My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Forbidden Passion


My heart beat wildly as I could feel his icy cold breathe on my cheek. A feeling of dread pulled at me. I tried in vain to lie at bed as motionless as possible, but perhaps he heard my heart beat on which I had no control of. I could feel his eyes on me. I could feel enticing smell of his body in the room. I could feel movement of his fingers on his hair as mischievous cold breeze tried to ruffle them. I felt envy of the wind!

I knew he wouldn't be there for long. One part of me wanted to hold him there forever, wanted to feel warmth of his lips. While on the other front, I was afraid to surrender. I knew if I chose to take a step forward there will be no coming back for me ever. I always waited for the one who would come with his magic wind to wake me up from my endless dream. But destiny sent him for me. I was afraid this was not my fairy tale.

Every time he looked at me, my heart froze. Every time he came close, I could not help but ask for more. With him around, time stopped running for me. There was something in his eyes which compelled me to follow my heart without thinking about the consequences. There was something about him which I could feel was forbidden for me.

The Sun was about to rise. I could feel his dilemma. I wanted to jump from the bed, stop every possible ray of light to reach him to make him stay longer. But he had to go.

I wanted to get over of my fear for once & said aloud, ‘I want to be destroyed in your love’!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Long Live 'Bandh'

There is a feasible way available these days for political parties to show off their dominance over am janata… the way is quite simple, first they need to randomly select one of the burning contemporary issues, then call a ‘strike’ & on the D day harass as much people as they can to show off muscle power…and the popularity of that political party can be measured by the amount of dread they spread amongst their potential voters at the end of the ‘successful bandh’.

And you think only Rakhi Sawant is craving for publicity, eh?

They say it’s for ‘US’! They are concerned about you & me…they are worried about our pocket which is affected by the ongoing price hike…they are concerned about our future…that’s why they are not ashamed of harassing people who dare to come out of their houses to reach their places of work for their living…they aren’t ashamed of holding back a doctor from attending his dying patient at the operation theatre…and yes they are our leaders!!

If you & I can successfully go to work without fear, on the ‘Unofficial Holidays of India’ then that’s certainly a matter of disgrace for the political parties. Rather we should show our respect to the political goons by staying home on weekdays…forget about our right to work and forget about those people who work on daily wage basis… they can surely adjust one or more days in a month without their share of meal…after all these strikes are for our prosperity!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Democracy under threat




In author’s words ‘It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times’…on one front India is emerging as unyielding economy, playing its own card in international forums, becoming potential player in world power game; while other side of the picture is sheer disgraceful. Time and again different political parties took up charge (if not for our development) to gag media, if any channel or newspaper dares to criticize their acts. IBN Lokmat office in Mumbai & Pune was not the first instance where journalists had to face vandalism…history says media has always been the soft target.

The country which is widening its horizon by giving acquiescence to transsexuals, where civil society becomes vocal after Mumbai terror attack & shown remarkable protest against the authority, incidents like this where political goons attack media personnel, denuded internal incompetence of political structure of India. Several times before IBN incident media has been attacked…why Govt. has not taken any stern steps? How can the political thugs just enter into an office & destroy everything? Where was the police?

You might play the same old card by proclaiming that media sensationalize issues, media doesn’t play neutral game and so on…I say, you need to hold on there. If I take side of any political party, if I give hype to any issues for commercial gain…does that empower you to stifle my voice?

We can’t question the authority, we can’t criticize any political party, we can’t do our job and we can’t ask for security…no matter what ever is written in our constitution regarding freedom of speech & expression, if we are in media…sorry, we are not allowed to use our constitutional rights. Right??

Friday, November 6, 2009

somnambulism...


Do you believe in fairy tales? Do you believe when life will get tougher, everything will get out of control, when you will find yourself confined into a room full of gloom; someone will come to show you the way?

Do you believe you are Pretty Woman Vivian (Julia Roberts) who is waiting for her Richard Gere? As we grow up & entangled into the complexities of real world, fairy tales take a back seat…it’s hard for prisoners of 21
st century’s who are surrounded by walls of ferocity, treachery and aversion, to wait for a light of hope at the end of the tunnel…when devil takes charge of the world, dewfall replaced by volcanic eruption, anticipation for the prince with magic wind becomes mere farcical.


But there is a girl I know…who loves to believe her prince will come at the end of the world to fight with all sinister power and rescue her. Many times she has been mistaken her savior with demon in disguise…who shattered her dreams, her pride, her principles, her respect…love makes her bleed every time…but she still hopes for someone who will remove every obstacle in her way, who will make all her dreams come true…who will embrace her, who will give her a kiss to heal. So what if the devil up there is actually in charge of the steering wheel of life…she is reluctant to leave her dreamland. She hides her hopes underneath her arrogance, she hides her love underneath her hoarseness, she hides her fragility underneath her egotism…and like a caterpillar, she is waiting for someone who will help her to spread her wings to fly high up to the sky, behind the stars in a land called her own ‘fantasy land’!


Just to clarify, the girl is not insane…she is as real as we are…perhaps we all have someone like her deep down in our heart…who loves to believe life is nothing but a fairy tale. No matter how sensible, practical, strong we are…we all want to be the Cinderella in the end!


Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true
Deep down inside we want to believe they still do
In our secretest heart, it's our favourite part of the story
Let's just admit we all want to make it too….(by Carrie Underwood)

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

When Hell Broke Loose...

A good degree in mass communication, professional integrity, press identity card are not enough to let you to use your constitutional rights to deliver news to the audience by using the public medium…at least when you are in a state like West Bengal, where a political leader called a reporter ‘Supary Killer’, where journalists of one particular news channel are not allowed to enter in any conference of that specific political party.

How these power hungry political folks can raise questions on journalistic ethics when they cannot be bothered to fulfill their roles as the nation’s leaders? The people who are not capable to fit the bill of politics as far as ideology is concerned, are here to restrict journalists from doing their job of collecting and delivering news!
News channels are not public service medium as it was in the pre independence days… audience of these mediums these days are educated enough to build up their own opinion. Channels aren’t charitable medium… their job is to provide news that are factually correct with their own interpretation & we are all well aware of this…people are exposed to a holy good number of print & electronics medium to gather news about the world, but the opinions they build up are more influenced by primary & secondary groups rather than media. No news media is politically unbiased these days…there can’t be any disagreement on that, but what they deliver are the ‘factually correct information’…and no individual or organization is empowered to restrict the flow of news under any circumstances.


My message to these politicians is: journalists are neither paid by you nor they are compelled to act as your personal assistants who are supposed to always speak in your favour…if you claim that news media are not neutral these days then you are the one who are responsible for this.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Surname under the scanner...

I have never started an independence day in my life with so much feeling of fury. Its humiliating, its disgusting…how can they detain SRK for 2 hours on the ground of his last name? In a country where its own weekly magazine News week named him one of the most 50 powerful people of the world, suddenly totally forgot the global icon? We have enough of this Americanish security system…we know how important is this to maintain the protocols, but their Govt. should realize where to put the full stop! You just cannot put a whole religion behind the bars because of some particular religious groups. How in humanitarian is this? A personality like Shahrukh Khan who was honoured with an honorary doctorate in arts and culture from Britain's University of Bedfordshire, has been detained for questioning, is something shocking for every Indian over the nation. Let’s forget about SRK’s star status…the whole thing still would be disgusting for every Indian.

I totally agree with our honorable I & B minister Ambika Soni who thinks we should treat Americans with their own medicine. No country should be given any right to frisk any body just on the basis of his religion. And look at the irony…SRK’s upcoming film which is already much in news because of the shahrukh, kajol & Kjo trio…is a joint venture of star India & ‘Twentieth Century Fox’ which is interestingly a major American film studio & the more fascinating fact is, the film is on a Muslim & his journey across America!! Hmm…I think Karan Johar should prepare a special promotional plan for the film in USA, with SRK’s detail CV & character certificate…what say? If they can detain a person on the ground of his last name…here the title of the film contains ‘Khan’…I wonder what will be their reaction to the entire film?

On 62nd Independence Day such disgraceful incident shows the existence of racism. It’s utterly shameful. I’m all about security system, I’m all about protocols & I understand how much important is all these to combat any terror attack but it’s not at all permissible to harass a person just on the basis on his religion.

Friday, July 3, 2009

conquest of love

No matter what they call us
However they attack
No matter where they take us
We'll find our own way back

And they have found their way back. Now they don’t have to be scared to hold the hand they love…they don’t have to be afraid to touch the lips they can die for…they don’t have to be worried to articulate their love in front of the whole world…they don’t have to be afraid to yell their hearts out to say that they love somebody of the same sex! Now no one can categorize them as mentally retarded…now they don’t have to go through humiliation…they don’t have to be categorize as ‘abnormal’. A taboo has been created in the society about homosexuality…which still goes on. In fact I personally don’t think recent Delhi High Court’s judgment can entirely change that. A section of sanctimonious people proclaim homosexuality as impious & section 377 of Indian Penal Code gives fuel to their belief, which is no longer in action after yesterday’s judgment. But it needs more than just legal right to change perception of people regarding gay community.

But a legal right can change to some extent the whole picture of hypocrisy in the society…where a man involves at feticides at the same time he screams for Indian ethos. If they say Indian scriptures hinder us to love a person of same sex then is it justifies their act to prove their supremacy? It’s high time to realize that to love & to be loved by the person I dream of is the principal right of every person of the nation.

For me…there is only one way to meet the god…that is through the way of ‘Love’. And no scripture, no narrow minded hypocrite, no deceiver preceptor, and no court of law can encumber two souls to meet… high court’s judgment proves again that love knows no barrier…it can erode every obstruction that comes in the way…

If only tears were laughter
If only night was day
If only prayers were answered
Then we would hear God say
 
No matter what they tell you
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach you
What you believe is true

Sunday, June 28, 2009

A boon or an imprecation?

We are planning to upgrade ourselves to the standard of developed nations…stupefied?? Don’t be! No…we are not making any modern centralized security force; neither is we making any special commission to fight terrorist activities in domestic arena. We are instead planning to develop our education system by scraping the 10th board exam…thanks to honorable minister Kapil Sibal.

There is no need to increase the sluggish 1.5% literacy rate in India, there is no need to ensure daily livelihood for the children live below poverty line to enable them to access education, there is no need to reinforce Sarva Sikhshya Aviyan…but we need to remove board exam in 10th standard to reduce hassle of the children & parents. I agree that talent & knowledge can’t be evaluated on the basis of examinations; there could be new possible assessment process like other developed nations. But at a time when outflow of knowledge has been positioned as one of the most critical problem in India, we should take up some stringent measures to upgrade the whole education structure of the nation.

Every year the immense difference of overall result in 10th & 12th board exam prove beyond doubt the disparity of evaluation structure of different boards. Every year number of student flies out of India & become green card holder to serve the developed nations, only because here they can’t get good returns of their investments! Can all these trends be stopped by removing exam in 10th grade?

But at the same time examinations phobia of children should be removed. I believe some new assessment procedures should be introduced, but before that we need to make sure that it won’t decrease qualitative quotient of the future builders of the country. Moreover, there are many other problems related to education system that need to be addressed. Why don’t administration lay importance on that?

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Jai Ho!!

The Election Gala is over…all blame game, criticism, pre result shudder came to an end only to mark the beginning of epoch making power play. For the first time the city of joy has seen sky to be covered with green flag of triumph instead of red! After series of advertisements, now it’s the time to 'Disco' for some while for other so called strong players it’s the time to 'Khisko'!! Despite of series of political dexterity, strife, coalition in & coalition out for the first time in the political history of Bengal, the so called opposition party successfully crossed 15 numbers!

The magic numbers has shown that people of Bengal certainly want a severe change…a change in employment opportunity, a change in education system & most importantly a change in governance. I personally revere our present CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya a lot, but somehow it seems in the past few years that he is unable to deal with the pressure of Alimuddin Street! Although it is equally true that I strongly believe at present we don’t have any one better than Mr. Bhattacharya to fit in the chair of CM. But then do we really want to see someone as the head of our state who was unable to stop cadres to enter in Nandigram which resulted in the death of hundreds people? Mind you, I’m not giving any allegation to our honorable CM, it was the confession made by one senior leader of the left party on a well known regional TV news channel.

Some says it’s the victory of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ while other says it will hinder the growth of industrial development in Bengal…but we say, let the time speaks!

However most importantly, I’m personally happy & satisfied with the victory of UPA Govt. We actually don’t have any other better candidate than Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is apt for the diadem of PM. In a country which can better be recognized as prime ministerial form of Govt. we definitely would not like to see someone at the power who takes decisions on the basis of cast & religion.

Some of my friends have told me that Dr. Singh is not stern enough to take right decisions at the right time & some said he is nothing but an obedient follower of Sonia Gandhi. I believe this is somehow oversimplification of the whole convoluted political game. In a coalition Govt. you can’t expect him to take decision all alone, where he has to be skilled enough to harmonize between the allies. One wrong move & his Govt. will fall down! Now guys, what do you need, a permanent Central Govt. or a predominant PM?

Over all the entire poll result shows lack of faith on some old, experienced players & gaining trust on those who inspire youth & play politics without any cast or religious prejudice! Hopefully, the magic figures will be able to bring forth some positive changes in Indian economy & politics.

Fingers crossed!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Love you Maa...


10th May…for me its not another day on the calendar…it’s a day to thank the person who is most important to me…its the day to say how special the person is for me…it’s the day to show how much I care…it’s the day to tell her ‘I love you’! She is always with me in good & bad. We cry together…we laugh together. She is there all the time to hold me tight. At times when I screwed up with life, it was she who stood by me. When I fall ill it is she who says, ‘don’t worry I’m with you’. When I burst out with anger, fear or frustration it is she who endure all my perturbation. When I’m hurt by loved ones it is only she who can read my mind.

She is the only person who wants to guard me from all evil powers of the world…for her I will never grow up. She feels proud with my triumph, she feels miserable with my breakdown. With time we have become best of friends…to discuss about relationships & even MEN!

She is my guardian, my mentor, my pal, my guide…she is my mom! The most caring, lovable, protective…the best mom of the world! It was she for whom I managed to fight back when there was no reason left for me to dream or to hope. It was because of her I learned that it doesn’t matter if you fall, what matter is how you stand up after falling. She is truly my reason to live! Anybody can turn me down, anybody can leave me alone, anybody can hurt me… but I know Maa, you will always be there for me! I may never be able to say you this face to face (you know my ego problem)…but I’m sorry…sorry for whatever you had to face for me few years back…sorry for whatever you had to pay because of my mistakes…sorry I lied…sorry I messed up. I know you will forgive me sooner or later…because if nobody else, only you know how much I’m putting my efforts to make everything perfect for us.

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Revival of patriotism

" Jana gana mana rann hai. Is rann mein zakhmi hua hai Bharat ka bhaagya vidhaata"…have you heard the lyrics before? No? This is the reinterpreted version of our national hymn done by RGV for his new film ‘Rann’!! Bewildered? Aareh…our film makers are very concerned about the ongoing ‘bad situation’ on present day India baba! Why you people can’t take everything sportingly? Look at the lyrics; how thoughtfully it reflects our torment against the contemporary situation of the nation…more touching than the original version made by Tagore, isn’t it? RGV’s in depth research is palpable from this one song in the promo of Rann, thanks to 26/11 Mumbai attack!

The man has once again proved with this reinterpreted version of national anthem that he doesn’t make mindless movies, please! Look at the intensity, look at the dormant meaning of each new word he inserted in the anthem for good…we should be proud of him! But I don’t understand why some cynical journalists are creating controversy over this issue? Do we really care about our national anthem? How many of us even bother to stand up in the respect of ‘Jana gana mana’ at different occasions? Today’s children are more aware of USA or Australia’s anthem instead of their own…it’s not trendy after all! At least, Verma is making the anthem more popular! For a realistic film maker like him, this ‘remake’ anthem could provide a more ‘real’ touch to the movie.

On a more serious note, the newly inserted lyrics are true to some extent in the present situation of India…but nobody has any ‘moral right’ to reinterpret the anthem made by Rabindra Nath Tagore for any purpose. There are many other ways to put forward your opinion on contemporary issues, but using national anthem for sheer commercial purpose is unethical in every sense. Legally may be we are allowed to reinterpret the song of praise, but we should be guided by moral police in such sensitive matter.

I pity RGV! No body is going to watch his film any way…hopefully he can earn the profit through his share of controversy!

Friday, May 1, 2009

An Appeal

Bloodshed, affray, mud slinging…something will never change in west Bengal. Year after year it’s the same story. Today is the third phase of election in Bengal & as expected this years voting picture is all same (even more spiteful). But Why? My question is why can’t we vote for somebody of our choice? Why can’t we vote freely? Why there is always a halo of trepidation hangs over our head to vote for the symbol we like?

It’s intolerable to see these two big cats sizing each other every time in Bengal. These things need to come to an end. How much will we gonna take? We need something gigantic this time…big enough to rejuvenate our dying hope. This year at last I managed to get my voter id card & this is the first year I will vote. But believe me I’m a bit scared…scared to go oppose of the ruling party of my local area. I mean, it’s easy to put forward your thoughts & opinions in blogs but when it comes to real action you have to think about many other consequences.

I want a change in my city…a change in my state…a change in my country. A change doesn’t necessarily mean supporting a political party over another, that’s sheer political issue & I’m not interested to get myself involved into this prattle (believe me I’m not very good in that either). What I need is a change in the whole system…& a system includes all of us…you, me & our surrounding. If we can’t change ourselves we won’t be able to build a better future for us…for our family. When there is any bomb blast, people die…we suddenly become over active in both of our words & actions…we protest, we accuse…& then we forget, we compromise! Year after year same picture, same story, same tradition. We say 'is desh ka kuch nahin hoga' & we escape. Either we vote for a symbol we don’t support or even better we ‘don’t’ vote. This is what we do & then at time of crisis we put all our blame on the people in power.

How cliché it may sound but it’s only ‘us’ who can bring a change in the country. If you take the first step the crowd will follow you. I’ll try to get over with my fear & will vote for the party I support whatever consequence it may bring because no one can stop me to use my franchise power…what will you gonna do?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Hard Reality...

A gigantic amount of data says due to increasing privatization of higher education, academic institutes in India have been experiencing increasing ragging excesses. The effectiveness of the ‘ban’ declared by the Govt. on ragging in many IITs appears clear on the campuses & hostels. In fact the latest heart rending death of Aman Kachroo, a 19 years old student of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College in brain hemorrhage due to brutal ragging has aroused a big question mark on the effectiveness of the ‘ban’ on ragging.

Despite the series of justifications given by many students in favor of ragging, such as ‘a way to build friendly relation between seniors & juniors’, indubitably it’s the most filthy side of modern education system. Campaigns by several human activists & establishments of anti ragging cells seemed to have no real impact on the practice of ragging in technical institutions.

But aren’t the junior students equally responsible to let the grubby game to exist in the college campus? It takes the back bone to rise up against impropriety & raise your voice high for own rights. This is awful to see how these students had embraced death in ragging. It’s the high time to stop the ongoing. If your parents can invest big amount of money for your career, can’t you invest little bit of guts to fulfill their dreams?

Come… hold hands & voice against ragging…

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The vigor of Nano

Someone has rightly said, ‘somebody’s lose is somebody’s gain’. At present this holds utterly true in case of West Bengal, when Tata’s Nano is all ready to hit the road! No one can ever forget the mayhem we went through months ago regarding Nano project in Singur…processions, strikes, death, redundancy which led to the materialization of more gooey politics in Bengal. And now, at last Nano is all set as the lowest price car of the nation (though it has been said that the price 1 lakh is for the first 1 lakh buyers only!!).

We all remember the prolific contribution of the opposition party in the amputation of the small car industry from Singur…but can you disagree that our respectable CM was also responsible to some extent to let that happen? The very confrontation in Bengal has shown the reality; that in spite of the constitutional rule Buddhadeb Bhattacharya seemed to impound himself within the Alimuddin Street. A state where it’s CM first think for the party & then for the people… unemployment is obligatory. Why Bhattacharya didn’t rise up & let the development process to persist? But what so ever it was…we lost the opportunity & that’s what matters the most!

But if you really think…it’s the end of the story…then let me tell you, picture abhi baki hain mere dost! It was the Nano project for which our own Mamata Di has engaged herself doggedly in image makeover. The lady who once said that she wont let the campaign procedure to weigh down because of the Board Exams…now has become receptive about sight pollution (source: few days back we get to know that she instructed her party members to erase wall graffiti from the walls if the owner of the house found to diverge with it!). In fact after her victory in Nandigram, in order to win the hearts of the urban mass she is trying to change the very anti developmental image of her. And now again that is the trump card of the left parties to win over Ms Banerjee!

They say, ‘Don’t go with the size’…the smallest car can be powerful enough to change the destiny of Bengal politics. Let’s wait & watch…

Monday, March 16, 2009

Fashion coronation...

Long categorized as conservative metropolis, at last we have found the burrow of emancipation after a long decade of revolution, to articulate our voice loud & clear. Kolkata is going to have its first ever FASHION WEEK! Top 35 models of the country will be sashaying down the ramp for designers of international repute like Bibi Russell, Ritu Kumar, Narendra Kumar, Mona Pali, Zubair Kirmani, Manoviraj Khosla, Sharbari Dutta, Abhishek Dutta, Anjana Bhargav, Marg and Dev R Nil, amongst others. No prize for guessing that it is going to be the ostentatious fashion gala, kolkata has ever experienced!

A change in stance & approach of fashion can be traced some years ago…with the starting of shopping mall culture. We moved over from new market, hati bagan or gariahat market to Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons or Westside in Forum, City center. This change in life style led to the emergence of boutiques of renowned fashion designers like Ritu Beri, Monapali or brand name like Hidesign. We began to shift from roadside shopping to everything-under-one-roof shopping carnival. That time globalization led to the emergence a new stratum of middle class people, who were strongly affected by the growing trend of consumerism. Business folks began to take grip over the virgin fashion market of kolkata.

From the last few years the growing numbers of shopping malls, pubs & lounge bars can be viewed as a silent cataclysm towards modernization. Started by Forum now we have City center, mani square, south city mall in the list, where you can find a new genus of Bengali! The crowd is out & out different from the one we have always imagined about ‘bheto’ Bengali…

Till now our very own designers like Sharbari Dutta, Abhishek Dutta, Sabyasachi Mukherjee had to showcase their designs on national platforms like Lakme India fashion week or Wills fashion week, but now time has come for us to enjoy their creation on the ramp of our very own city! Who knows may be some day we could be compared with Milan or Paris…cheers!!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Virtual Campaigning....

With election in around the corner our hard working, greatly devoted politicians are all ready to rock the ballot box with new campaign ideas in their stores! Few weeks ago I got the opportunity to experience one of the latest ideas of election campaign designed by Narendra Modi -Gujarat: the power house, distributed in free of cost with one of the leading English magazines of the nation, India Today. Those days were gone when these grey headed folks used to come down to the streets with a huge mike & never ending speeches including bunch of promises which incited series of forged hopes among us. In this cyber age we can reach the candidates we like with one click of the mouse…politicians are truly getting net savvy!

There was a time when youth didn’t have even the slightest interest in politics & election …but with the materialization of the consent named ‘Media’, we the young generation are gaining interest in the political system of the nation at large. We are bombarded with awareness building messages from electronics media, one of the successful of them is the Tata Tea advertisement which says, ‘Jaago Re’…even the Mtv which is considered as the youth icon channel is also promoting ‘Jaago Re’ in their show ‘Wats Up Youngistan! Why they are paying such magnitude on this issue?? Is it only because the youth need to be aware about the election procedure? Or there is other side of the story as well?

Considering the new trends in election campaign that is gaining popularity now days, it is discernible that politicians are now hankering for the youth vote bank. In the past it was almost impossible for the young generation even to know the profile about the candidates in detail…they were unaware about the party policies & ideologies. As a result very few of them sought to participate in the election process. But with more coalition Government... with more regional parties burgeoning from different states, our politicians have realized the necessity to incorporate youth in the election to secure vote banks.

Being in a country with such a complex system structure, every Indian should have enough knowledge about elections & every political party…but our Govt.’s sole concern definitely isn’t to increase only our awareness!! Since India's current demographic profile is heavily loaded in the favor of youth, more than 50 per cent of India's population is below the age of 25, politicians have realized the importance of youth participation to ensure sheer success.

As a result, politicians like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram & many more have launched their websites which include upcoming policies & programs of their parties, their vision & goals. Recently a news on Headlines Today shows that people from around the world are visiting these websites in large numbers…& websites of these leaders are giving tough competitions to Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan or Amir Khan!!

But this is yet to see how far all these efforts could ensure their vote banks in reality…

Sunday, February 22, 2009

wayward education!

Political pestilence has again intercepted developmental process in Bengal, this time Bengal Engineering & Science University of shibpur is on the hit list. The Ministry of Human Resources Development of the Government of India proposed that, it would elevate the 150 year old prestigious technical institute of the country to the status of an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), as proposed by both the S.K. Joshi & Anandakrishnan committee. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has promptly tried to grant permission from the Central Govt. for this purpose. The Human Resources Development expressed their suspicion about competency of the administration of BESU by taking into account the last instances of skirmish in the university campus. All of us are more or less aware about the ongoing discontent that took place in the BESU in several times since the year 2005…assault in the campus, bolted educational process, ragging, political concussion…one after another!

I’m not here to state the same information we got to see on TV channel or in newspapers, my endeavor is to pen down my take on the issue. We had to loose the Nano project because of the very state of fretting political condition of Bengal…& now BESU has became another strongest competitor who could make itself into this majestic list, as another example of political enmity. A major part of the present administrator of BESU is the supporter of the ruler party of Bengal, where as almost 75% working teachers are against the state Govt. Therefore it is alleged that often the teachers used the students against the administrators to vent their spleen.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya tried all possible measures last year to make the International Film Festival successful, when intellectuals of the city started series of protest against violence in Nandigram & banned the festival to show their confrontation against the State Govt. At that time we have seen Bhattacharya’s Govt. in paramount action to uphold the culture & heritage of Bengal in international forum. But why they weren’t as active in the case of BESU?

No question can be raised on the quality of education that BESU provides in the field of Science & Engineering…but if BESU wouldn’t be able to acquire the status if IIEST, whose fault it would be? The university authority? The students? The teachers? The opposition party? Or, the ruling party? History says students’ politics has been the obstacle in education at college or university level…politicians has always used perseverance of students in their interest…& we were always at the receiving end! Was not it our Govt.’s responsibility to resist the disorder that took place the university campus of BESU in the past few years? For a university that is among the first ranking Engineering colleges of the nations, such complain of indiscipline is appalling for all of us.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

political hindrance

Their social & political morality now has shifted from the rights of am janata to pollution! In the last epidemic in Singur they cried for justice of the local farmers…in the latest hurly-burly regarding two wheeler auto bans they were again against LPG autos & puffed up the issue of air pollution. But now with general election is round the corner, our very own dearest Mamata Banerjee is again in action & this time the proposed chemical hub in Nayachar is on her hit list. At last this chemical Hub made the impossible thing possible…it has turned Ms. Banerjee ,the ‘liberator of working class’ into ‘environment friendly’!

Such unscrupulously self seeking metamorphic political ideology is the sole reason of consumptive development of Bengal. This never ending conflict between the state Govt. & the opposition party to secure their vote bank is incarcerating the pace of development. Ms. Banerjee’s protest rally has stopped the expedition against two stroke autos. On top of everything, the scar of Tata Motors is still alive.


It has been claimed by Trinamool Congress party that the proposed Chemical Hub in Nayachar would confiscate earning of more than five lakh fisher men reside in South Bengal & the chemicals of that very Hub would make the water polluted, where as Govt. Officials said that very few fisher families dwell in the main proposed land. But that doesn’t make any difference for the oppositions.

They have decided to create encumbrance to the imminent endeavour of industrial development in Bengal all over again. This will give fuel to increasing number of unemployment in the state. On one side economic melt down & on the other hand political divergence…Bengal is going through hard times!!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

stark reality...

The most extolled film of the year…the Golden Globe award winner & Oscar nominated ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ made me feel perturbed & affronted!

The story of a slum dog to become millionaire overnight was inspirational enough, but Mr. Danny Boyle used the ominous side of India with dexterity to grab the critic’s eye ball…which I personally don’t support.

Here in India at least people have slums for accommodation, where as in USA, people stand beside the road for help with a placard in hand,’ homeless’ written on it. Every country built high rise buildings over the ashes of poor & distressed people…we are not an exception! We don’t have enough money, but we don’t cheat people in the name of ‘Mineral water’. It was loathsome where the child protagonist was beaten by police & told the American couple that it’s the face of ‘Real India’…then the Americans gave him a dollar as compensation, to give the boy an idea about ‘REAL USA’! How many Indians support with this? In fact, I think Iran or Afghanistan could depict the ‘REAL’ picture of America in a more ‘REAL’ manner!

Child labor, prostitution, slums, unhygienic society, indigence, poverty… everything is true indeed, but the way this has been used in this film to lure audience abroad was wrong. They knew critics would love this backward face of India instead of the developed side which we have achieved within only 62 years of independence! Perhaps this is the reason why Taree Zamin Par couldn’t win the Oscar, since dyslexia is nourished by richer countries like UK & USA & here we fed up disease like Polio or malnutrition & critics wanted to see that ‘REAL’ face of India!!

This film is a filthy way to show where we stand. Life here isn’t as magnificent as its been depicted in Yash Raj or Karan Johar movies…I agree; but I somberly disagree with the way our futility was used by this British Film maker.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mirage of Hope!

In inspirational inaugural address after being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, Mr. Obama told the nation: "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."…."Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.” Enthronement of the first black president Barack Hussein Obama marked the new era of development & prosperity for America.

Honestly, Obama’s inauguration speech is not my matter of interest...as an Indian I was hoping for some change in America’s foreign policy, which will be beneficial for India. But as the new administration has unveiled its bilateral relationships with Japan, South Korea & Australia, but not India…I was disappointed. You have seen live telecast of his inaugural session directly from US…his presidential election has been of your interest from last year…you are as happy as any other Americans when he won the seat of US President. But how this change in White House will affect our lives? After Indo US Nuke Deal though it can be said that relation between India & America are smooth now…in fact in the last Mumbai terror attack we have got assistance & cooperation from US to tackle Pakistan sponsored terrorism. But The Agenda – foreign policy, of Obama & Biden led us to devise since it says “they will maintain strong ties with allies like Japan, South Korea & Australia” with no mention of India. One good news is that America has a broad agreement with India for global nuclear disarmament, to stop development of nuclear weapons. As well as they deal with countries like Pakistan & Afghanistan to strengthen security worldwide. But the issue of Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regarding India is still on hold, while White House has strong support for this in the context of North Korea & Iran.

And this is yet to see if the new President will use his veto power in United Nations Security Council for permanent membership of India, since experts says that Brazil, Germany, India & Japan are the most strongest competitors.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Vapoury politics

Bengal has become the ultimate precedent of anti amelioration political culture. It seems that our political leaders are more concerned about the working class than the leaders of other metro cities. Perhaps our sensible leaders think that pollution can be controlled by calling more strikes in a month! It’s strange to see that these people are so engrossed in securing their vote banks that they don’t even bother about us. Every other city has seen protest & violence to ban auto pollution but our State Govt. is unable to handle the same thing & has pleaded helplessness. I wonder, in the issue of Singur we have seen violence on a larger level but that time Govt. was stick to its place, but why this time they surrendered themselves so easily?

Our administration is incapable of maintaining law & order in the state & wide range of protest has now become symbolical while implementing a court order in the city (take the issue of Book Fair venue for another example). Apart from that, Kolkata doesn’t have enough LPG outlets. Merely 12 outlets are there where as the target was 75, what was the Govt. doing since July 18? Preparing for Film Festival?

I’m not in the favor of any of the parties. The CM, who once said that at first he is the member of Alimuddin St., we can’t expect him to get above from party politics since he, himself have accepted that for him party comes first. But being a cultural & educated leader he should realize the adverse effect of pollution, which will affect the auto drivers more than any body else. On the other hand, our Didi, who considers her party, is for the people of grass root level, for whom we had to bid ‘good bye’ to the Nano project, is back to her form. She has become synonymous with anti development in Bengal.

Destruction of public property, blood shed, strikes, political procession….doesn’t protect interest of auto drivers. At the end of the day, its poor people who suffer from pollution the most.