In My Defence.

My mother read the entry I wrote on the trip to Jadavpur University and got very offended by the following lines:

"The slogans got louder, especially as the car passed. But thankfully I didn't understand them because they were in Bengali."

She also resented the fact that I made it sound like I was stepping foot into foreign territory.

So mother, I would like to make it clear that:
1) I'm very aware of the fact that Bengali blood that flows through my veins.
2) I do understand Bengali, having been forced to study it for the past twelve years.
3) The fact that I understand Bengali has been proven by my ISC Bengali marks which were a respectable 64%.

However, in my defence, I would like to state that words like Oposhongshkriti are words that I have yet to come across in both school syllabi and in what I ask Bouchi (cook) to make for lunch at home.

Which is really the extent of my Bengali.

And that's your fault. Not mine.