me to sell my home, hopefully to a family to fill its vacant rooms, and to start living lighter. -  Margaret McNally

Life is unpredictable and uncertain. Hence, timely action should be taken. -  Aparna Chatterjee

It’s just as possible for a woman to become the best as any guy. But there are so many difficulties and social boundaries for women generally in society. That is what blocks it. -  Judit Polgár (Hungarian Chess Grandmaster)

Always listen to your wife - that’s the key to a healthy life. -- 101-year-old George Court (when asked his secret to living a long and successful life)


We tear through the decades like it's some kind of race
With rarely a thought about just in case
Sometime around 50 things start to shift
With more life behind you, what's ahead is a gift
The face is more wrinkled and the body has aged
The ways of my youth have been captured and caged
With issue after issue popping out of the blue
I've come to accept not all my dreams will come true
The thrill of life's sin has faded with time
As the needs of my parents have now become mine.

- Daniel Salinger -

Seeing

Seeing over

36 years of

Experience

On a person's

Professional

Profile, do you

Think about his

Expertise and

Experience, or

Is it overshadowed

By your thoughts of his

Advancing age?

© Aparna Chatterjee

Interfere

China says:

Don't interfere

We know best.

India says:

Don't interfere

We know best.

Russia says:

Don't interfere

We know best.

Iran says:

Don't interfere

We know best.

God says:

Even if you want to

You can't interfere

With what I do.

I know best.

© Aparna Chatterjee

Crazy

There's this

Friend of mine

Who's crazy

About sarees.

She has a

Huge stock

Of sarees.

She drapes

And models

Sarees.

She even

Sells sarees.

She's unlikely

To find a

Customer in

Me as I dislike

Wearing sarees.

I feel so much

At ease in my

Shorts, bermudas,

Leggings and

Pajamas, that I

Can't imagine

Myself wearing

Sarees.

© Aparna Chatterjee