Tuesday, 30 September 2025

Pain

Pain has no
Religion.
Pleasure has
No religion.

Pain and
Pleasure
Affect everyone
Irrespective of
Religion.

You feel pain
I feel pain.
Pleasure is
Also ours.
It's a shared
Feeling in
Every human

Yet people
Play religious
Politics, create
Divides and
Disunity, forgetting
That we all are
The same in flesh
And blood,
When it comes to
Feeling pleasure and
Pain, be it mental or
Physical, we are all
Humane.


Monday, 29 September 2025

Preference

What do gentlemen prefer?

Of course, Blondes :-)

That's what this movie says.

It was really enjoyable to see this musical comedy made in 1953.

Almost all those who were part of this film have departed this world.

But their outstanding roles have given us wonderful memories to cherish.

All through the movie I was smiling and even after the movie, I was smiling.

There were so many funny scenes, nice songs and dances, this was a fast-paced flick with nothing boring.

The excellent choreography is credited to Jack Cole who's known as the Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance.

I loved the lyrical name Lorelei given to Marilyn and I loved the friendship she had with 'Dorothy' in the movie, portrayed by Jane. Dorothy is the kind of steadfast friend every woman would love to have. I loved her character more than that of Lorelei.

I seldom see Hollywood movies. I'm more into Bollywood but I chose to see this movie because it was a musical comedy. Had it just been a comedy, I wouldn't have seen it. But because it was a musical, that's what attracted me. I love music, songs, dances, choreography, etc. My daughter often says to me that I have a voice of a soprano and should be in the opera because I enjoy singing :)

Besides Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, the other eminent actors in this movie are Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, Taylor Holmes, Norma Varden and George Winslow. All the other supporting actors also played their part very well. Good teamwork, I must say.

You may think this film is all about light-hearted entertainment but if you delve deep....you'll find wisdom in its dialogues and lyrics.

This 1.5 hours film has been scripted by Charles Lederer, directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Sol C. Siegel.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0019tn6/gentlemen-prefer-blondes

Happy Viewing :)

Cheers
Aparna

Prefer

Gentlemen
Prefer blondes
That's what
This movie
Says.

But you say
That you don't.

Then I'm
Sorry to say,
You are
Not a
Gentleman.
You are
Just a man.


I wrote this poesy after seeing the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).

Wednesday, 17 September 2025

Stay

Nobody
Likes to
Overstay
In a hotel
For days,
Weeks,
Months,
Years,
Decades.

Likewise,
I seem to be
Overstaying
On earth, and
I'm not liking it.


Sunday, 14 September 2025

Family

Before any
Important
Decision or
Action, son
Says:
Mummy
What are your
Vibes?

I say:
Think twice
Or even
Thrice,
Before you
Decide or act.
You don't need
To believe
In my vibes.

Daughter says:
Mummy you are
Psychic. Often what
You say, comes true.

Hubby says:
Sweetie, you are of
Higher consciousness.

But deep within me,
I know
I'm an ordinary mortal,
A simpleton, a common
Person, a simple soul -
One of the countless
Zillions inhabiting
This populous world.

Zillions lived
Before me....
Zillions will live
After me.

It has been happening
For centuries. I'm just a
Speck or a star you may say
In these numerous galaxies
Of our universe and as you
May know, even stars are not
Immortal, not infallible,
Even they perish, fall and die.

Hence, all these
Labels, accolades
And descriptions
Given to me by my family
Make me feel surreal as I
Know it's all ephemeral....

I'm here for them
Now.
They perceive me
Differently, their
Perception of me
Doesn't tally
With my perception
Of me.

Tomorrow or day after,
Those labels will
Permanently
Vanish with me,
When I
Vanish into the
Endless eternity....


Tuesday, 12 August 2025

Guess The Writer :)

To My Beautiful Wife


In your eyes, I find my home,
A shining light, a gentle glow.
Your smile, a melody so sweet,
Makes every day feel so complete.

Through every laugh, through every tear,
With you beside me, love feels clear.
Your beauty, more than skin or face,
Is in your heart, your warmth, your grace.

You are my strength, my calm, my light,
The star that guides me through the night.
Forever grateful, I will be —
My love, my life, eternally.



(The writer is AI. This was my hubby's AI Poem for Me with prompts/keywords given by him. When the poem was made by AI, he sent it to me and said he accepted it because it was relatable.)

Monday, 11 August 2025

Raining

It's raining
In the sun

Sunny weather
Is having fun

Half-wet,
Half-dry,

Like a smile
And a sigh...



(I wrote this today after seeing a sunshower.)


Saturday, 19 July 2025

Lure

It's funny

How we

Feel trapped

In this world

And then

Bring in

More people

To be trapped

In this world....

By procreating

Continuously....

Generation after

Generation for

Aeons and

Centuries....

Relentlessly


Such is the

Lure of this

Chimeric life.


Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Animosity

One religion

Against another


One nation

Against another


If you believe

In rebirth and

In your next

Birth, you are

Born in the

Persecuted

Religion or

Nation, how

Will you

Survive?


(Themed on Disunity)


Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Thursday, 26 June 2025

Place

Is there a
Place in the
World where
A woman can
Feel safe....
A woman of
Any age?

Any time,
Any day,
Can she
Be there and
Walk about....
Without feeling
Unsafe?


Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Sunday, 15 June 2025

Reading

Reading this makes me wonder if God exists....
https://www.boloji.com/articles/54839/her-pain-our-progress
If He's there, how could He allow this injustice?

You can read more about Dr. James Marion Sims here.
https://eji.org/news/rethinking-the-legacy-of-marion-sims/

Regards
Aparna

Monday, 9 June 2025

Rice

Embed from Getty Images 


Daal-Chawal
Sambar-Chawal
Dahi-Chawal
Chana-Chawal
Rajma-Chawal
Curry-Chawal
Kadhi-Chawal,
The delicious
Buttered rice
And also plain
Rice.

Just like
Plain chapattis,
I also like
Plain rice.

All sorts of
Rice dishes
I like.

What is there
Not to like?! :)

My friends and family
Cannot relate to me
Having plain rice and
Plain chapattis but often
I don't feel like having
Any add-ons, simply
Enjoying everything
Plain, even plain idlis
Without sambar or
Chutneys.

But that shouldn't
Be surprising, as
You know, I am a
Plain Jane :-)



Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Nostalgia

I've been remembering him since the 4th of last month (the day he passed away).

I've now been able to devote the time to create a playlist dedicated to him, honouring his memories.

He was a versatile actor. I liked his movies.

He and his co-stars gave us some beautiful songs to reminisce and cherish.

I thank the singers, composers and lyricists of his movies who've gifted us such wonderful music with nice lyrics.

If you like this playlist, do remember to share. I've made it with a lot of love and care.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAP2Wr4O1JanbmP1ismFknRPL7qLz7wNG

If Manoj Kumar (1937-2025) is somewhere out there looking upon us, I hope he realises what he's given to us.

Immense thanks,
And gratitude to him,
As always ~ Aparna ~

Things

Lights
Fans
Vinyl
Carpets
Wardrobes
Blinds
Curtains,
Kitchen and
Bathroom fittings,
Taps and showers
And flooring, and
Of course, the myriad
Hues of paints and
Varnishes.

Things
Needed
For refurbishing
And renovating
Properties, I try
My best to source
Them, if budget
Permits, I do
Choose the
Best of them,
But have
Never relished
Searching and
Buying these
Things so
Relevant to
Interior designing,
Even though I've
Good taste in decor
And aesthetics.

I can never be
An interior designer,
Cannot relate to
People who
Relentlessly
Keep searching
And buying these
Things and also
Enjoy renovating,
Refurbishing and
Interior designing.

But try as I might,
I cannot avoid it.
With six properties
To repair and maintain,
Like it or not, I have to
Do it.

Being so happy
With reading and
Writing, immersed
In nature, music
And photography,
I don't get attracted
To materialism,
But the need for
Money to make a
Living, necessitates
It, thereby depending
On rental properties
For a source of income.


Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Friday, 9 May 2025

Rose

I and my daughter often converse in verses.
Like me, she also writes and likes poetry.
As she lives away from home near her Uni, most of our correspondence happens through phone-calls and emails.

In January, she asked me: Favourite flower! What's yours?
I replied: Always a scented Rose 🌹

Seeing this beautiful flower today, made me recall our mother-daughter Q&A.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/976/cpsprodpb/b339/live/6a0e69e0-2cce-11f0-8193-a1e7e6e5e36e.png.webp

Hope you like it.

Cheers
Aparna

Wednesday, 7 May 2025

She

She could be
Your mother's
Age, or maybe
Even your
Grandmother's
Age.

Spare her.
Why rape her?

You were sent
To care for her.

She trusts you.
Why betray her?

If you fail to be
Sober to her,
You'll fail her
As her carer.


I wrote this after reading this News.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/04/27/swedens-elder-rape-scandal/


© Aparna Chatterjee

Business

Some businesses

We can do without

On this earth.


Businesses

Selling

Alcohol

Tobacco

Drugs and

Fizzy drinks


I don't

Understand

Their business

Ethics.


Why make money

By ruining people's

Health?


You may say:

People should

Have a choice.


Why give them

This choice?


Why tempt them

With addictives?


If adults

And elders

Find it hard

To fight

Substance abuse,

What hope we have

For the young, infantile

And the vulnerable?

They'll invariably

Fail to cope.


For the betterment

Of society and to

Have a healthy

Society,

Businesses should

Quit selling

Tobacco, alcohol,

Fizzy drinks and

Dope.


Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Quips and Quotes

If you share the love of reading like I do, then this is surely for you!
Some quips and quotes for your notes and votes. Happy Reading :-)


Women of my generation in Chile were not supposed to be creative or successful. That was a man’s destiny. We were supposed to be ladies, to behave nicely, and to be a good mother, a good wife, and a good citizen. -  Isabel Allende

I don't think I would be a writer if I had stayed in Chile. I would be trapped in the chores, in the family, in the person that people expected me to be. -  Isabel Allende

Like a lot of people who’ve never wanted children, I’ve always been told I’ll change my mind one day. It was even a factor in my divorce. “I thought you’d come around,” my ex-partner said. But I couldn’t think of anything worse than bringing a child into the world who wasn’t wanted. A lot of adults lose their joy as they get older, and it must be hard being a parent because you’re thinking about safety and care. -  Jade Ridout

Being childfree, I love being able to act like a kid with my friends’ children! What’s cooler than being the fun aunt figure who jumps in puddles with them? You get the best of both worlds: all the fun, none of the responsibility. -  Jade Ridout

Karaoke is about expressing your feelings through the song. I’m not good at talking about my feelings, but I can do that through other people’s lyrics. -  Elizabeth Moya

It seems, my dear ***, that the heads of the greatest men shrink when they are assembled, and that where more sages are found, there also is less wisdom. -  Montesquieu

Note to all who get their validation from work: the workaholic is the most accepted addict of all. In fact, he and she are celebrated. Why would you want to change when the bosses and society applaud you? Work is the great permissive addiction. -  Fergal Keane

Work drove me to a near constant state of exhaustion as I chased scoops and prizes so vital to my insecure ego. -  Fergal Keane

Anyone who knows clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will tell you, there are no specific days of the year for sadness. It can be the brightest day, in the loveliest place, and you still feel like your mind is trapped in permafrost. -  Fergal Keane

I was depressed, and I tried to kill myself. I was unconscious, and my mom gave me a slap… Depression is as common as common cold. If you’re not depressed, you’re not normal. My depression gave me a lot of clarity. -  Sabyasachi Mukherjee

My parent’s marriage was a disaster from the start. One day, around my third birthday, my father went to buy cigarettes and never returned. That was the first great loss of my life, and maybe that is why I can never write about fathers. There are so many abandoned children in my books that I could start an orphanage. -  Isabel Allende

I am a writer because I was blessed with an ear for stories, an unhappy childhood, and a strange family. (With relatives as weird as mine there is no need to invent anything. They alone provide all the material for magic realism). Literature has defined me. Word by word, page after page, I have invented this hyperbolic, flamboyant me. -  Isabel Allende

Technology is changing at supersonic speed. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I want to be my own best friend. And if love, in any form, comes along and adds to that? Beautiful. -  Drew Barrymore

The life of a child should not hang in the balance between two parents whose anger for each other outweighs their love for their child. Anger makes you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing. The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms. -  Todd Spitzer

One man's comfort is another man's expense. -  Aparna Chatterjee

The purpose of education is to create a better world but if it's making things worse, it's losing its purpose. -  Aparna Chatterjee

I work as an environmental consultant, and with the planet’s state of affairs it’s a bit off-putting for me to bring a child into this world. And I’d prefer to avoid the stress and financial strain of raising another human for 18 years. -  Jay Fletcher

My experience of friends with children has mostly been positive but when people become parents, they can become insular – their child becomes their whole lives. A few times I’ve just left restaurants when friends have talked incessantly about their children and don’t change the subject. I’ve asked to talk about something else, like a movie, but they’d say they’ve not seen a film recently because of their kids. -  Yasmin Latif

My advice would be to just expect and accept that relationships do fade as your lives change; it’s natural. Look for new activities, hobbies or groups with like-minded people. --  Geoff

People need to appreciate that mothers are mothers first and foremost. And if you trust them, they’ll continue to do a brilliant job because, wrongly, they’ll feel like they have to overcompensate, because you’ve allowed them to be a mum. Childcare in this country is a joke. The cost is crippling. Which means amazing women go off and have a baby and can’t come back. -  Stacey Dooley

One is not born, but rather becomes a woman…her wings are cut and blamed for not knowing how to fly. -  Simone de Beauvoir

You are the longest relationship you'll ever have. I refuse to believe that life starts or stops because of anyone else. -  Drew Barrymore

I haven’t lost any friends, I just accepted that relationships change, because life changes. Especially with long-term friendships that evolve over time, when your bond withstands that, it’s really an honour to see someone grow and develop – and become themselves. --   Jay Fletcher

If you had told me in my 20s, or even in my 30s, that I would be so wildly happy just being in my own company, I would have laughed. I was always chasing something: love, adventure, the next exciting thing. But somewhere along the way, I realized the company I was forever going to keep... was my own. -  Drew Barrymore

Let's be clear: converting atheists is like selling ice to penguins. We're reformed sceptics, armed with raised eyebrows and a PhD in side-eye. But Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis, pulled off a miracle — he made me feel. Not faith, let me clarify, but something rarer still: respect. Extravagance is the armour of the insecure; you, sir, your humility was your papal crown. -  Satyen K Bordoloi

So here's to Jorge Mario Bergoglio: the Pope who didn't convert me, but made me believe in the divinity of decency. My tears are reserved for the scientists, the activists, the doers of the world. But for him? Fine! My stone-cold, rational heart relents. I will shed a few tears. I don't believe in gods—or their salesmen. But a good person? Now that scripture writes itself. -  Satyen K Bordoloi

Long ago I would have totally said I’m a city person because I gobble up culture, but I don’t know if it’s my age but I get fed up with people and like my privacy. At this point in my life I need to see more trees and less concrete. -  Jane

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

If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that life is too short. Enjoy it while you can! -  Jo Barlow

Monday, 17 March 2025

Perplexity

I asked

Perplexity:

Does my

Beloved

Love me?


It got

Perplexed

Seeing my

Silly query.



This is a humorous poesy on Perplexity: the AI-powered answer engine.

Poetry © Aparna Chatterjee

Saturday, 15 March 2025

March

Mid-March,

Still so cold.

Winter, please

Retreat, release

Your hold, don't

Overstay, have a

Heart for the old,

Shivering in the

Cold.



(It's still very cold here in North Yorkshire. Temperatures in single digits. Today is 6 degrees Celsius.)

Thursday, 13 March 2025

Short

Embed from Getty Images 

Whenever
He takes me
Out on short
And long drives
I tell myself:
We live in
Paradise.


'Paradise' refers to the place we live - the heavenly county of North Yorkshire.
Embed © Getty Images - this scenic photo is of North Yorkshire.

Naya Hai :-)

Hi Guys,

I made this blog collating all the information I've gathered over the past many years since 2011 when I started investing in British houses by focussing on BTL business. As with any business, there have been ups and downs, things I haven't relished or found boring, but I've steadily continued and expanded the business. It has kept me busy and it has made me learn a lot. Being a landlady isn't easy. It's a role that comes with immense responsibility and accountability to ensure the tenant is happy and the property meets the tenant's needs. Liaising with the estate agent has been an integral part of this job to ensure repairs and maintenance are done in time, the tenant takes care of the house and pays the rent on time.

BTL business is not for the faint-hearted. Property investment is fraught with risks. You need to have the time, money, health, diligence to keep going. Don't look for short-term gains. Your efforts might be rewarded in the long run. When you retire and are unable to work, you might reap the rewards of this business by either getting the rent as a source of income or selling some of your properties to add to your savings. You can be financially independent without depending on your children's earnings. After you pass away, your children inherit your estate and it makes their life somewhat easy by adding to their wealth. The rising cost of living is a challenge for every generation and so if we are capable, it behoves us to see how we can make it easy for the next generation and for posterity.

If you are planning to stay long-term in Britain and want to rent or buy a house, this is the Blog for you.

https://british-houses.blogspot.com

It's the one-stop blog for all the information you need to get started. Obviously, if you need more details, you can ask Google or Perplexity.

If you find the blog useful, you can bookmark it. I'll keep updating it as and when I find more info to share with you.

Cheers
Aparna

Tuesday, 11 February 2025

Naughty Movie

When I saw Annu Kapoor in the star-cast, I knew I should watch this movie as Annu Kapoor is a brilliant actor who never disappoints.

I enjoyed his role in Vicky Donor (2012) where he co-starred with another superb actor Ayushmann Khurrana.

Besides Annu Kapoor, I also liked Lisa Haydon and Akshay Kumar in this 2014 naughty movie - The Shaukeens

This film's songs didn't touch me much except its opening/intro song - Meherbani

It's written & composed by Arko Pravo Mukherjee and sung by Jubin Nautiyal.

You can watch this Hindi comedy movie with English subtitles here. It runs for about 2 hours.

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

I give it a rating of 7/10.

Cheers
Aparna