Life is One Accident After Another...

"In so many ways, his family's life feels like a string of accidents, unforeseen, unintended, one incident begetting another. It had started with his father's train wreck, paralyzing him at first, later inspiring him to move as far as possible, to make a new life on the other side of the world. There was the disappearance of the name Gogol's great-grandmother had chosen for him, lost in the mail somewhere between Calcutta and Cambridge. This had led, in turn, to the accident of his being named Gogol, defining and distressing him for so many years. He had tried to correct that randomness, that error. And ye tit had not been possible to reinvent himself fully, to break from that mismatched name. His marriage had been something of a misstep as well. And the way his father had slipped away from them, that had been he worst accident of all, as if the preparatory work of death had been done long ago, the night he was nearly killed, and all that was left for him was one day, quietly, to go. And yet these events have formed Gogol, shaped him, determined who he is. They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend. Things that should never have happened, that seemed out of place and wrong, these were what prevailed, what endured, in the end" (286-287).

My Namesake

name·sake [neym-seyk
–noun
1. A person named after another
2. A person having the same name as another

I was named after Nikolai Gogol, my father's favorite author. Not a name that would be found in my culture, in fact, I have never met another Gogol in all of my life. But that's getting off from my story. One day, my father was going on a train ride to visit his grandfather in October 1961 there was a terrible accident that almost took my father's life. The book that held my father's favorite story by Nikolai Gogol saved him, it was for that book, I am alive and my father didn't die. I remember feeling like I didn't even know my father's past, like there was a part of him that I didn't even know. I asked him that night: "'Is that what you think of when you think of me? ... Do I remind you of that night?' 'Not at all... You remind me of everything that followed" (123-124).
I learned something about my father that night, but I also learned that the lowest, most painful part of someone's life, in this case my father's almost death, if you have the courage and the strength, you can turn it around. My father put that terrible part of his past behind him in a way, I guess, when he decided to name me Gogol. Something that could have reminded him of that accident, but instead whenever he thinks of Nikolai Gogol, he thinks of me. Turning something as terrible as that into something that in someone's eyes is a miracle or amazing, that's a trait everyone should learn in life.

Hello

Well, I must say that survey thing was an...interesting experience to say the least. I guess they are a good way for someone reading this to get to know me without, getting to know me. The Average Joe just surfing the web and finding this blog. But for those of you interested in what I have to say, stick around and I have quite a story to tell you. My life wasn't exactly how you'd picture every American kid, and even now I'm not exactly average. My parents had an arranged marriage, which basically means that they didn't even talk to each other until after they were married.
If I had to choose one major difference between my parents' lives in Calcutta (where they were born and raised) and my life here in the United States of America, that would be it hands down. I always thought that I was blessed when I realized that I wouldn't have to have an arranged marriage, but over thirty years of life and one divorce later, it doesn't sound too bad. My mother on the other hand, somewhat envies me for having the choice of who I love: "They [Me (Gogol) and my ex-wife Moushumi] are not willing to accept, to adjust, to settle for something less than their ideal of happiness" (276). That is one of the many reasons I love my Mom, at this point in my life she just wants me to be happy, and that's with whoever I choose, and after Moushumi, she won't ever butt into that aspect in my life again.

Tell Me About Yourself - The Survey

Name: Nikhil “Gogol” Ganguli
Birthday: August 1968
Birthplace: New England (First Generation US Citizen)
Current Location: New York
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Height: Around Six Feet
Right Handed or Left Handed: Right
Your Heritage: Indian, parents born and raised in Calcutta.
The Shoes You Wore Today: My everyday shoes.
Your Weakness: Amazing architecture on a building.
Your Fears: The Unfamiliar
Your Perfect Pizza: Really depends what I’m in the mood for.
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Moving even further in my career.
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: I don’t use Instant Messenger.
Thoughts First Waking Up: “What do I have to do today?”
Your Best Physical Feature: I really wouldn’t know.
Your Bedtime: I haven’t had a bedtime since I was in high school.
Your Most Missed Memory: Christmas with my parents and sister.
Pepsi or Coke: Not much of a difference to me.
MacDonalds or Burger King: Fast food will kill you.
Single or Group Dates: Single
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: That isn’t real tea.
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Either, but I drink coffee more often.
Do you Smoke: Not in many years, my ex-wife did.
Do you Swear: When I’m angry.
Do you Sing: No.
Do you Shower Daily: Yes.
Have you Been in Love: Yes.
Do you want to go to College: I went to college.
Do you want to get Married: I hope to get married again someday.
Do you belive in yourself: Yes.
Do you get Motion Sickness: No.
Do you think you are Attractive: Again, I shouldn’t be answering this.
Are you a Health Freak: No.
Do you get along with your Parents: Not when I was younger, but I do now.
Do you like Thunderstorms: Only if I’m safe and away from them.
Do you play an Instrument: No.
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Yes.
In the past month have you Smoked: No.
In the past month have you been on Drugs: No.
In the past month have you gone on a Date: Yes.
In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Yes.
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: No.
In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Yes.
In the past month have you been on Stage: No.
In the past month have you been Dumped:No.
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:No.
In the past month have you Stolen Anything: No.
Ever been Drunk: Yes.
Ever been called a Tease: No.
Ever been Beaten up: Not Really.
Ever Shoplifted: No.
How do you want to Die: Peacefully.
What do you want to be when you Grow Up: An architect… Wait, I am one.
What country would you most like to Visit: I would say Italy, but I’ve been there.
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color: Not really important.
Favourite Hair Color: Probably brunette.
Short or Long Hair: Long.
Height: Not taller than me, but wouldn’t really matter.
Weight:Not important.
Best Clothing Style: Comfortable, but still appropriate.
Number of Drugs I have taken: A few in college
Number of CDs I own:3 Many, The Beatles being my favorite.
Number of Piercings: None.
Number of Tattoos: None.
Number of things in my Past I Regret: A few.

Bibliography

• "The Namesake (2006)." IMBd. 2006. IMBd. 14 Jan 2008 .
• "Welcome to Simple Surveys Blog Survey system!." Kiwiz. 14 Jan 2008 .
• "Google Images." Google Images. 2007. Google. 14 Jan 2008 .