Thank you for visiting my blog. This is not really a blog, in the sense that I do not write everyday on things which concern me or the world. This is a site where I have recently begun publishing what I write. And I have not been writing for too long, maybe a year or so.
Most of what you will find here are nostalgia pieces from my growing up days in Jamshedpur, now in Jharkhand, where I was born in the early sixties. I like to write on places where I travel to, so you will find some travel pieces as well. I love books, music and movies, so you will also find some of that stuff here.
I used to mail whatever I wrote to friends who suggested that I post these on a blog site so that they can forward the link to whoever they would like to forward it to instead of sending word files. So that is the genesis of this blog. I have been gradually uploading some older stories and adding the new ones I write over the past two months since the blog came into being.
Some of my pieces are also up on another blog http://woodsmoke.wordpress.com which is edited by Rajib Sarkar, a friend of mine.
I am a business executive based at Bangalore.
If you wish you may write to me at santoshojha@gmail.com Or you may post your comments here. Either which way.
And, by the way, please suggest a name for this blog. Till I get around to choosing a name, this blog will continue to be called Santosh Ojha’s Weblog!
Thanks,
Santosh Ojha
August 24, 2008 at 3:21 am |
Hey Santosh – a suggestion for the Blog name – A cup of nostalgia, served half cut or
A cup of nostalgia, malai markey or
Santosh Cabin – Nostalgia served hot!
I prefer the last one …let me know what you think.
October 8, 2008 at 11:24 pm |
Hi,
My name is Pawan Patl, presently living in Montreal, Canada. I rea dyour blog which I liked too much. As your diary take me to my old memories which I left in Jamshedpur in 1994. I read your all pages of diaries. Wishing u and your family a Happy and safe Durga puja.
October 9, 2008 at 5:34 am |
Pawan: Thanks a lot.
April 12, 2009 at 10:08 pm |
Dear Santosh Ojha Saheb,
Greetings
The three stories you have listed are also some of my favourites. I had read USNE KAHA THA as my high school text.
By the way, KAFAN was originally written in Urdu. It was transcribed into DEVNAGRI much later. It is still taught in Urdu here in the United States Unievrsities in its original. My daughter did so too.
Thank you.
April 14, 2009 at 6:56 pm |
Namaste Santoshji,
Your posts make me travel into the virtual reality of my childhood days in the 70’s and early 80’s, and make me feel so nostalgic about those happy days. I have spent a large chunk of those years , the first 21 years to be precise, in Benares .I am aa alumnus of IT , BHU .
Every post or should I say story of yours is so vividly composed and evoke mixed feelings of sheer joy and tears too .
I enjoyed the latest one on the service providers . Some others I can remember were the poor villagers coming to the doorstep of my house selling garden fresh vegetables at a throwaway price, with a large heart. And not to forget the halwai who used to prepare sweets and savories in the backyard on a choolah on festive occasions, even as the mothers chatted away to eternity and spicing up the fare with tips and instructions to him.
Last but not the least the chaatwala and icecream wala who used to announce their arrival in our colony , even as we excitedly ran out to grab a bite.
Keep the show going Santosh. God bless you for bringing back those fond memories so vividly .
Sridhar ( Mech – 1985 )
Perhaps life was never so full of happiness and contentment those days
June 23, 2009 at 8:09 am |
Santosh, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your pieces. I was startled at the apparant similarities between you and me. Like you, I grew up in Jamshedpur, not in 60s and 70s but during mid-late 80s and early 90s. Like you, I studied in BHU, Varanasi and like you went on to do my MBA after that. Like you I stay in Bangalore now and like you even I love to wear my middle class upbringing on my sleeve. I liked your posts and being from Jamshedpur, was able to relate with most of them. However, the one that I absolutely loved was the one where you describe your mom’s coin collection with which she bought you a watch. It brought a lump to my throat. I can relate to this. Even I got my first watch when I passed my Board exams and I was aware of the kind of difficulties my parents were going through to give me and my two sisters a good education. Sir, you’ve got me hooked onto your blog. I’ll be a regular visitor here. P.S. Even I’ve started writing recently. You can read my ramblings on riteshjsr.wordpress.com
July 7, 2009 at 2:52 pm |
I like most of the Hindi stories you mentioned on your blog, especially, Parda by Yashpal. In fact, Hindi short stories like Parda, Haar ki Jeet, Pariksha, Idgah, and others by contemporary authors, including Munshi Premchand (http://munshi-premchand.blogspot.com)have molded my character and permanently impacted my outlook on life. I wonder if you could post complete text in Hindi of Parda on your website or suggest one that may have it. I thank you for the opportunity to enjoy your blog.
July 7, 2009 at 3:34 pm |
My child has an elocution competition..in hindi..titled ‘Dosti’…can you help me please?