As a kid, I was so talkative that I could go on and on and on, till my mom and elder sister would shout out in despair, “We are not listening, and we don’t want to know what happened at the playground today!!” And I would retort right back, “I am not talking to you. I am talking to the walls!” And, I would go right ahead with my story, undeterred and unchallenged, while Ma and Didi (Bengali for elder sister) would sit through it with a look of resignation on their faces! 🙂
That’s my sister, and that’s her expression, when I refuse to stop talking! 🙂
I still remember Mrs. Kutty, my high school English teacher shouting out in exasperation, “Sayantan! Stop blabbering away with the girls on the last bench!”, and I would stop…for five minutes, and then resume! Of course, with age that tendency to blabber has abated somewhat, but if the company is intelligent and witty, nothing gives me more pleasure than a good round of Adda (it’s a Bengali word- check the meaning here).
And, since this is my blog and I am free to write whatever I feel like, I am gonna go right ahead and bore you with my narcissistic post! And if you don’t want to listen to it…well…you know my answer, “I am talking to the walls”! 😀
- My name is not Know-All! Though I wish I could change it to that! But, my mom threatens to throw me out, and like any obedient Bengali boy (Bengali males are always “boys”, they seldom become “Men”), I complied. So, my friends still call me Sayantan. I reside in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.
- It’s my dream to be so rich that working becomes optional, but THAT seems distinctly unlikely in THIS lifetime! Though what’s more realistic is the hope that someday I get a job which challenges my creativity so much that the money becomes the least of motivation.
- I have the distinction of crashing my car into our very residential apartment’s Gate! The iron gate was bruised, the car wounded, my ego battered! And in case you are wondering, I was absolutely sober!
- I am fluent in three languages (many Indians are), but shamefully, cannot write in my mother tongue (Bengali). And, like many urban Indians, English is the language I am most comfortable in.
- I love shopping during season end sales, but end up buying stuff which are NOT on sale! 😦
- Small things in life make me very happy. Yesterday I had cooked for the first time in my life some pasta and chicken with stir-fried vegetables, and I was absolutely elated! And yes, it must have been good enough, because my colleagues polished off most of it today, leaving hardly anything for me to eat!
- For a hyper-energetic and talkative person like me, I have unlikely hobbies like photography and writing, which require patience. I also am a voracious reader, quite a movie buff and love running and swimming. Thrice I have been selected through elimination rounds of major quiz contests to go on stage for the zonal finals, and managed to finish LAST, every time! 😛
- I enjoy shooting down holy cows! In an Indian context, which means I don’t like following traditions. For instance, Hindus are forbidden to eat beef, because the cow is considered holy in our religion. Well, I have made sure that I eat enough beef in my lifetime to make sure I can never be allowed into any Hindu heaven!
- I have a resolution to start learning something new every year. 2013, it was blogging, the year before photography and the year prior, learn dancing and playing the guitar (gave up in 3 months, for lack of time)! Even after a year of dancing lessons, I suck at it, BIG TIME!
- Belinda Claushuis calls me Happy Face…and she is not wrong. Only that, another friend calls me Goofy faced (how mean of her!). But yes, I usually have a pretty good sense of humour and can usually enliven a party single-handedly. And you have to try really hard to irritate me enough to move from a grin to grimace!! 😀
One of the few decent photographs in which I am in front of the camera!
Know-All's Box 
In Delhi we used to buy beef from a Muslim man who sold it to ex-pats out of a briefcase. 😀 Sometimes a girl just needs good old fashioned spaghetti made with REAL meat!
OMG!!!! Now that’s one post title shouting to be posted…”Beef in a briefcase”! 😀 Though I avoid excess consumption of red meat, nothing beats some old fashioned beef steak…oh, I also love beef biryani! 🙂
Nice to meet the real you Know it all, MM 🍀
Thank you Mick 🙂
LOVE this list Mr. Know-It-All! You are quite a person!
thank you, thank you 🙂 So, do I put this on MY Resume??? 😀
You don’t need any extra flourishes on your CV, I’m sure!:D
😀
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown and commented:
Leave those poor cows alone!
haha…sure…but I love the steak too much! 😀 Thanks for the re-blog!
If you were here I would dare into chatting marathon and you would lose 😀 😉 Congrats on the successful dinner. What new thing will be learned this year Sayantan?
I accept the challenge, in the unlikely event of us meeting…after all, whoever loses, it will surely be a fun chat! 😀 And, thank you…I am really proud to have finally managed to cook something on my own…what will it be this year…let’s see…the show-off that I am…will surely post about it! 😀
🙂 😀
That about describes the Somu I know 🙂
Haha…thanks Mesho! YOu know me better than most! 🙂
Nice to meet you! Sounds like you have a typical older sister (I know – I was one 😉 ) .
haha…very true! older sisters can be a torture! 😀
Somu Da – thing about you that I knew – you had cooked earlier, remember? We had cooked for Mashi, Baba and Maa 🙂
Of course I remember, in fact we did that twice! That was fun!! But, that time you were there…so, the burden was divided…this time, I have done it pretty much on my own..of course with some telephonic guidance 🙂
Sooo CUTE! 😀
hehehe 😀
and great info you shared! Thanks!
Thanks Belinda! 🙂
Oh is that so, Know All?
hehe…of course..the truth, the partial truth, the sugar-coated truth! 🙂
whaaat? you’re name is not Know-All!?? I’ve been fooled for so long!!
I know, i know…all these lies, deception for an entire year! I hope you can find the strength within to forgive!! 😀 😛
Thanks for teaching me about the word “adda”,
We have a lot in common: We both share the same dream about not having to go to work, but for me this also seems very unlikely. Alternatively I hope I can get a creative job where I get to use my passion for photography. We both have an elder sister. We both know 3 languages. My languages are Norwegian, English and Hebrew. Beef? You just gotta love beef! Oxtail soup, beef bourginon, stakes. Yummie!
Adda is the bengali’s favourite pastime! Some prefer to do only adda! And we have one more common thing…we both have blog names inspired by works of fiction! 🙂 But isn’t it amazing that 2 people so far apart and culturally so different, have common aspirations and common passions! Let’s hope we both get what we are aiming for…then we can celebrate with some oxtail soup! 😀
Yes, the blog name too. I didn’t think of that.
Oxtail soup is definitely celebratory food! Takes a long time to cook and the taste is divine!
Aww… I hope you can pick up the dancing and playing the guitar where you had to leave it. Learning a new dance form can open up one’s mind in many ways, and you being a creative person, I am sure you would have had a very good time! By the way, what dance form had you tried to learn? 🙂
Hey Snowflake! I am not really disappointed that I had to stop…I keep trying to learn new stuff…and see how far it goes…some sputter to a stop some go on…in the process, you learn something, make some new friends…and have a good time…not a bad deal! 🙂 I had tried learning Salsa( I could do the steps at least, though like a robot) and Jazz( don’t wanna talk about it!), before sputtering to a stop! 😛
Hahah!! Spluttering to a stop… I know what you mean! 😀 By the way, spluttering to a stop is exactly what my husband too did with the guitar! He spluttered to a stop in front of my eyes!
well..what can I say…just that we are both great men…who don’t just think but also act alike! 😀
I love it – can’t wipe the smile off my face. Let me warn you about one thing though: you can never have ‘enough’ money or ‘enough’ space in your refrigerator – something I have learnt over the years. Keep blogging; because I love reading them. Love the photographs too.
thank you thank you! 🙂 I agree with you on the money part, though…no amount is ever “enough”! Wishful thinking! 🙂
Hi – got this link from Swati Chakraborty’s fb post – and happppyyyy to know you! The world need more people like you. Will keep on follwoing your blog 🙂
Thank you! I am honoured! really am!! of course, since I wrote the post…you will know…that I have conveniently avoided mentioning my shortcomings!! 😀
Great post! What about the recipes you were going to try from my long-forgotten blog where I first bumped into you? :=O LOL
OMG!! You still remember that!! I had forgotten all about it! Well…considering my new found love for cooking…i might try them pretty soon! 🙂
Interesting post. I’m not a traditionalist either. More of a free thinker. And I love to talk openly myself. My first language is English too, not my mother tongue. And unofficially I have changed my name. 🙂
Haha…glad to know that I am not the only one!! I notice that you also are a movie buff…will check out your blog in detail later today! 🙂
O, please do. Your comments would be much appreciated.
I’ve never heard the phrase “shooting down holy cows” but I knew right away what you must mean by it. This was a fun post to read 🙂
Haha…you have not heard it because there is no such phrase!! Actually I was showing my writeup to my brother-in-law and he suggested this trait of mine…using those specific words…and I liked it so much…I wrote it down! 🙂 Glad that you liked the post! 🙂
It’s a phrase now 🙂 It describes what you are talking about perfectly 🙂
hehe…proud moment of my life! 😀
🙂
Will the real Know-All please stand up…LOL. I love this post. You are just as charming as I always knew you to be. I rarely eat red meat, but I agree with the “beef in a briefcase” lady. Sometimes a girl or guy just has to have a little spaghetti with yummy meat sauce. Nice photos. Love the one in the yellow shirt. 🙂
haha….you sound like “the joker”, only that you are too nice to be that, and I definitely am no Batman!! 🙂 Even I eat red meat occasionally, but sometimes you just want it! Glad that you liked the post! 🙂 🙂
Thanks for sharing these personal things about yourself! Now we all know your ‘real’ name 🙂 So what’s the new thing that you’re going to learn in 2014? Great smile, by the way, and I hope you find a job that you’re passionate about and that challenges you in the right way! I’m in a peculiar situation myself with languages – in principle, my mother tongue is Mandarin and speaking it always gives me a strong sense of familiarity, even with complete strangers, but I write, read and speak English much better.
Haha…thanks Angelina! 😀 I have a few things on my mind for 2014, but let it materialise first..as I said before..a show-off like me will surely want to tell everyone about it! 😛 Photography and writing are skills I would like to develop, so that I can make that my profession…let’s see! And interesting that you too find English more comfortable to communicate in, than Mandarin, your mother tongue! 🙂
Well then, we’ll see what you’ve up your sleeves 🙂 I’m more fluent in English and have a more extensive English vocabulary, so it’s easier to express myself accurately in this language than in Mandarin. But it always feels closer to heart to speak in Mandarin…
Hmm..i understand what you mean…for me it’s like this…there’s one particular situation when I find English to be inadequate as a language! When I really want to curse someone..that’s when I switch to Bengali! 😀 Thanks again for sharing your thoughts 🙂
ah, haha, of course!
Hello Sayantan,
Great to find your blog here.
Absolutely beautiful images with a unique style.
I could resist to click on the follow button immediately 🙂
Have a great time 🙂
Thank you Sreejith! Really happy to know that you enjoyed viewing my blog! 🙂
Such an insightful post. Thanks for giving your audience a deeper look
Haha…thank you! Glad that you enjoyed the post! 🙂
You’re welcome