(For the fifth post in this series, for which I have interviewed people I am close to, I emailed Sharmishtha a set of questions. Her responses have been reproduced here. I hope that you would like the idea and enjoy the conversation. The series is to be continued with other friends as and when possible. Sincere thanks to all readers who commented on and appreciated the earlier posts).
Three posts ago, I wrote a few things about the person Sharmishtha Basu is- an artist, a nice friend and above all an active blogger who is not just regular but also remarkably consistent with regard to the quality of her posts. I hope this interview serves as a little window and brings us face to face with some of the unnoticed aspects of the person behind the lovely colors that she employs to illustrate the rhymes of her delicate words.
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Personal Concerns- To start with, I would like to ask you something about your blogs and your experiences with WordPress?
Sharmishtha Basu– As you already know, I am obsessed with writing. I started with Mydomainpvt, so I could use my blog in Intent.com properly, the posts of WordPress can be copied in intent without any editing. Then intent.com shifted to Facebook and I concentrated on WordPress. Two of my earlier blogging experiences- with MSN ( a mixed experience) and Blogspot (horrible) initially made me a bit skeptic about WordPress. Now I feel that WordPress is the place every writer who loves to write and wants genuine readership should be in. It’s an amazing site, the more I compliment WordPress the little it shall be. I have found the very best people of the world both at intent.com and here. I just love the readers and writers at WordPress. They are amazing.
SB– Haiku is the form that unleashes the dreamer in me fully. I love writing Haiku because its main concept is to capture nature, being a great lover of mother earth I really love to play with this form, trying my best to capture mother earth’s beauty in every way I can.
SB-I love Kolkata because of its people. It’s the best place for a single woman to live in. Delhi is the scariest place in India I believe. Even when I left Delhi at the age of sixteen, I could feel the scariness of that place. The worst part is that one had to be cautious about family men, neighbours – something which fortunately is still absent in Kolkata. Most probably because Bengali men respect their wives…. Ha ha. They don’t want to get spanked by their wives for eve teasing. Kolkata is full of warm people who let others live in peace.
SB–Bengali, Hindi and English. I am equally comfortable in Hindi and Bengali. I love Bengali the most because it’s a very sweet language. It really sounds sweet to the ears. I have heard a lot of languages, some of them with a little bit of understanding and some without any understanding at all. Bengali really sounds sweet to my ears more than most of the languages, and a lot of my non bengali friends say the same. My English is not bad I believe.
PC- Sharmishtha is a nice sounding name. What does it mean ? Do you also have a nick name?
SB– Sharmishtha means extremely lucky- which I am. My self-given pet name is Trisha.
PC- Who is/are your favorite poets? Any particular poem that you would like to share with us?
SB-My favourite most poet is Rabindranath Tagore, then comes Kazi Nazrul Islam, Wordsworth, Frost, Shakespeare (I love his sonnets). Its tough for me to look for one poem, song, movie etc. but one that touches me very deeply is Tagore’s Jethay Thaake Sabar adham (where the poorest of poorest dwells)
Your feet dwells
Where the lowest of the low dwells
In the lowest place of all
With Those without anything at all
When I lower my head at your feet
It stops somewhere midway
It cant reach the place
That lowest of low place
Where your feet dwells
My arrogance cant reach you
Down there where you dwell
Like the poorest of poor
Amongst the poorest of poor
I seek your company
Sitting on my pile of wealth
Surrounded by loved ones
But my heart never reaches
Down there where you dwell
Amongst those without anyone
Amongst those without anything.
SB- I was a student at Burdwan Raj College, two of my fondest memories of that college are that of our history teacher Alok Chakraborty- India really needs such teachers, and the five girl gang we had formed- me and Nilanjana, Rimita, Shampa and Swagata. We used to have so much fun. I graduated in 1995 and my combinations were Economics, Political Science and History. Well, Alok Chakrabarti confirmed my firm belief that even the rowdiest students respect the sincere teacher. Quite a handful of the students were older than him, yet the moment he walked inside the class it fell silent and his students almost never missed his class. He was not just an amazing teacher but he gave us suggestions that worked so well.
Well, we used to spend a lot of time together, I used to visit Swagata at her house regularly, and Rimita, Nilanjana and me went to the same tutor. It was girlish fun mostly, both Rimita and Nilanjana had boyfriends and we had to lie to their parents 🙂
One day Nilanjana did not come, we went to her house to ask how she was and to give her the notes of that day. Her mother opened the door and was shocked to know that Nilanjana had not been to the classes…because as she knew it, Nilanjana had gone for the tuitions. It took a lot for us to convince her that actually it was us who had bunked the classes and were looking for her notes. We used to go out together, and Nilanjana was the one with tight purse strings, always trying to convince us not to spend 🙂
SB- I am absolutely against it. The websites may keep an eye on their content but not the governments. I believe they are scared for the way truth is spread through the internet and the manner in which it has resulted in the collapse of so many corrupt governments.
SB- I have favorite films and the films that move me the most. There are too many in the ‘favorite’ section starting from all Jurassic Park movies, The Lord of the Ring, some horror films, some thrillers and quite a number of Bengali movies.
The movies that moved me the most are fewer. I am afraid I will not watch most of these movies again. Schindler’s List, Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Edward Scissorhands, My Fair Lady, Twelve Angry Men, Hirok Rajar Deshe, Sound of Music- I can watch these any day anytime.
PC-Please share with us a song of your choice. I would like to know what makes it stand apart?
SB-The same song that I added as a poem above- its lyrics; it’s amazing in Bengali, it touches your soul in its deepest place and moves it, asks you whether you have such humility?
SB- I am a horrible cook, I cook a lot and have been into full fledged cooking since the age of sixteen…a thing really uncommon for Bengali girls fortunately to juggle between cooking and studies, my expertise is some day to day Bengali cookings such as the poshto (poppy seed paste) and jhol (mixed vegetable curry)- just two out of many others.
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(All comments and suggestions about the format and the presentation of the interview would be deeply appreciated. Friends who wish to be included in this series, please let me know. It would be lovely to have you here on my blog. Cheers!)
it’s an excellent concept you know,the interviews..though Sharmistha,Kolkata is no longer the safe haven for women it once used to be..
believe me nabadip, it still is. i have seen kolkata, rural/small town bengal, bihar, rajasthan, UP and Delhi- i can feel the difference – i guess you will have to be a single woman 🙂
as i can’t very well be one,so I take your word for it!haha!
🙂 thats the spirit!
wonderfully posted..loved the conversation..and sharmishtha as everyone knows is a lovable person.it reflected very apparently in her talk here.
thank you so very much soumyav. a compliment from a golden hearted person like you means a lot to me.
welcome Sharmishta! 🙂
A job very well done !
Thanks Surinder!
Glad to know one more blogger and a friend of yours.
Best wishes to Sharmishtha
Regards
GV
Thanks a lot !
You are most welcome!
amit, no matter how much i thank you for this honour that will be little. thanks for counting me amongst your friends- that means too much to me.
loved loved loved the way you presented the post. its looking fabulous!
Many thanks to you too for being a part of the series. Was wonderful to have you here. I am delighted to know you liked the presentation!
its fabulous!
Awesome post 🙂
A portrait of the artist would be nice. 🙂
Good interview. You’ve brought out all the interesting facets of her personality without being too intrusive.
haha!! thanks!
Reblogged this on Thoughts and commented:
Thank you so very much for the affection and honour amit. it means a lot to me.
Reblogged this on Sharmishtha Basu.
Lovely interview. It’s so wonderful to read of other’s lives from here in the UK. More please!
I shall follow you now.
That was actually the idea behind the series. Glad it struck a chord!
Thanks. Hope to hear more from you!
Reblogged this on Sharmishtha Basu's poetries.
Reblogged this on And I dreamed …. and commented:
Thank you so very much Amit for the honour and affection.
I like the idea of doing interviews like this to get to know people better. Also, thanks Sharmishtha for letting us know a bit about Kolkata. I’d like to visit it sometime. It has a reputation of being very poor in North America, but nobody really knows anything about it.
Thanks for the appreciation David. Hope to see you around more often! And do share other stories of India and Indian cities as they circulate in your land. That could be a very interesting post!
calcutta is not as rich as delhi, mumbai or chennai, thats a fact but its people are its wealth- it all depends on what we are looking for when visiting a place, and i prefer scenic beauty/historical heritage/people 🙂
come here, stay for a little while you will never stop loving kolkata i believe.
Nice interview. I feel like I know you a little better, Trisha. And now I see some of your stories are based on your experiences in, probably, Delhi. Good stories and good haiku/senryu!
yes, a few of them are based on my experience in delhi and rajasthan. thanks a lot lessandra for liking the haiku 🙂
Well, Sharmishtha Basu is a really talented wowen, I have read some of her posts, those were wonderful! And that was a beautiful poem by Tagore. One song I like very much is ‘Ekla Cholo Re’ originally written by Tagore. Kishore Kumar sung it with such sweetness which only a Bengali can do.
thanks a lot ramu, i am not talented but you are a very sweet soul. i too just love that song, its quite sad but very very beautiful 🙂
its our new CM’s one of the favourites i have heard. the lyrics of this song are amazing!
Came looking for you and found a wonderful interview. I don’t think I’ve seen one with you before. It’s excellent…I learned even more about you from it…very nice. A interview of me will be coming up with Poets United at some point in the near future. You are mentioned in it as the one who got me into blogging and poetry…I owe so much to you, dear friend.
Love,
Gayle
yes, even though we have discussed a lot but some of these might be new to you too 🙂
I owe you a lot more my dear, priceless friend.
lots of love.
Sharing some small ones of ” Tagore ”
1} I am the autumn cloud , empty of rain :
see my fullness in the field of ripened rice .
2} God’s great power is in the gentle breeze ,
not in the storm .
3} This world is the world of wild storms
kept tame with the music of beauty .
Hope you would like it 🙂
Thanks. Enjoyed them very much. Welcome to the blog. I hope to hear more from you and see you around more often!
🙂