Memories!

Just to give a bit of a background for this post, I am from Calcutta, that erstwhile (and current) hotbed of unionism and frequent strikes and hartals. Right now on the other hand I am in my 23rd floor office in Los Angeles right next to Beverly Hills High School. Of all places on the planet I would have expected this to be the furthest from my hometown's quirks.
Now comes the cool part, all afternoon today I have been hearing faint vocal rumblings from the street outside which I ignored initially as traffic and then as the rain. When I could no longer ignore the stridently familiar cadence of the shouts, I had to take a look out of the window. The Hotel Century Plaza, where the US Presidents hold press conferences and stay in while visiting LA, has a group of protesters outside. They are in blue raincoats, carrying placards and shouting slogans while walking around the hotel entrance. If I close my eyes, I am back in Calcutta, stuck in a traffic jam in Dalhousie Square. I know exactly what they are shouting - 'Management er kalo haat bhenge dao guriye dao! Hai hai, management jabab dao' (with apologies to readers who do not understand Bengali) and so on, except its all in Spanish...