Kolkata Korner

Gimmick Season
The Durga Pujas are just a month away. Far from evoking feelings ofreligiosity and festivity, the Pujas of late stir up visions of chaos andcacophony and profound regret at the crass commercialization that has come tocharacterize the most important event of the Bengali calendar. And yes, at thecheap gimmickry that the organizers of the community Durga pujas resort to getpublicity and attract crowds. These pujas have become competitive eventsthereare prizes for the pandals, for the idols, for the lighting arrangements, forbeing eco-friendly, for being children-friendly, for being aged-friendly andwhat have you. Puja pandals are even inaugurated, and here, too, organizers viewith one another to line up celebrities at the inaugural ceremonies. But theBehala Young Men’s Association, which organizes a Durga puja, surely takes thecake. This year, it has invited Prince from Kurukshetra to inaugurate its pandal.Prince who? Ah, that kid who was rescued from a pit he had fallen into in July,remember? The young men of Behala in south Kolkata have invited the boy and hisfamily to Kolkata, are paying their to and fro train fares and hosting themduring their week-long stay here. Why? Because, argue the organizers, Princeembodies the spirit of India’s youth. Amen to that.

Mahishasura Chappell
But it’s not only the young men of Behala who stand accused to being soridiculously ‘innovative’. The organizers of another prominent communityPuja in North Kolkata have asked the artisan commissioned to make the idol ofthe Goddess to model Mahishasura on Greg Chappell. Because, they contend,Chappell is the current villain of Bengal, having been instrumental in denyingSourav Ganguly (Bengal’s only glory?) his ‘rightful’ place in the Indiansquad. The artisan had nearly finished making the asura a look alike of Chappelland had planned to don the devil in western outfits (a la Chappell). Theorganizers had planned to model the pandal on Chappell’s devilish act and the‘injustice’ done to Sourav. Asura (or Chappell, in this case), we were told,would be shown looking up to the Devi for enlightenment after having committedthe sin (of banishing Sourav).

Devil’s Death

But then, the Kolkata Police played spoilsport. Nothing doing, the cops said. Nocontroversies would be tolerated. Instructions have gone out to all pujaorganizers to stick to safe topics and themes. Chappell-baiters have cried foul,accusing the cops of curbing their freedom of expression. The cops have pointedout that in the past, too, they’ve stopped Puja organizers from making asuralook-alikes of Veerappan, Osama bin Laden, George Bush, Tony Blair and even Mao.But there’s a twist in this talethe Kolkata Police is headed by PrasunMukherjee who contested the elections to the Cricket Association of Bengalagainst Jagmohan Dalmiya. Casting Chappell as the asura, reckoned Mukherjee,would scuttle whatever chances remain of Sourav sneaking his way back to TeamIndia since Chappell and BCCI boss Sharad Pawar wouldn’t be pleased. Is thisthe Durga Pujas we’re talking about?

Gender Bias
Talking of the Durga Pujas, it appears strange that we worship the Devi asshakti and more, but are so very biased against our own women folk. Take thecase of women who’re trained purohits (priestesses). They’ve been trained atthe tols and possess certificates, but are never asked to conduct religiousceremonies, not even Pujas worshipping goddesses like the Durga, Kali, Lakshmior Saraswati. It’s unfortunate that despite women undergoing the one-yearcourse successfully and there being nothing in the shastras against womenconducting pujas (and anyway, our womenfolk do the pujas at home, don’tthey?), Bengali society that lays claim to being egalitarian and enlighteneddoesn’t accept women priests. Perhaps it’s time for the Puja organizers tobreak the taboo and take this innovative plungethis would do society alot more good than inviting children rescued from pits in faraway Haryana toinaugurate pujas.

Business Sense
A blueprint for Kolkata’s development prepared by eleven business chambersof the city does make a lot of business sense. Presented to Chief MinisterBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee earlier this week, the master plan envisages developingheritage precincts in the city, starting with BBD Bagh (or Dalhousie Square)that houses heritage structures like the GPO and the Writers’ Building. Thelake in the area (Laldighi) should be developed into a public relaxation arenawith parks and promenades surrounding it. In fact, vehicles should be bannedfrom entering this whole area. The business chambers recommended a separatemaster plan for river front development to turn the squalid banks of the Hooghlylined with decrepit buildings into major entertainment hubs with theatres,parks, fair grounds, eateries, convention halls and points for river cruises.What’s moreand this should warm the cockles of our Marxist rulers’heartsthe business chambers have suggested that ‘walls of democracy’be constructed at select places in the city for political parties andorganisations like the trade unions to scrawl all their slogans and messages on.Now how about that? These could also be major tourist draws, besides thepromenades and parks that the chambers have suggested.

Publicity Drive
‘Walls of democracy’ may come up, but right now, it’s time for KolkataandBengalto be plastered with huge hoardings trumpeting the ‘achievements’of the months old seventh Left Front government in the state. These will be partof a mega publicity blitzkrieg that the Marxist government will unleash on ussoon. There’ll be ads on the electronic media depicting (mostly) BuddhadebBhattacharjee delivering speeches or rubbing shoulders with investors (read:capitalists) while the hoardings would strive to drive home the message thatmore industries mean more jobs. In the rural areas, the hoardings would proclaimthat these jobs were not just for urban youth, but also village youth. This,then, is the give away, the actual reason behind the blitzto convincepeople of Bengal that industries are essential for the state’s futuredevelopment. And it all comes at a time when the CM is facing flak for grabbingland from farmers to give it away to industries. All very fine, but will the 900hoardings be enough to convince farmers who’ll lose their lands that theystand to benefit from the loss?

Double Standards
Yes, once again, there’s occasion (and need, if I may add) to point outthe duplicity of the Marxists. CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury, quitethe public face of the party, was asked the other day the reasons behind hisparty’s opposition to the Telengana movement. The CPI(M), he replied, wasagainst creation of states on a non-linguistic basis. The party would onlysupport carving out states from existing ones if the demand for creation of thenew state is on a linguistic basis. Why, pray, is the CPI(M) then opposed to thecreation of ‘Gorkhaland’, a state for Nepali-speaking people of DarjeelingHills, carved out of West Bengal? Surely, that demand is on the basis of alanguage.