MJ One

The day the ICSE results were declared....I was blissfully unaware. My friend U heard the rumor and came running to my house...only to find me ...blasting MJ on my cassette player. It was the album BAD which had several Grammy nominations. I would be allowed to biy...one...just one cassette per year. The music was so loud that I could not hear the bell. 

We still talk about that day.

I never had a chance to attend a MJ concert, what a missed opportunity! So....this was the best that could happen ...MJ One show....by Cirque du Soleil.

It was magical and heart warming. The ending was spectacular with the "real" MJ emerging on stage.....

108 shivmandir in Bardhhaman, India

On our way to Shantiniketan from Kolkata, directions indicated that we needed to take a left turn from the highway at Nawab ghat... right where the 108 shiv temples are located. So I had a secret plan.....visit the temples.

108 Shivmandir (temple in bengali is called mandir) is a group of 108 terracotta temples in the same complex. From what is read, these temples were ordered to be built by Rani Bishnukumari (queen of Burdwan) in 1788. (I have also read that the temples were built in 1809).

All the 108 temples look alike and are built of the same design and pattern. Each is shaped like a hut in "aat – chala" (eight sloped roofed) style, you can’t distinguish one from the other.

The temple structure is a combination of two concentric circles, each of which has small temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. These represent beads in a rosary and its walls depict episodes of Ramayana and Mahabharata and even hunting scenes.

Every year a week-long festival is held here on the occasion of Maha Shivratri.
Entry was free, we had to pay  a nominal fee for the safekeeping of our shoes. You cannot enter temple complexes with your shoes on.

If you are in the area - definitely take a short break to view the temple complex.