A Brief History of Ritwik Bhattacharya

Ritwik Bhattacharya was born in a little port town of Venezuela called Puerto Ordaz, on the 20^th of February, 1976. There he led a happy, carefree life for 8 idyllic years, swimming in the pirhana-infested waters of Orinoco and Caroni, playing baseball with all the big guys, and sometimes going to school. Then, abruptly, Fate snatched it all away, and planted him back in his home country, India. Too young then to understand her, the little boy Ritwik often complained about things in India. One of his more memorable quotes was "Don't you have Pepsi here ?" Gradually, he came to realize that the days of fun were well and truly gone, and so, he resigned himself to living in this miserable place, without Pepsi. But Fate had more surprises in store for Ritwik (not so little any more). He was bumped around from city to city (actually, it was his father), spending six months in Allahabad, a year in Bangalore, and another year in New Delhi, before Fate finally had had enough, and with one last fling, dropped him in Madras. By then, in his 12 years of existence, Ritwik had seen the insides of 8 schools, and picked up 4 langauges.

This began another phase of Ritwik's life, adolescence! In Madras, Ritwik was back in his elements. It was as hot and sticky as Puerto Ordaz had been, and by then, you could buy Pepsi in India too! So Ritwik embarked on the Great Adventure that is puberty. His voice broke, he grew hair in all sorts of weird places, and started ogling at girls. Soon enough, Ritwik was in love. A pretty young lass (who shall remain unnamed) stole his heart, and things were as merry as they'd ever been. The secret meetings, furtive glances, and stolen kisses made school a joy and a pleasure. But as they say, all good things come to an end, and so it was with Ritwik.