Kolkata Korner

A US Conspiracy!
As conspiracy theories go, this would surely take the cake. Bengal's highereducation minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury perhaps stretched even his blinkeredand dogmatic fellow Marxists' (at the party's 19th congress at Coimbatore)credulity a bit too far by saying that the USA was behind the unrest atNandigram. The uprising by the people of Nandigram against the Bengalgovernment's autocratic attempt to forcibly take over their lands was instigatedby Washington, he maintained. According to Roy Chowdhury, hadn't it been forthis Yankee conspiracy, the good folks at Nandigram would have obediently handedover their farmlands for the greater good of society and happily accepted themeager compensations before fading away to an uncertain future. But reactionaryforces like the Trinamool Congress, aided and abetted by Washington, instigatedthe farmers, made them aware of their rights and then propped their revolt. Itwas to defeat this US conspiracy and halt the march of imperialism that policehad to open fire on the US agents at Nandigram on March 14 last year and theCPI(M) was left with the onerous responsibility of re-capturing the red citadelthat had fallen into the hands of reactionary, anti-poor, anti-worker capitaliststooges and class enemies in that area. The unscrupulous US even bankrolledIslamic organizations and ultra-Leftists for the Nandigram upsurge. RoyChowdhury, by the way, is no uneducated man--he's an academic and his partycolleagues tout his intellectual prowess. Imagine such an 'intellectual'spinning such wild theories that would put even Osama bin laden to shame. 

Introspective Insights
While on the CPI(M) congress at Coimbatore, the conclave made some very scathingand honest observations on the party workers and leaders in Bengal. Threedecades in power, the CPI(M) apparatchik felt, have made Marxists in Bengal"self-centred, greedy, consumerist, petty, jealous and corrupt". Butthen, this has happened due to globalisation and the consumerism it has spawned.The mindless policies of liberalization and globalisation being pursued bysuccessive governments in new Delhi have spurred greed among people, includingthe Marxists (who, after all, are part of society), and this in turn has led towidespread corruption, self-centeredness and pettiness. In other words, it isnot the Marxists to blame for falling prey to the lust for lucre, but faultypolicies being pursued by New Delhi that have given birth to this lust. Quitereasonable, but what was that about Marxists being different and setting highstandards?

Impossible Task
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has set an impossible task for himself and his party--totake Bengal back to its days of glory, when it was the industrial hub of thecountry. Bhattacharjee told reporters at the 19th CPI(M) party congress that hisparty would fast-track the industrial process in Bengal to make it the numberone state in the country in terms of industrial output and economic progress.Bhattacharjee should know that this is an impossibility, and for a variety ofreasons. One, other states have moved too far ahead and even if they push thepause button now, it'll take Bengal at least five decades to reach their levelof industrialisation and economic output. 

Two, despite all the work being put in Bhattacharjee & Co to attractinvestors, the negative perception about Bengal being a state with a dismal workculture and militant trade unions persists, perhaps justifiably. Thecontradictions and counter-pulls within the Left Front government in the statewould also ensure that Bhattacharjee's dream remains just that. And, perhapsmost important, Bengal's human resources would ensure that the state continuesto remain a laggard. A lazy, slothful bureaucracy and a working class that notonly lacks work culture but is more aware of its rights rather thanresponsibilities will always pull Bengal backwards. And for this sad state ofaffairs, Bhattacharjee's party is solely responsible. It is, after all, theCPI(M) which perpetuated the culture of bandhs, lockouts and shutdowns andencouraged workers to shirk work. That's a legacy Bhattacharjee and the CPI(M)will find impossible to shake off or overturn. But anyway, there's no harm indreaming, is there?

Changing Names
Guess who's Oishorjyo Roy? Obhishek Bochchon's wife, of course. Birendra Sahabog,by the way, plays for the Indian cricket team. And Monmohon Singho is our PM (NarasinghaRao was one of his predecessors). Bengali channels and newspapers have thistendency to not only mis-pronounce everyone's name, but also convert anynon-Bengali with even a remotely Bengali-sounding title into a Bengali. Thus,Sanjay Dutt becomes Shonjoy Dutta, to cite just one of hundreds of suchexamples. There's also the propensity to add a Bengali flavour to names--BaichungBhutia's name being corrupted to 'Bhai'chung ('Bhai' as in brother) is one ofmany instances. 

We also have this propensity, at times, to twist names of places andcountries: the USA becomes 'Markin Jukta Rashtra' in Bengali. One can understand'Jukta Rashtra' (United States), but what is 'Markin'? And why is it that onlyBengalis use this strange term for the USA? This perverted pleasure obtainedfrom changing names to conform to 'Bangla' standards isn't what only the Bengalimedia revels in. Till a couple of years ago, even Calcutta University used tochange names of all its students to a set standard--an Ashish Sen, for instance,would have his name changed to Asis Sen without even a 'by your leave'. Why thispeculiar trait among Bengalis? I have no answer, but academicians could perhapsgive it a thought and delve deep into the Bengali psyche to search for aplausible reason for this strange penchant for changing names.

Weather Woes
Thursday evening witnessed an unusually fierce and prolonged nor'wester thatstretched well into Friday morning. Heavy rains and strong winds lashed Kolkataand its neighbouring districts, causing a lot of damage, especially to standingcrops. But till Thursday afternoon, the met office didn't have a clue about thestorm brewing over the horizon. This office is tasked with the responsibility ofissuing storm warnings much in advance. But in the forecasts it issued tonewspapers late Wednesday evening for Thursday, all it spoke of was thepossibility of cloudy skies, light showers and "possibility ofthunderclouds developing towards the night". The met office didn't have aclue about the fierce weather conditions ahead. But BBC, in its weather forecaston Wednesday night and Thursday morning, did warn about "very rough"weather conditions. How is it that the BBC gets it and our own met officedoesn't? Why, then, waste so much of taxpayers' money to run this met office?But a met officer tells me that they're hamstrung by lack of resources and don'tpossess the sophisticated equipment required to make accurate forecasts. I guessthis amounts to raising an army, but arming it with batons.

Greener Kolkata?
Our civic authorities have taken one decision that needs to be lauded. Layingout gardens below the city's flyovers. The space below the AJC Bose Road flyoverwill be the first, followed by the ones at Taratala and Gariahat. Steel dividerson roads will give way to small trees that'll act as road dividers. And publicstructures will have ornamental creepers over them. Also, parks in the city willbe rejuvenated. All this will take a lot of time, money and commitment. And theactive cooperation of citizens, without whom nothing can happen. But areKolkatans up to it? Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee's lament, though in thedifferent context, needs to be repeated. Speaking on the mushrooming illegalconstructions all over the city, the Mayor said it wasn't possible to keep aneye on each and every building in the city and citizens are expected to belaw-abiding. But in India, he rightly noted, anyone and everyone will break thelaw for his or her own profit at the first available opportunity. This being thecase, will the gardens below our flyovers ever blossom?