Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My First Interview ... I am a celebrity ?!!

Hello folks, my first interview has come out in the 'Pakistani Spectator'(link at the bottom). I don't know how they figured that I am an important blogger but I was glad to share space with Chriz, Pink and others; the high fliers of the blogging community. Nevertheless the candid interview has come out. Here I am reproducing few excerpts from it, for the rest follow the link.


I am Som Dutta, at present doing some obscure research at one of India’s premiere engineering institute. I am passionate about music, football, food, arts and of course girls. Blogging is my latest hobby in the never ending list of hobbies. At times I feel my life itself is a hobby.


Q: Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

I maintain two blogs, LIFE and Limit is Limitless. The blogs are the windows to express myself to the world. First blog LIFE is the older of the two and presently deals only with poetry. As a youngster LIFE was very jovial but with age LIFE grew more serious so I needed a new child thus Limit is Limitless was conceived. I want my second off spring to be funny (unlike my LIFE!!) and make me proud, but who knows he may also end up disappointing me as I have done my parents. My parents wanted me to be funny, outlandishly liberal and peaceful but somehow I have turned out to be a fundamentalist whose only goal is to see people stoned. :P:)

Q: Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

Lot of things stop growing after an age and something never grows longer how much you exercise; So, Yes at least I will love to keep growing as a writer. To grow you just not need to write more but read more too; it helps in getting new ideas (read plagiarizing!!). It is important for me to write because I love to mislead people but unfortunately I can’t lie keeping a volt face. So, I try to do it through my writing. ;):P

Q: What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

I regularly spend time reading other blogs and commenting; and not just commenting but commenting in a positive way even if the post doesn’t deserve it. You see, one has to follow the golden adage ‘live and let live’ in order to grow. :P

Q: What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

I don’t follow politics much so from whatever I have over heard; Obama did a great job and India’s L.K. Advani is also following suit. But the most innovative has to be the sting operations; they are truly tech savvy and covert like operations carried out by ISI. :O

Q: If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

My public relations, it was so bad that I was left with no friends in college. So had time to figure out what I wanted in life. :)

Q: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

Happiest was when I had dinner with the Governor in honor of representing my state in a geeky mathematics competition; my photograph sitting next to him also came out in the newspaper next day. :) Gloomiest was when I found that none of the girls of my class were impressed by that. :(

Q: If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?

1) SWAT valley Pakistan (only if I am assured that I won’t be kidnapped!!) – I always fancied the Wild Wild West but Alas!! It doesn’t exist anymore. So the nearest thing to it is SWAT. :p
2)Paris – The artist inside me is incomplete without a visit to Paris.
3)Antarctica – I want to be the first blogger to go to Antarctica. ;)

Q: What is your favorite book and why?

The book I enjoyed the most was Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I loved the book just not because it is fast paced and is based on Roberts’ adventures and misadventures in India but also due its subtle take on the philosophy behind love and relationships. Another of my firm favorite is P.G.Wodehouse, I love the character of Bingo Little in his works as I can totally relate to him. :P:)

Q: Is there anyone from your past that once told you, you couldn't write?

In standard 4th I wrote a very elaborate answer for a question given to me for a Hindi language test. As I recall, I tried to be as creative as possible but somehow the teacher didn’t like it. She felt so offended by the answer that my Mother was summoned to the school. What went in the meeting I don’t know but after that even my ultra tolerant mom became a fascist!! So I can say my first attempt at creative writing was nipped at the bud. :O :P

Q: Any Message you want to give to the readers ?

Believe in a Politician but never believe in a blogger. :P I hope you enjoyed the interview and keep following my blogs; LIFE and Limit is Limitless.


P.S: The link to rest the interview:
http://www.pakspectator.com/interview-with-blogger-som-dutta/

Also check my other blog LIFE, for a dose of amateurish poetry

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

25 Random Things About me ..

Thanks to Dream'r (Amit) that he tagged me and I could put forward some facts about me. Hope It is entertaining.

1)Once my Head of the Department asked me what you want to do in life; I said I want to be a Rock Star; one should have seen the look on his face. :P

2)Talking about being a Rock Star, I dig music; any thing from Beethoven to Beatles. I wanted and still want to have a band but in college performed solo due to ego clashes.

3)Performing on stage gives me a high like nothing else. Talking about getting high, I am also high on Football, reading and off course talking to girls (best if they are complex, pretty and smart).

4)The final statement in 3 may sound rash and politically incorrect but it’s a fact. Girls/Women are an inspiration for me, for the artist inside me. Inspiration for my writing, poetry, paintings and songs and seriously it is like Oxygen to me.

5)People say I talk really well and they are comfortable talking to me. It ends up me being a shrink and a sink of secrets to my friends; I guess I should have been Psychologist.

6)Talking about Psychology, I plan to read Sigmund Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. I want it because I tend to dream too much. One recurring dream from my childhood was running around without my pants: P. Unfortunately I saw it again a few months ago.
7)Currently my favourite brand of jeans is Levis. Levis 501® just fits great and I can go all day in a pair of those.

8)I tend to keep my room (clothes and stuff)in a bit of a mess as I feel things should be always at a grabbing proximity. This quality of mine tends to piss my mom off.
9)I have very liberal parents. My Mom once advised me against marrying saying that ‘if you want all the things in a marriage you can live in’. :-o

10)I had my first crush in standard 3 and wrote my first love letter too. :P You see I like to start early.
11) There are times when I cry but mostly alone. I feel crying is a very natural thing as eating, sleeping, breathing and having sex. (Please don’t have any wrong notions!!)

12)I love to eat; people say it’s a pleasure feeding me. I love all kinds of cusines, Bengali, Indian, Italian, Chinese, and Lebanese etc. Oh!! I have a sweet tooth too, Gajar ka halwa, gulab jamun, Chocolates … mmm … People say only one thing competes with great food … :P

13)You may think I must be obese but fortunately I am not. As I have always been into sports; played football in my college (Right/Left Back and Right out) and now I jog 3 to 4 kms daily.

14)I want to learn to swim as I think it’s the best form of exercise. By the way one damn astrologer once said I should keep away from water. I think these punks should keep their opinions to themselves.

15)I hate people who are presumptuous and give unsolicited advice. I also hate hypocrites but strangely one my closest buddy is a self proclaimed hypocrite.

16)I am choosy about my friends. I have lot of acquaintances but there are very few whom I consider as a friend.

17)I know so many people or rather so many people know me that I have a difficult time remembering their names and it is very embarrassing when they remember my name ( Obviously it is short and easy to remember !!) and I am rendered speechless.

18)Talking about embarrassments, once I was on stage and started a song off scale; good that I recovered (with the help from the guitarist) and completed the song with a blast.

19)I feel last 18 thoughts have been too serious like my life (At times I feel like asking myself ‘Why So Serious?!’). So now some really of the hook. I own an ipod classic and will buy an iphone 3G as soon as I reach the US of A.

20)I am a sucker for beautiful and expressive eyes, I love to get lost in them.

21)I was a philatelist (stamp collector) to the core; I even pinched some stamps from my friend’s collection. I feel the test of a true collector is if he can stoop down to the most immoral deeds to augment his collection; similar to the test of a true politician. By the way isn't a politician too a collector rather hoarder ? :P

22)I believe ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’; for example today people “Egged” me to play Holi but I had my revenge too. I pinched a few eggs from their own arsenal and attacked them after they had their bath. :P

23)There is a saying ‘Once bitten twice shy’ but I don’t believe in it at least in the matter of heart; other wise I wouldn’t be listening to Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Sing, Md Rafi etc so often. :P

24)I think our life should be a work of fiction so I keep on trying to forge it in that way. More I want it to be a Romantic Comedy, more it becomes a surreal tragedy.

25)By the way I can’t lie keeping a volt face but obviously I can in my writing. I love to mislead people. ;-)

This is the End Beautiful Friend, this is the end my only friend the end.

I tag Sophie, Komal and Pink Orchid. Any one else can also pick up the tag.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Test and a Tryst

This was my first foray into fiction and it was posted previously in the blog LIFE but then the followers were few. I have reproduced it, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story are fictious. Any resemblance to any one living or dead is a coincident.

“Lets see who sits in front of me, the exam is going to start and the person is still absent, must be a genius or a fool”, I contemplated while waiting for my question paper to be handed over to me. I was a bit agitated and it was quite natural, it was not just another entrance exam, it was the entrance test for Indian Statistical Institute. Had heard quite a few tales about the level of the questions and that did not help either!! It was April and already the room felt stuffy. I wished for a whiff of a breeze or anything remotely pleasant to soothe my nerves.


“Wow!! Hope she sits in the empty chair in front of me”. I thanked god for sending this whiff of fresh air to soothe my frayed nerves. Those beautiful light brown eyes finely chiseled face, peach and milk complexion and the pout; my heart skipped a beat. And voila, she sits in front of me. Then suddenly I came back to reality of the examination, as I was given the question paper. Time flew like anything and soon the first paper was over. I had done pretty well but pretty well don’t suffice in this exam, a handful of seats for thousands of candidates. The next paper was after 2 hours, I had to spend the time somehow. I was not feeling like revising the formulas, even the heat seemed too oppressive to go out. The class was empty within two minutes of the test getting over; “the paper was not that easy!!? Even the pretty girl left”.


I was contemplating in my solitude when she rushed back to the room. She looked anxious. She came over to me and said, “Hey, I forgot to write my roll number in the question paper. What to do now?” As if I was the examination coordinator. I thanked the person who made the rules for test (about even writing ones roll no. on the question paper), which I thought was ridiculous till then. Rather than ceasing the opportunity and becoming the knight in the shining armor, I stayed put in my seat and blurted out something about her going to the staff room and talking to the authorities. I have always prayed for opportunities like these but when the situation comes I disappoint myself. “She won’t come back after such an un-gentlemanly conduct by me” and I tried to concentrate on the formulas to drive away the feeling of disappointment. Suddenly a soft voice startled me “Thank you”. She was gazing down on me with brown almond eyes and a smile breaking on her face. Even I smiled or grinned, I am not sure but I was pleasantly surprised by my stars, “if my luck is running so well today I will crack the test too!!”


“So what happened? Things have been sorted out?” and I gestured her to sit. “Thank you so much, I did as you said and things has been taken care of.” She sat on the bench in front of me as she spoke. I hadn’t noticed till then she even had the famous Cindy Crawford mole just above her upper lip. I gazed into those sparkling eyes and asked whether she had her lunch; the words came out with a real tinge of concern. Why it happened? Well maybe my own hunger (for food off-course) or it was her effect or was I really concerned, I was not sure. Frankly speaking I am no James Bond; yes I can speak well and I may flirt at times too but that day every thing fell into place even without me trying for it. As if the whole universe was conspiring to ruin my exam. I just could not fathom at that time that it was a boon or a bane. She sensed the concern in my voice and her features became soft. “I will go out and eat something; my dad won’t come now. He will be waiting for me outside after the tests get over.”

“Hey don’t worry; it is too hot outside so share my lunch.”

“Thank you but it is for you, if you share it won’t you fell hungry?” she questioned with intent and concern. “It is always advisable to eat less during exams.” I quipped with a smile, pulling out my lunch box.


We both started to eat out of my lunch box, which contained some lip smacking sandwiches and which I should have grudged to share with anyone but I just realized I was happy to share them with her. In the course of time I came to know that she was from Dhanbad. She wanted to pursue Biotechnology (then why the hell is she giving this exam?!) and for that she even took tips from me. The smart alec I was, even without knowing what they teach in Biotechnology, I rattled of colleges she should try to get into. This surely impressed her. It went on for sometime with my putting in lines like; “your name is as pretty as your face”, “you have something in you, it is different from most of the usual pretty girls” and she blushed with a smile every time. And the lines came out with real conviction, not like some trite remark.


“Are you the only one from Dhanbad, haven’t any of your friends come to give this exam?”

“Yes few of them are here; one of my close friends is here”

“So won’t you go and meet them?”

“I meet them everyday so today I rather stay here” she put in with a smile, that infectious smile that could melt the most stoic of men.

“Can we go out for a walk, it seems pretty oppressive here?” she suggested. I affirmed and we walked side by side, chatting like we have known each other for ages.


We went around the campus of the test centre, discovering iron bars to walk and soil mounds to climb. In her company even the afternoon blaze seemed bearable. Giving her a hand to help whenever she needed it and she accepted them graciously. When suddenly I glanced at my watch, time had flown like anything; more than an hour had passed even without my realizing. During the whole episode even the mere thought of the imminent test hadn’t crossed my mind. Einstein was right about relativity.

Coming back to reality, I asked her to accompany me inside to revise some formulas. I started revising the formulas while giving her some tips on number theory in between. She was not very good at mathematics but I surprised myself with the patient effort I put in. She looked on with her twinkling eyes full of admiration and I wished those half an hour never ended.


The test started with the influx of students and the invigilators. Frankly speaking during the test her thought never crossed my mind. The subjective paper lived up to its revered name and I was engrossed in tackling it. After the test she introduced me to her friend and her dad. She asked me to come to visit her if ever I go to Dhanbad. She even gave her number and asked me to call. I don’t remember if I gave mine. I don’t remember if I noted her number or how I lost it. I sometime think that if it would have happened during these times when almost every one has a mobile or there is Orkut we would have met again. I have even forgotten her name. Why it happened? Maybe I was too young to understand something important was occurring or maybe because at that time I had a crush on some one else. The reason is not important. The only thing after so many years perplexes me is why did the whole episode take place. If I was not to meet her again; why such an intense encounter? What was the supreme master trying to teach me? This question has to be answered by you.


She left after shaking my hand and a sweet good bye, with her eyes still sparkling and an angelic smile.