Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mean and Meaningful

Life's complexities are much more weird than humans can comprehend, and sometime things that you dread are the best for you.
The fact life moves on, is the hope that people grab on to like a red and white cane yet, the satiation some where remains incomplete.
To the most mean and meaningful person it said. A letter that he found in the old pile of his college life, a life that was on the verge of being forgotten, in the corner were he seldom visited in his room. He needed his notes that day a simple micro economics paper he had written that an acquaintance required, some body he hardly knew. She worked at his mom's office, part-time and a student of Economics as well.
He happily had granted her wish. Who would have thought this would lead to a butterfly effect.
It was in his drawer, in a stale brown image that spoke of its age. It was not meant to be there though. He had forgotten about it over these years.
It was his mother who had left it hoping Abhishek would give it a look.

It was written for the most Mean and Meaningful person in her life, along four page examination paper, with neat hand writing. It was written to him four years back, funnily she was not known for her writing ever.
It was her hand writing that caught his eye, and he some how had this tremendous urge of taking the trip that he so did not want to. The trip down the memory lane via the letter route.
The letter was subtle, meant to be read between lines, a letter that was meant to be deciphered like a womens heart.
Some things are not meant by what they mean. It was these subtle innuendos that had kept his hopes alive that he should not have then.
The letter was spoke of the ups and downs of their interaction over time, and what it meant.Was Abhishek 's egotistic attitude really mean, or had she crossed the line between ego and self esteem. This letter was the defense lawyer to her idiosyncrasies but some how the prosecution was spell bound in the mysticism of the arguments put forth.
He started reading ,and for a while had this churning feeling in his stomach, a flash back to the hunky dory days, when every thing in life had this honeymoon effect painted on . But the honey moon effects are not meant to last, and the faster it ends its better,.
it gives the clear picture of what lies ahead.
Then his eyes were blur, today they were wide open and knew some how what happened was best at least for him, but why were they feeling moist today. Did she require the fourth chance, that he did not give her. or was it just a rush of emotion that rushed up like the dormant volcano errupting before it goes dead for another era.
Was she married today? he thought, or was her engagement called off.. was he the reason why it was called off in the first place, was he really the mean guy, or just another person whose self esteem was ravaged.
"Are those you notes in your hand can i have a look , noted the young girl "
No just piece of examination paper for which had not taken good notes he replied,hence i flunked, but the beauty is , is made me take good notes and hence today you can use them.
He gave her his economics notes, while his live's class test was flying in shreds near the dust bin. It had made him aware that the semesters are there to be taken, and the test was important but just another wake up call before , that prepare you for the big thing, Life,
Life's complexities are much more weird than humans can comprehend, and sometime things that you dread are the best for you.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Manual Override

Few days back, a friend of mine and me were travelling in his expensive sports bike, manufactured in India, and after a stoppage, his electronic start would not work. The electronics had a short circuit. He then used his kick start to make the bike work. And Suddenly it Dawned on me that's the beauty of India, if electronics fail we always have a Manual Override in any form and any circle of the country.
I was watching Die Hard 4.0 , and was thinking in India such an incident would have been a huge failure, as most times the traffic signals do not work here, and its the cops who clear the jam. Even today stock brokers along with huge electronic support have the back up paper work ready. While boarding the flight even if the systems are down the list is out where your name just needs to be ticked, and may be uploaded later. One of my colleague was travelling in a reputed European air carrier few days back, and could not check in early, as the system was not ready to check him in. In India, you just have the manual Over Ride.

Today while coming to office , i was caught in this horrifying traffic congestion due to a bottleneck situation.
Suddenly 2 police personnel non-traffic though, came from no where, and cleared the traffic in 2 mins.
Even Indian Army today one of the strongest in the world in their conventional weapons prefer mechanic over electronics.
The whole question is why?
The whole manual over ride comes from 2 things, Indians have this great Human skills. For example when driving we always know, whats the other guy going to do. A guy is honking loud from behind and suddenly i realise its no point moving to left to give him space, rather move right ( India is right hand drive mind you), and there you go he overtakes from the wrong side. If there was a system in place that would not allow me to move to the right and him to overtake from the left, this could have been a an accident. We though have the traffic rules in place, but out here they more like guidelines, as long there is a smooth traffic, and accident free, to make both the travellers life easy you can manually relax the rules.
Secondly India has the human power, abundance of labour, and that to cheap. The broking firms can employ people who will manually type out entire data, and take a print of it and file it in the racks. If the comp is down out comes the type writer. If printers is down comes the stylo machine.
Thirdly and very importantly, the rate of technical change is very slow in India, and that to an extent is good as it gives us the flexibility. Its not that new Technology is not available in India, it is but the adoption is very slow, and while it is being adopted, it is being Indianised, for the welfare of the masses. The options are laid out to Indians .. which one you want . if you are tech savvy go ahead use the electronic option, or if you are scientifically challenged like me.. use the manual option.
Its like a a car, where u have an auto transmission ,EPS and ABS.. if they all fail the hydraulic takes over. For an entire country to do that in one go if very difficult. But India is a country which works with Hydraulic Power Steering and auto transmission. So when they fail the changes is not much and hence people are already adapted to it . So in a diverse country like India, Manual Over Ride is essential and will always remain.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Claustrophobic Love

"Do you love me?" Do you love me she inquired again . Excuse me? Abhishek was prompt and yet shocked. I don't even know you he replied, i dont even know your name. Yet you trust me with your life? she retorted back with remorse.
They had been stuck in the elevator for over an hour now. Abhishek was finishing work on a non working Saturday. Hence he was late. He needed to rush, as it was the party of the life time and he did not want to miss. It was 10pm on a Saturday evening, with all black party due at Dublin. How could he miss it. He needed to change and rush. Usually he would always take the stairs even if it meant to climb down ten floors, he suffered from claustrophobia. But today he thought otherwise, today he was alone, and the lift was at his floor. He thought being the only person in the lift it was worth taking the risk.

The lift on its way down stopped at the seventh floor, where she entered.
The petite bespectacled yet charming young lady. he had seen her often in the building premises.
They shared a small greeting while she entered.
It was on the 5th floor it happened. Sudden power cut.
The elevator jerked to a halt. This was Abhishek's worst night mare. It could not happen to him again. Every time Abhishek boarded a lift more chances than not it got stuck, and yet again today when he thought the lift could not be overloaded, it stuck of power cut.
It was more than a hour now, it was the worst bout of claustrophobia he ever faced. he could feel a sense of paranoia around him. He could breath and still feel breathless . The dim emergency light gave the place a more smaller look than what it actually was.
He thought whats taking so long to get generators running, it was the Saturday night and that was the problem. Usually at this hour there were no people in the building. The guard hence always indulged in a bit of inebriation. today the bit was an understatement.
He did make some calls from his cell phone asking for help, it was long due. Every moment that passed was like a year, and ticking of his wrist watch seemed like gong of death.

You alright she asked, though suffering from paranoia herself she was more composed than him. I am averse to lifts he replied. Claustrophobic ? yes only in lifts though. Yes i had traveled with you once, you might have noticed, but u seemed comfortable traveling by air she smirked. We did! , well i cant remember though when, i am yet to travel from this office, i am a new joinee. No from Pune to Delhi was her reply. That was 3 years back. I have only traveled once, in that route. That was just after college. Well i am impressed, u seem to have an awesome memory, he smiled. He was quite amused, well those days he used to be in shape, and tall and dark, he thought.. his face lingered in her mind for over 3 years now, he was all self appreciation. Well my memory is not that great, she replied but yours needs to be improved. we studied in the same college , were my senior. I was part of the cultural society team, where even you were a part. And there was a silence, that seemed to echo in the dull elevator. This was impossible he thought, he knew he suffered from selective amnesia, but never till had forgotten people.
You never noticed, did you? the girl who used to hover around you, who would pass on the water when you guys were tired putting posters and back drops. Hold on the ladder, and pass the scalpel when the trees and wall needed climbing for banners to be put and the campus to be decorated . Was I that insignificant? Abhishek was blank, did not have single trace of her in his memory, he did not know what to reply.
Sorry if i ever hurt you. I was too engrossed with work. No you weren't, you were too engrossed wooing the hot chics i would say, she replied with a smirk, but it sounded as if it was a frown.

Do you love me she inquired?
Excuse me i don't even know your name, I hardly know you.
I dont know what you talking of, but i cant recall you. Sam used to assist me in all my college activities, he held the ladders for me , I even gave him my pen knife as a token so that he could take charge of the same next year.
And what about those days when he did not turn -up. Some one from my team would help me out.
So i am some one now, u don't even know my name, and yet you trusted me with your life. I was always the some one who held your ladder, passed the water and the knife. There where times i could have shaken you off the ladder, i felt like doing it more than once. Once i was about to stab you with your pen knife, but right at the moment Sam turned up. You owe your life to me she said with this hysteric laugh.
Suddenly the paranoia that had engulfed him for over an hour now increased in geometric proportions. He was choking he thought. But why, what was my fault i was always working, i never abused you, never passed any innuendos or tried to take advantage of you, then why.
Because you were indifferent towards my insignificant existence in college. I was not a popular in college was so minuscule for you that you never noticed. i have done so much for you and you never even asked my name.
When we traveling together, i greeted you. You did smile, i thought you had noticed me and recalled me, but it was the same greeting that you gave me in lift today, a small courtesy greeting. Is at right next to you, you at the window and i at the middle even when aisle was empty, just to have a chat with you, some thing i longed for years. But you put your earplugs on . You asked the attendant for a pillow, and told her you suffer from claustrophobia , hence wanted to sleep, but asked her not worry, its mainly in elevators you have problems not yet on flights.
Are you stalking me? he shouted knowing not what to say, no she replied only avenging you.
the moment the power failure happened in the darkness she had pressed the stop button. So even when power came back Abhishek did not realise, it did The lift never moved.
Abhishek for not knowing me, for your complete disregard towards my sole existence today you will pay the price. And suddenly Abhishek felt the choking intensify breathlessness along with paranoia, increased his palpitation . He shouted and screamed. He shouted aloud, and and fell of his bed. Hid dad glanced at him with one eye full of sleep, son you auditioning for Indian idol in your sleep or what, and went back to sleep. It was just a nightmare he thought, the one that shook him out of his wits, some how he remembered the face the petite charming bespectacled face.

he met the same face again on the stairs next day, she was coming down while he was going up, the passed the courtesy greeting once more, Abhishek still shaken by last nights dream. Some how after climbing few more stairs he rushed back and shouted, excuse me miss, where you from Fergusson?
Thank god she replied, i thought you would never recognise.

Abhishek's Selective amnesia could not erase every insignificance he wanted to forget, it caught up with him

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Times have Changed

Its over, the honeymoon is over. It lasted for 2 and a half years post graduation. It was a long time , and good till lasted. Well from Bob Dylan's Time they are changin to Things have changed, is a full circle that has changed the life of us Gokhaleites.. We love to meet each other though, we get nostalgic and go away, we all have something to say, which we would have told each other during Post Graduation , but now we find it not pertinent enough to disclose.
Do we have some thing to look ahead for, apart from how good we were together.
We had planned marriages, to attend ..and kids to tell stories off. We thought we would cry our guts out when people part. But why are our eyes dry today.. do we not love our friends no more, or is it just Let it be.
In this quintessential life of turmoil we have again come to believe relationships of any sort dwindle over time post college.. and we have been proved right again . as we are ready to make new starts to our lives once again post Gokhale, i just wish we were coming back to life once again as well.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Communalism and Communism

I have grown up in a city, the final destination of Communism , Calcutta ( I do not call it Kolkata)
I have always detested the ideology, but unlike many Bengalis who practice the doctrine with having a clue of its principals, i would pat own back for criticising after studying it. Its Karl Marx who to me had foreseen the end himself, but wisely enough he did not pen it down, if he had then might have been different for his Marxist follower. He had seen the cycle, Royalty - Aristocracy- Bourgeois-Proletariat, was his cycle, The thing thats common between all the predecessors of Proletariat were, they started with a revolution, with a good cause in mind( or at least they thought so) but once in power got corrupted.. and hence new form of doctrine in brief the theory of Dialectic materialism.
Whatever i guess i am deviating from my point.
I have grown up in the final resting place of Marxism .. with the longest serving incumbent government in history of modern politics his still serving its tenure.
I hated their policies till recently , as even though i was always in favour of a welfare state, I always thought of the economic viability of the result.
Any way for many things that i have hated the left, there is one thing that i do like is abouts its one positive externality , annihilation of communal fanaticism.
Why i say its an externality is because, one of the few principle of communists is opposing the faith in god.
The the cadres, their party men were just left comrades.. their religion was communism
With wide advent of naxalism ( read firebrand vandalism) in the 70s gave onus to this communist doctrine .
Everytime their was a communal disharmony.. there would have been a clash of three.. The two communal groups and the communists... and no points for guessing who won. Its was like if you guys fight on communal grounds ,ill slaughter you both.. cant you see you guys are killing our cadres and vote banks.
So there you go..
I wont say riots never erupted in Calcutta, it e3rupted only in very few parts of the city, and cool down within a day or 2.
Even in 92 when India through out was burning.. Calcutta was relatively quieter. it was very weird for a state with a demography of a 50 -50 share in numbers. Whats funny was even though areas like Park Circus a pre-dominantly Muslim locality did see communal violence 1992.. yet the next year it again hosted one of Calcutta's one of the largest Durga Pujas.
thats one of the essence that communist have brought into Communal part of Calcutta.
Even though with its fair share (near 40%) Muslim Population, West bengal has never been very communal apart from the partition time which also stopped with Gandhi intervening .
Well the communal harmony has another reason to it. Bengalis are always Bengalis first and their religion are always secondary and communism has enhanced that as well. (Bangladesh breaking away from Pakistan on linguistic grounds remember)
Durga Puja is now not a Hindu festival but a Bengali Festival. and hence there are many large Puja like Park Circus, and Mohammad Ali Park which are to large extent funded my Muslims.. and hence that makes me a proud Calcuttan ( and under my breath i dont want people to hear, i am thanking the communists for that)

The Devils Advocate:

Calcutta with a secular mindset . and a soft corner for fellow Bengali's on the other side of the border , because they are Bengalis first , might become a safe haven for terrorists, in recent past we have noted, Bangladesh is becoming a breeding ground for them. Its easy for these louts to cross the volatile border and take shelter in Calcutta, as no body will question them.
Its weird how Communal Harmony is being used for Communal fanaticism .. and yet Indian Government might be in a fix to take any strong measure against Bangladesh.. as Bengalis will resist such decision.. This why I hate Bengalis being Bengalis first

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Mark of Shiva

Damn you cartoon u missed a frigging point point blank, scowled the one of the shooters...Abhishek was down in the ground wenching in pain.. did not know what hit him..it was the standard issue FN Browning Gp35 9mmx19mm bullet,it was his temple that hit.
Bloody joker, we need to bury him now.
Sorry saabji replied the other shooter in low key voice.
They were two of the elitest of marksmen in the country, and they had marked their man well from the international Bus depot they , since he arrived. From Saltlake to Esplanade they followed him from noon to dark they were his shadow, waiting for the opportune moment. The man had no clue what fate he had, their order was simple shoot to kill.
The Man had gone to the biriyani shop in the afternoon..they had their lunch at the table behind..then to the movies they followed him for the raunchy C grade soft porn flick.. They for a moment thought were they behind the right man..was he the Conspirator, or just another tourist from across.
Even with their doubts they followed him ..now to a bar, no, no way can be a conspirator. Yet their orders were simple shoot to kill. The man was a guzzler drank cheap whiskeys after another.. they could not seat idle them selves.. as his count increased.. so did theirs..they did not want any body to be suspicious.

This was now the man made his mistake, he streched his arms to yawn in a very sozzled fashion, giving them a sneak peak of his pot belly, and the colt double eagle, cozied in his trouser..
Thats an expensive weapon for a lout like him, they knew they had their man.
" saabji yehi tapkaun kya?" Sir should i take him down right now? asked the junior personnel..'nehi hume presswalo ka jhanjhat nehi chai ye" No we dont want the press hounding us replied the superior.. there were far too many people in the bar.

"Bahar jake thokte saale ko" will shoot him once he is out.


It was 11:30 in the night, Abhishek a bit drunk him self came out of the bar lit a smoke , he was expecting a call since evening which never came..
he should not be in this part of the town at this hour he thought, but were will find cheap liquor when your wallet does not assist you at the end of the month.
More so he was in this sulky mood whole day and needed a drink, he came here for some work.. but cheap booze stopped him and made him miss the last metro .

He was walking down the alley as many a taxi refused him to take him to his destination, as they thought he was drunk, and this was no up market locality.

He was walking when his phone rang .

They had taken their aim, it was difficult as the man was walking like a crab now.. was in state of drunkenness could not walk straight, yes we will take him down at the turn, they thought.
They aimed and they shot.. right at that moment the man bumped into a young guy who was about to take his phone out from his pocket..
Both fell.. abhishek was bleeding and and the man had passed out.

"Saale point blank tha woh.. Chal ambulance bula dekhte hai zinda hai mar gaya..
Chal chal usko thok."
."
That was a point blank you idiot.. anyway call an ambulance, and check if he is alive...and shoot the other bastard was the order.

Saabji he is alive.. but in shock.. lucky ass just has a flesh wound. the bullet grazed his temple .. worse sabji, we need a hush up
and the marksman started laughing like a rogue.. my name is Shiva..

Shiva's browning cracked twice more.. with the silencer it was just soft thuds.. now mistake this time.

Abhishek woke uo at a nursing home.. all his bills were already paid. He had a letter right next to him.
You saw nothing, and a cheque with a seven figure some on it...50 lakhs to be precise.

Abhishek still had no clue what happened..the bullet grazed his temple leaving a wide horizontal mark.. it resembled the the parallel marks of shivites or devotees of lord Shiva were on their forhead.. the Mark of Shiva.

If his phone did not ring that day he would never have been shot.. if he was not shot , he would not be as rich to be precise..

Monday, August 06, 2007

Nazi Part II Hitler

To me Adolf Hitler was a patriotic man , who went wrong in the means to acheive the end. Well even if ends justify the mean.. no body can justify what he did and hence nor will I.
But what i am looking at Why the Nazism had a perfect fit for erstwhile Germany..
The answer is in World War I. Not just the treaty of Versilles.. which was absolutely humilating for Germany, from things like taking the blame of the war , to Ruhr being ceded to France. For those who have limited knowledge.. its like giving Kashmir Valley to Pakistan and Damodar Valley to Bangladesh. There was another reason for Germanys loss.. Jews. the Jews during the WWI was investing in every other country in Europe apart from Germany.. which allowed the the Allied powers a crucial edge.

Hitler Blamed the Jews for this reason which was legetimate.. but what he did was not.
Any way this is why the concept of One Nation State.. A state for German nordics..Aryans.
He was patriot because what he was doing was with basic love for the nation.. yes he had ultirior motives but he was patriotic in nature.
The whole concept of One nation State had instilled Germany as a country first in the minds of germans. Germans became a nation in itself. and that is why the Berlin Walll could have been brought down.. if some body could have done that it was only the germans.
Think of India and Pakistan even we were separeted around the same time... on the basis of religion.. a third part was curved out of pakistan on basis ogf language..
and we can never re-unite. as we are either Brhamins /Rajputs/ Vaishyas/ Shiya/Sunni etc etc first then May be a Bengali or an Oriya or Pujabi . then may be an Hindu or a Muslim . but never Indian First..

Is India a nation?? thats another arguement but its a multi national state and will nevr re-unite..

The misunderstood Nazi.Part.I

I am a Nazi, sounds intimidating right.. well that’s the dogma behind the term that has almost created it as Taboo in a form..
Well though its an off shoot of fascism... Nazism and fascism are not one and the same.
Fascism originated from the word Fasces meaning a bundle of sticks tied to an axe , which was a symbol of power in ancient Rome.. it was common to Nazism in respect that both were dictatorial Governments in the same era, and the countries formed an entente..

Nazi: National Socialistic party , based on Nitschean Theory of Super man. Also known in political theory as the N.Theory of super man.. Where every Nation had leader who was the superman who was followed by all the classes.. This theory was backed by Hegelian theory of Class.

Well what is the basic Doctrine behind Nazism
It’s a dictatorial Government ruling a One Nation State.. Where the concept of State is very important, and the state is supreme.

According to Nazism the Society exists because the State and not State because of society.

Coming back to the first part of the doctrine ‘One nation State’.. this meant that in lay mans term the country(state) will consist of one race(nation).

Hence from the basic doctrine two things become clear

a) Nazism is racist
b) Nazism is patriotic
Both are quite inter related, if The Nation and State are the same…

In the next part, we will see the implications of the above bringing in Hitler in the equation.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Writers Block and selective amnesia.

To People Who read this blog,

I have been suffering frequent bouts of what we call writers block, hence this month only one post worth reading has been uploaded.

Its a funny thing , writers block, u can have it any time of the year, at any weather, and u dont even need microbes to generate it. Its generated by laziness and ennui towards the QWERTY or just lack of topics thats tickles your brains, that would lead the intellectual juices flow.

Any time you just dont feel like writing you blame it on Writers Block...you will give excuses, such as the words are not just coming out right....but actually what you are really suffering from is a tremendous lackadaisical approach towards things you should be other wise committed towards.
See what i mean.. i dont even know where i am going with this post and how utterly non sensical it might be, but this is the only way i think i can get over the block..

Apart from the Writers block i am also suffering from bouts of Selective Amnesia.. its again some thing you would like to not suffer from, but at times very helpful.. as it allows you to forget what you dont want to remember, its as simple as that.. but some times it leads you to trouble when u realise u have forgotten that you did not want to remember at certain time.. but riight now, you could have done with.
Few days back i met a person, i recognised her straight away, what her name was, where she from, what she does.. blah blah.. but where selective Amnesia hurt me was i forgot she was my Batch mate...
But other wise Selective Amnesia, can be a very important blessing..
you can forget your Mom in laws birthday, your girlfriends dogs name.. or even your wifes birthday for that matter, just convince your wife or your Girlfriend u suffer from Amnesia of a very special kind.. and rare in nature ( may be not after this post).. she would empathize the fact forgot. But trust me you should not forget your anniversary..history says you should always learn from your mistakes...yes you can forget to get her the gift.. or to take her out for the dinner..
This by far is the most non nonsensical post i ever have written.. tomorrow i might select to forget it .. but this was to get over my writers block you see
Yes i choose the easy way out..How Convenient

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Ode to an estanged brother

We are estranged for years o Brother, we have fought over valleys and barren land for these 60 years. Three wars, thousands of lives. But dear brother , can their be any hatred if there is no deep rooted love involved some where.

Dear Brother we need each other today, for survival of a nation of people that lived across Indus and between Ganges, but later Departed.

A brother is always a brother... may be estranged but family.


I write this in a context: I went back home late yesterday, and switched on the news to find the Ex- Director of ISI talking of a overt Military action in NWF Province in Pakistan, and some Indian defence strategy experts giving their views what it meant for India.

Well USA is slowly turning into an ally of India, even though it almost attacked India in 1971, but those were cold war days..

USA has always been an ally of Pakistan since its inception. till today when it has questioned Pakistan's internal geographic sovereignty .

ISI has promised extreme action if any such US Military action takes place in Pakistan.

We should not also forget , General Musharaf is an ex Special forces. He is now cornered, they are trained to gamble with lives. When cornered , i can bet my life's savings that he would retaliate back.

So this the issue in hand.. my proposition is what would India's Stance be.. if a war actually breaks out.. It should be noted Pakistan would not be a roll over as Iraq or Afghanistan was for USA.

Will USA seek logistical help from India, who has fought 3 wars with Pakistan.

Rather another audacious proposition, would India help if Pakistan seeks help.. Come what may, they are our own blood.. 60 years of hostility can not erase 6000 years brother hood, many Indian families still have families in Pakistan.

One think is for Sure USA will not get any logistic help from India, no use of Air bases, or ports. Indian democracy will not allow such dollar diplomacy.

But still its a news that all Indian's should keep a watch on,
Its in initial stages.. but then again it can snow ball any time.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Pushing Bengal Big

Enough is enough, its time i once wear my economist cap on, as for those who know me, i am but all a trained Economist.
Prof Rodestien Roden once spoke of his Big Push theory. A theory that had touched my soul, as one of the few ecomomic theory that was practical.
The idea was simple, a low developed country, put in a Basic manufacturing Industry.. and it will lead the economy through various Back ward forward linkages.

Even my loved , closest near and dear once, will think a zillion times to peg me as a communist. But today on their 30th anniversary I defend them for lack of better choice.

I hear today singur as a farce to the face of Bengal, and the communist government has done nothing to take Bengal to India.
But Dudes, Singur is the gift of the communists to bengal, tomorrow we will be the ones saying we have the TATA car factory to lead from the front.
Prof Roden once said, you establish a basic factory such as steel or automobile.. what you require is labour.. and raw material in case of car auto- comps, so what happens next auto comps set plants.. means more labour..
Auto comps means steel and aluminum.. hence ,ore industries.. and impetus to already dying industries of bengal
For once media housdes, should not report for politicians and report as economist, i hope the IIMCs have taught you guys the basics of that.
Nandi gram and singur are different stories
and tomorrow the media will hail singur for the engine of economic growth of India, rest to say bengal

And yes Left front , thios is my tribute to you..for ruling Bengal for 30 years
come next elections ill vbote for thee, as in Bengal ill never have a choice of not voting for you, the oppostion you have with 30 seats in the assembly is everything but a choice..
But that does not mean you guys are the best.

But you are secular, and i respect you withoput liking you
congrats

Thursday, May 24, 2007

madness

I have decided , come august i will chase the rains, the first step to my so wanted Vagabond life style. I am off to cherapunji and mawsynram for 5 days.. it will be just me and my pen diary and my hip flask.
People think i am crazy chasing rains at this time of the year.. but you should have a mad man in all of us.. and at times unleash it.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Education The Best occupation

I was going through a very well written blog : the Professional-Assassination
This some what inspired me to write what i am about to pen down.
I was always scientifically challenged, never had the taste for it. I was more inclined towards Social Sciences , rather than its pure form. It was then I decided to to pursue Humanities in by senior secondary school, a decision well supported by my parents, but not quite by their peers and our relatives. Thats quite history now , but then at times it felt quite insulting. But things changed when i joined Fergi (Fergusson College), one of the so called elitist in India and the Best in Maharastra ( Xavierites from mumbai may differ, but when i joined Fergi was ranked Higher than Xaviers Mumbai in both Arts and Science)

At least i thought things will change.. it did as well but the change was drastic. It was a paradigm shift out there, getting through BA was about 10 times tougher than Bsc. A lot of science students if did not make it through to Engineering would prefer to join Arts than Science, but could not clear the cut -offs.
Well there i was i thought at last getting the due pay off we deserved. But it was an illusion that soon vanished.
The day i entered my class. Compulsory English ( more cumpulsory than english).
And as a result i studied in Fergi for 3 years and went to class for 3 mnths over all , and most of it in first year. the third year i attended lectures for 3 days.
Well this was so called one of the best places in India to study, and that to economics.. and i all most got a distinction, in all the 3 years.. of what i call a paid vacation.
I never learnt a differentiation in Economics, but did learn about world politics.. Did not learn Game theory but learnt the difference between strumming and plucking.. and why jimmy page was god.
I realised, weed was smoother than cigerattes.. but leaves you on a bad guilt trip for not knowing Econometrics.
I learnt every thing i wanted to know apart from my specialisation , thats economics.. and still at times manged to top the paper in college.
I later realised why its very important to go to a good college, as it might not make u a genius.. but definitely make you a man.. today i can faff without a drop of an eye lid,.. and be street smart with out knowing jack sit, thanks to a good college.
yet there is some thing about them ( good colleges) that tickle your intellect. Its you fellow students. remember even they are one of the bests as well. its this melting pot of ideas over a drink, thats opening your eyes and not you ekbote-notes .
When I reached my post graduation i understood, its not the education , that matters, but your apptitude for education. If u have it you can always start from scratch, but if u dont have your wits around you , or your intellect.. then even a good aptitude will never take you any where.
You need the self confidence/smartness.. which surely a good college instills in you.
Today i am not what i am because of my knowledge, but because what i can do with that knowledge.
and u need no college to impart that.. I did not take classes in bar tending or cooking.. but yet i was always the first choice chef and bar tender in all our parties.
Knowledge is some thing that you gather from your surroundings...and it does not matter if you are from IIT, if u cant use your knowledge..
Keep the windows of your mind to educate your self .. everyday.. as it will always be the best occupation



Monday, May 14, 2007

Of Honesty , truth and tact

I have always defined Honesty the way i want it to be.
To me honesty has always been, being honest to myself, the feeling that i did my best possible to get the possible outcome for me , my loved ones and may be my employers. I have never been in all due respects Gandhian, who has taught us to believe means justify ends.. but on the contrary i have followed the Gita ( See me writing THE GITA.. so dont ask me who is Gita now) stating ends justify means.
The Day i look at the mirror and dont like what i see, i will know i have been dishonest, and to be true.. that has happened a few times already.

The Means for an Honest end is either the truth or tact. Yes to me being truthful and bing honest are not the same.. being truthful might not be being honest and Vice versa.

A lot might ask me how do you define an Honest End, I would like to say no end is complete good nor complete bad, but i seek an End which is what thats called the greater good.

Coming Back to Truth and Tact , the two ways.. to an Honest end.
Again being tactful does not always mean you are not truthful, but it might mean you are being truthful in a diplomatic way.
Diplomacy, hypocrisy even a lie can be tact... but a tact is a best possible strategy, in a situation where the complete truth wont work, in lighter example, if some body asked me what did you think of the girl u just saw, and i dont know if he or she is expecting a positive reply, and even though i might be indifferent, i might give a subtle reply such as " she would look beautiful if she lost 5 kgs"....i am not being truthful here totally, but at the same time i am not being untruthful.. at the end its not leading to an awkward situation where i have my foot in the mouth, the person who questioned me is happy.. and i was honest to myself even though not being totally truthful.
But this is a lighter idea.. but what happens, in a situation far more sensitive, where stakes are high.. and may be diplomacy like previous statement might not work.. and the truth might make things averse..
This is a situation I have always dreaded, the best possible outcome out of a hypocritical white lie.. ( this is a situation lawyers find themselves a lot of time, thank god i am not one of them) but then again if my duty.. goal .. responsibility is the outcome.. which is of a greater good, which will do more better than worse of my lie, i wont think twice to lie. A person very close to my heart said, Its not always economics, but it is.. is the social costs of lie is lesser to the social and in-tangible benefits all derive out of my lie, rationally its better to lie.
The truth: The truth is in detailed facts. truth does not have emotions sentiments.. it does not see situations.. its blatant cold facts. It gives you the picture and sequence of events.. but might not give you the rationale of events.
And a true lie or the best possible method of tact, is not the event per say, but the to play around with the rationale of the events.
But at times i feel truth might be the best possible way of tact.. when u are completely clean, when no body can spot a mark on your shirt , smell a whisp of alcohol on your breath , or even put a finger on you..
This is when u use the Nuclear weapon ( read brhmaastro) of tact "tactlessness" .. calling a spade a spade.. after loosing yyour inhibitions will boost your ego a lot, u might get that respect that you deserved.. but also might put others back to place where they belong.. but the timing of this weapon has to be perfect.. or else it will misfire in your own territory, this aggresive weapon is always good to be up your sleeve as the last and final line of defence when everything else has failed

But then again i feel all humans are gray in nature.. and hence diplomacy will always remain the best tact to reach and honest end.. and truth will always be diluted

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Travel log of A bachelor

This was the travel log of my Brother( who then was a bachelor and could have been care free, i dont know if he did a trip like thi post wedding hahahahhah cheers maite):

This was a great weekend for me. I went on a roadies trip to Scotland. Booked a car, and moved on, to see the beautiful country. Scotland is a land of Glens (woods), Bens (peaks), Lochs (lakes) and castles. The landscape is primarily divided into highland, lowland and island. Lowlands are lush green meadows, with sheep, cattle, horses and deer farms (they eat deer; I also ate it, very tasty). Farmers are what we saw in our story books, caps and pipes, riding on a horse, 4 to 5 sheep dogs running around him, or standing with a staff, wearing kilt and smoking pipes……

The highlands are barren and mossy, but gets white with snow during winter. Here is where the world's best spirits are brewed. But that's not in proper highlands, that's where the glens come in the picture. Being woody, and owing to Scotland's climate, which is particularly foggy, damp and cold, added to the effect of the glens, it provides the ideal condition for fermentation. We saw an underground storage where whisky is kept to be matured in oak casks……….the place is cold, damp and dark, and you need to carry flame torches to be in there……….

Fortunately, it was a full moon night, and you should see loch ness in the full moon!! The fog descends, forming a thick cover over the loch, occasionally you would see old logs and dead trees looming over them, the full moon doesn't shine but hazily casts huge shadows, and the night animals cry on to complete the altogether spooky picture. No wonder, one might well have seen Nessy, the famous loch ness monster somewhere around there; it's highly probable!

Edinburgh is a lovely city, a mixture of the medieval and the modern. The town is built around the central castle, which stands tall on top of a steep cliff, surrounded by what was once a moat. It's virtually impossible to access the castle from any direction but one; the main entrance. And from the castle, one can view the whole of the city till the river that goes on to meet the North Sea. It's like if the king needed to know what's going on in the west of the city, all he'd need to do is peek from a window in the west!

The northern most part of Scotland is bordered by the North Sea, which was earlier used by Scotsmen to trade with the Norwegians. It is said the Scots are not Saxons, but Normans, and originally came in as Vikings through the North Sea and settled there. Several documents and subsequent research have verified the connection between the Celtics and the Vikings.

Like Gothic, the Scot tradition, art and architecture is called the Celtic form. Although they look much like Gothic, their constructions are sharper; the Gothic domes are replaced by the Celtic spears. They are pointed-conical shapes, which was later borrowed by the Brits in their Georgian Architecture. The British Castles, however, are markedly different in plans and construction, to the Celtic ones. While the former built castles virtually around entire cities, here the castle was like a palace, with the city built around it.

The weather makes the Scots a laid back lot. They are not lazy, though, but have a general sloth in whatever they do. They take their days easy, sit for a whisky whenever they feel like, and can just drop work at the middle of it and go off fishing!

A port was once built at Port Arbroath to trade with the Americans and Europeans. It was one of the biggest wet docks of the 17th century. And they traded well too, till 18th century, when some fishermen were settled there to add to the fishing industry. Slowly, the number of fishermen grew in Arbroath, even as the number of traders started to dwindle. After the Great War (the Europeans call World War I the Great War, and World War II the World War) trading was totally stopped and Arbroath became entirely a fishing port. The wet dock started housing fishing boats! Now the guys fish when they want to, and the fishing boats have been replaced by water scooters and motorboats, so they can go have fun when they want to.

Kilts look great on Scots! Kilts look great on me too, I bought one and wore it and I was looking fine indeed J

Kilts are extremely formal attire, and work with shirts shoes, bows or ties and jackets. But they are also worn with the traditional shawls in the highlands. Kilts primarily are made of 4 base colours, green, blue, black and red and each signify different clans and regions. Like blue base kilts are always from highland clans, while green based ones are their lowland counterparts. The royalty would wear the black kilts, while the ploughmen and shepherds wore the red one. I got myself the red one. They also have an intricate system of clans and families, where each has its own culture and history, name, coat of arms and flags. It is said that Scotland originally had 15 clans, which later multiplied till the last figures that show around 15000 of them! I got myself a cap pin for the McKenna clan, one of the first fifteen, and a very rare piece. It was from an old shop in the alleys, managed by an equally old couple, who sell cap pins and kilt pins and broaches. The old man had this bowl full of at least a thousand such articles, and while sifting across them he accidentally stumbled across this one and was astonished himself. Apparently he never knew himself that he had one of them! So from now on, I am also a McKenna, since I carry the clan's coat of arms J

But the best thing about the journey was the drive. More than 110 miles, north to south, east to west. The best thing about driving here, as I had mentioned before, is the fantastic documentation that they have, and the technology. GPRS systems have allowed road maps to be created for even the village roads all over Europe. And such maps are downloadable from the internet, or sold over the counters. All you need is an able navigator, whose job is to basically sit with the maps and trace the route. And the rest is pin-point precision. And the speed limit for the motorways here is a minimum of 70 mph, a max of 110 mph. you are fined both for going below and over speeding. And they are hefty amounts, too. So everyone follows rules and drives safe, as they know, at a 100 mph, even a kiss by another car would mean a kiss of death. And the car rentals work on standards in which they scrap any car that's run more than 6 months or 30000 miles, whichever is earlier. And by scrap they mean scrap……to the scrap yards to be broken down and recycled! That guarantees you have excellent car condition during these drives.

So long for now. Will tell you more about my next trip to Switzerland, due next week.


this by the way is not written by me .. but is a letter written to me a year back

Friday, April 20, 2007

Parochialism and Bengalies

Parochialism is necessarily the greatest evils.. that cause hindrance to formation of a strong nation state or country... And India is suffering from this cancer for ages now.. The Cancer has now reached most part of the nation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.. on caste and religion grounds.. it always existed in Bengal in regional and linguistic grounds.... and even I am being parochial here writing for Bengal, and not writing about Tamil Nadu here.

We Bengalis/Calcuttans have always had a superiority complex,that we are the intellectual force of India.. and why not.. all the Indian Nobel laureates are either Bengali or had some or a Calcuttan ( Tagore, Sen, CV Raman, Mother Terasa).. also we have in our community like the stalwarts like Ray.. JC Bose..Meghnad Saha..and the list continues. But one fine day i woke up to see the so called intellectual force of the country has become bigger than the country itself.
The other day a friend of mine asked me do you know what 25th baisakh is.. thinking that being a so called probashi for last decade or so.. now coming back , i might not be knowing the significance of the date( Tagore's birthday) .. I replied i have no clue what 25th Baisakh is but i know what 22nd sravan is ( Tagore's death anniversary ). To my suprise, my friend there did not realise the pun there.. and worse he did not know what 22nd sravan was,..to retaliate a question was what is 21st february... I was quizzed.. this time i really had no clue that it was suppose to be Bhasha Dibash.. or International Mother Language day.. this day is celebrated in Bangladesh as big as their independence day.. as their fight to have a country of their own linguistic grounds was fulfilled.. honestly i dont care a tiny rats ass about it.. i have more important dates to remember , ut most bengalis here will remember 21st February .. but not 9th August or 16th december or 26th july.. and mostly no body cares.

Any way i still see an allaince of many Bengalis towards bangladesh over India, in a lot of issues..also iam not very sure how unhappy bengalis were when India lost to Bangladesh.
Even when Saurav Ganguly was dropped, no body in bengal saw his then current form or lack of it.. IT WAS A BENGALI PLAYER WHO WAS DROPPED...

Even a bollywood song how pathetic it might be will be great hit if it has a bengali word in the song, or sung by a bengali ( Well there are a lot of bengali singers in Bollywood no doubt)

I am not questioning the Beengals Pride.. but Pride over the country.. the pride that blinds the right and wrongs.. a pride with out logic..
We as Indians should be ashamed if we forget dates like 26th November( As many do and many dont.. the actual day day when India became a republic..The day
The Constitution of India was passed by the Constituent Assembly of India, even though we do not celebrate it .. )but as Bengalis we should be proudif we celebrate 21st February.

Alcoholic concepts.. and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde

When ever a solution was asked to me in my college days, the simple solution was alcohol, or the lack of it. You have a cold., have rum or brandy.. stomach ache beer.. feeling hot beer again.. heart ache whiskey.. A pensive mood always suggested a chronic alcohol deficiency , or the medical terminology by Dr Abhigyan was definite symptoms of alcohol deficiency and a trip to Apache is recommended. It could be for kicking ass in an exam or after having your ass kicked in an exam.. the answer was always the same to me..I have won debates.. after getting drunk on stage.. or mastering the courage to sing a medly on stage and getting accolades for the same .. was again alcohol. First time ever when i topped a paper in college was after having hmmmmmmmm ( i lost count after 8) bottles of beer.(82 Micro economics) and second time post graduation after doing a tequila chaser in Environmental Economics. This was termed as Abhigyan's Alcoholic concepts .. over college and PG... But then every thing changed ....Alcohol started having me , the transformation was of that of DJ and MD... i could not remember any thing what happened the night before.. and the frequency increased.. i realised.. i am getting there.. to the road that leads to alcoholism.. as Dr J always knew What Mr D can do.. but still changed to MR D.. so did I... and what was scary.. i liked it.. a life with out inhibitions.. giving the window to my dqarker side And worse was if i remained drunk on the streets of Pune or Delhi.. no body with bother.. if i live or die. Mu first step was leave my credit cards back home while going to office.. and switch my cell phone off.. while drinking if ever.. the frequency of alcohol intake considerably reduced by the end of delhi.. But one day after few months Mr Hide re appeared..and why it re appeared i ma not sure... but it did.. but this time Dr J is ready.. to fight him.. Its not the alcohol thats ever been the problem.. it excess of it...its the urge to have more...even after few drinks... thats Mr Hyde here.. Well i wont turn into a dipsomaniac.. i know what is to be done and will do that

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Of love or something like that

People say i am averse to love, my friends are sick and tired of my over exposed singular status, nostly when with their respective girlfriends, spouses/ fiancees ..Some even question my sexual orientation. Why is it this difficult for some body to realise that a person can be happy of his single hood. Even my parents are a bit intrigued with my so called happiness as the seeds of my marriage have slowly started germinating in their heads.

The true fact is just because a person is single , it does not mean he is averse to love as much as the fact that not nessecarily a single man will always seek love..
The fact i am not seeking love, does not logically mean i am averse to it.
I have heard the cliche a godzillion number of times now, that the perfect match is waiting right at the next corner but you fail to see her.
I am so tired of it now.. i have made the perfect match criteria so difficult
.. that no body can ever say that again..its not easy to find a tall dusky curly haired intellectual bong girl any way..(technical barriers to find the match)

the other day an friend of mine. she came up to me and said, every body has a perfect match, u just need to find him or her.. yes right.. the world has a population of around 100 billion.. so the probability of finding her is 1 in 100 billion i said.. dont you think i have better things to do than running after such a probability.
Few days back, when i was in delhi, i use to cross the national adoption center everyday en route office.
One day i walked in, just to find that being a single father, i night have to wait a donkeys year to be eligible for adoption.
Why cant a single Man be a good father i Ask??
Why is everybody and the world at large conspiring to get me hitched??

On the hind side
The question i ask to myself.. am i really averse to love?? am i running away from it, has some person within me died , have i forgotten to emote? why am i setting such high standards for myself..am i an escapist, who is scared of the ghosts of the past?.. what if the all the cliches did com true... what if i have already overlooked people i have should not..should i make ammends for lost time??
or may be she will meet me at the most unexpected places on earth.. may be i have met her in the most unexpected place..

I have no answers..
but i believe i am happy.. but i dont know my belief is questionable or not.. but its my belief.. and i stand by me.
Yes i would love to get married some day.. i would love to fall in love again.. i would love to share those intimate moments, those romantic dinners, ythose fights which two people share.. and i know i miss them..but still i wait.. for what i dont know.i wait for some thing to happen

What happened to the pro active me...has it not done with its beauty sleep??

Am I averse to love??

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Guys thats what I call A patiala

It was Friday evening, the pentagon had its meeting today in Abhishek and Unmesh's double seater room in the block II of the hostel. Though room was called a double seater, it was big enough for three people and was unlike any other prison cell single seater in the hostel. it was a huge room with old wooden flooring, with the windows facing the barren fields between the hostels and the mess. This allowed the breeze during prolonged monsoon to cool down the atmosphere in the room which was perpetually heated by the argument between the childhood friends roommates.
The sheer size of the room, made the room the perfect meeting place for the Pentagon. Every friday evening Aritra , Arun, Kartik and the roommates met here over cheap whiskey and lemon concentrate, more than a dash of college gossip, and Kartik's never ending flings with a new girlevery week, but mind you, every week he thought he was in love.

Abhishek was that day in his ever so perennial pensive mood, that use to dawn on him during his first year of college. Today it was a fallout between the room mates again, today it was Abhishek's stuff on Udyogs side of the room again.
Fresh out of school, the children in them had not disappeared then yet.
The first member of the pentagon to arrive was Kartik, he was the one to score the whiskey that day.
Abhishek in his grumpy mood had decided not drink that day.
Slowly the gossips increased, with the flow of whiskey, Abhishek in his bed smoking his cigarette slowly feeling out of place, not being drunk. The heavy drinker he was , the whiskey bottle was too enticing for sleep, but he could not drink with the guy he fought that day he thought, and started contemplating in joining the party that was on its peak. No he will not drink he made up his mind for sure. It was then he realised, the bottle was three quarters empty.
And then it happened like lightning, before any body realised what struck them it was over, literally over. Abhishek had jumped from his bed after grabbing his glass from the bedside table, fixed himself to stiff 90ml drinks one after another and gulped it down neat. It was the statement that he made after that he meant after that remained a legend for years to come "Guys that what i call a Patiala"
Patiala was for sure, as sure as the fact that they had ran out of booze, not only that he had smoked the remaining two Wills navy cut thanks to the sudden rush of alcohol in his blood.
Unlike most of the days today the pentagon had a lot of money amongst them, and Abhishek was then the King of the world. At 3am in the morning he agreed to sponser good whiskey and packet of 20s wills for every body.
They had walked a mile to Good Luck cafe to in search of cigarettes.. Butno bootlegged liquor shop nor cigarette shops had kept the door open for them.
It was then Unmesh had the brilliant idea of picking up half smoked fags from the road and smoking them. At the hight of drunkeness that was the best possible option for everyone. With thousands of rupees in their wallets they had to scavenge for smokes, and beg for alcohol
near the military barracks, but did not have any luck with the whiskey the patiala had left the others not high and dry. That day a half smoked classic on the road was a goldmine to them.
As the defination goes.. Money is what money does , that day they were just paper.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Bengal Politics: Polity without Ethics

Polity was originally a term used in Ancient Greece refer to the many Greek city sates that had an assembly of citizens as part of the political process. This did not include women, slaves, serfs, or metics. Thus, voting citizens usually included only a minority of the adult males.

Today it is usually a general term that refers to political organization of a group. It is often used to describe a loosely organized society such as a tribe or community , but can mean any political group including a Government or Empire, Corporation or Academy .
Thats what defines Polity. We were always told Polity and Ethics are the combination what formulates what we call POLITICS. Or at least thats what our Professor wanted us to believe.
But today i just cant believe in whatever I learnt in my 5 years stint of studying Political Science as a subject.

I don't know if I should be Proud or Ashamed to call myself the " Intellectual Bengali" given the situation in Bengal today. ( Some People will by cynic enough to say why are you not talking about India as a whole, well the answer is simple I choose not to, may be some time else, when i will be awestruck in negativity again, i will, and i very sure i will be given the chance much before I expect it.)

The first incident brought a smirk on my face, bloody Hypocrites i thought when i called up Pro-Left Family in 2004 when NDTV flashed that CPI(M) and Left will support a Congress left Government in the Center from out side with their 60 odd MPs( mostly from Bengal) to convey the message.

what quizzed me and i asked them " did you not fight the congress for Last 50 years in Bengal" and today the left had no inhibition to lend them their support."
The reply was no, they wont join the Government.
That could not have been better for the Left I thought:


You Support the Government as long they follow the CMP(Common Minimum Programme), Build pressure on them and pose threat to their chair, if things dont go your way, and yet you dont take responsibility for things going wrong at the Center, as you are "Out Side the Government".... Left front take a bow.. you just took the most Politically Correct decision ever...even though not the most not ethical. but then again Indian General Election is WAR.. and i save you of the Cliché, but what I did not get was is it a victory for Left or the Defeat for Congress.( Worth A blog)

The second incident was funnier still: A Communist Goverment seeking FDIs and Private Green feild Investment for Manufacturing sector on Agricultural Land .
( Damn Karl Marx Must be turning in His grave right now)।

Well i thought it was better late than never to think straight and give impetus to Industrialisation, and more so to the Auto-Sector, as that not only employs a huge chunk blue collared workers, but also is an industry with high incidence of backward and forward linkages। Well if there is a car plant, there will be Auto-component plants around, and so will be the distributors. CPI(M) political and ideological Idiosyncrasy was at last paying for Bengal .


The third being the funniest of them all : Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee's Gimmick to come out of political Oblivion, they won just 29 seats in the assembly and Speaker had to use his Discretionary Powers to name the Party as the main opposition। The left, theoretically can fulfill quorum in the assembly even if Trinamool walks out.


TMC who always had accused the left of depriving Industry in Bengal as a political manifesto, suddenly went Pro-agriculture when CPI(M) was seeking Industrialisation. She went on Hunger strike for months ( with out any effect on her body weight though) was the hight eccentric behaviour.
By the time it ended Tata's had already started the construction of their new Car plant.

All was fun to watch as an outsider, till Nandigram happened, it was now that slowly the frustration was seeping in. It was a clash of political parties where innocent citizens were made pawns.

While the police firing could have been uncalled for , the KJUNC was no innocent cog in the machine as well. The question that arises, why did the villagers think the Police was coming to take their land , while they were coming to bring Nandigram back under administration. How come The CMs decision to of the Land acquisition notice not trickle down to the farmers, and the villagers, why were they instigate the police? were they asked to instigate the police? these are few questions that arise.

What seeped in the frustration, was which sane headed investor/ conglomerate / Company will invest in state with such political turmoil ever again.... the question that arises.Is the road for Industrialisation over for Bengal?

The Master Blow: Today Morning the CM played his master strike.

No Industrialisation for Nandigram, but Chemical hub will happen at Land Earmarked by the Center.

Bingo.. center earmarking means State Congress out of action, suddenly the gun is centers shoulder which the State will fire..

TMC can now not blame state..( But then again who chooses the land? go back to incident 1)

Friday, March 23, 2007

Greatest Truth

The Greatest Truth

Some times in my leisure

I think of various thought,

I think why do they go where do they go,

I find no answer but I know

I day will come when I too must go.

It’s our greatest fear and our greatest threat,

Though before birth our destiny is set.

It’s the greatest truth and the greatest lie

For man, God is rolling a die

So why sorrow why cry...

So live your life till we die....."

I wrote this when I was 12-13 years old way back more than a decade now, I bumped into it the other day, and my parents published it in children's magazine. God only knows what I was thinking then, today when I read it I think was a cynic or an optimist or a realist at 12!! Today the happy go lucky self looking for the anchorage feels: did I take page out of this poem... live life till we die??

Today I don't say god is rolling a die, with all due respect to him. (See Preface) or did I learn to Walk on, thanks to this poem... today only if i could go back into that 12 year old boy's, and feel what he felt then.. But I too uncomfortably numb thinking of it now... the only thing that i can recollect is that yes i wrote it... It has my name written below it...

Abhigyan Sengupta

1994

Today I want to write............But I just cant ..........I cant write poetry no more, lost that art or wanted to loose it , I don’t know, but cant rhyme verse no more

“Light asks darkness where you stay, darkness replies in peoples mind from where you stay away”

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Food for thought

If only in India we all had pork and beef, or both the meat were categorically banned half the communal tensions were over, that what i really think.. if that was the case how could we differentiate between a hindu and a muslim, not that we can today by just looking at them alway. Think of it how many time has hindu turned down an invitation from a muslim counterparton different pretexts but actually owing to beef and vice-versa on jhatka meat* or pork???
If Beef and pork is banned in India you will se more hindus flocking to Muslim resturant for that rich biryani and succulent lamb.( East India is a different story)
that increased the camaraderie between the parties.
Also political motives of throwing beef in a temple and pork in a mosque will be a thing of the past, and even if it happens more chances than not the political motives will be well ascertained.

Another incredible true story is , not many people know that slaughtering cows is banned in most part of India, its mostly Buffaloes we slaughter. i dont remember reading any where that its sacrilege consuming buffalo in hinduism!!!

The issue is funny as Hindu religion considers cow holy but its equally pious to slaughter a buffalo as a sacrifice to Mother goddess in any form??
In some places the offering is then distributed as prasad. but then again if u remove its hide it looks same as a cow.
And then we hindus have a problem walking down a muslim neighborhood for the sight of the hideless buffalo looking like a cow.

As for me i love my Beef steak special sizzler with extra Ham in between the two steaks at Touche The Place Sizzlers. ..........Bon- Apetitte



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* Jhatka meat basicaly means lambs or chicken slaughter in one blow,that is decapitated, a hindu way of slaughter, against hallal the muslim way. Where hindus are not averse to halal meat muslims are averse to jhatka, hence most slaughter houses in India use the halal way, apart from east were jhatka is still widely a form of slaughter. What as a foodie i feel jhatka meat is tastier as the blood is allowed to remain in the meat.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Metmorphosed

Welcome to Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airpoorts Domestic Terminal the out side temperature is 28 degree Celcius. Thank you for flying Jet Airways, we would like to serve you again, we will using the Aero-bridge, so we request passenger to De-plane from the front exit' These were the first words I hear from the In flight Executive on my return to Kolkata on the 1st of march, I was about to get up while one of the attendants got my jacket from the rack, and thanked me for flying jet( some of the benefits of having a frequent flyer programme)

I came out dfrom the airport with the priority tag dangling on my luggage, and lit the Classic regulars, sporting a black ray-ban and in the elegant Black Park Avenue suit, was about to take the cab, when a guy came up to me and enquired me if I needed the Jet-Citibank credit Card, I told him I had it, but he insisted that I take the gold card, I obliged.

I sat in the cab, and was thinking while it zoomed through VIP road; it’s a home coming after seven years.

I still remember how over night i had booked the tickets for Gitanjali Express for Kalyan, and was 284 on the waitlist, was traveling with friend who decided to join me on the morning of our journey, with a general ticket only. We had to fill up the forms within the next 48hrs.

We did not fly; our parents had decided we see the world, as the way we had not seen till then. It was our decision to leave home, they supported us, but we were still on our own.

I remember taking that 30 hrs long journey in the May heat seating near the ‘ Wash Room' of the Indian Railways, smoking bidis.

Reached Kalyan at 12 in the night next day, and Pune at 3 am. I had fill up form in Fergusson College next morning.

That was years ago now, 7 years to be precise, the beginning to my tryst with the road, since then i have walked many a avenues, in Pune , Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

I have learnt to drink the tears, and wash of that childish giggle of my face,

Learnt how diplomacy can over power raw emotion. I have learnt the Game theory of life and know " In the long run we are all dead"

Learnt to mix my drinks, and inculcated the Taste for good Whisky, there where times we had the cheapest, with lemon stolen from the mess.. Today try to keep walking.

By then the Taxi had taken turn to our salt lake residence.

Went up to our newly renovated home, touched moms feet.. she said eto dine ghorer chele ghore firlo ( it was time the son came back home). Went to my room.. The renovated transformation was a metamorphosis completed

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Functional Democracy

Democracy , A Government of the people, for the people by the people was claimed the Best amongst the worst possibilities of governance according to Abraham Lincoln.

As there can never be anything better than democracy as a governance.. but still democracy or the way see it is flawed

Democracy basicaly of 3 types, Presidential Democracy or what the USA follow, Parliamentary , That we indians try to follow..
And a third typeFunctional Democracy.. which is the theoretical third type of Democracy.

While there is again two variants of both Presidential and Parliamentary democracy , i.e Multi Party system and Bi-party system, Functional democracy needs a Multi functional society.

If i go into the details of the pros and cons of either a Presidential bi-party or presidential multi party, or parliamentary Bi partyor Parliaentary Multi-party..it would take me at leat 10 lecture series to complete..but putting it simple .. they all fall short of expectations in differen aspects.. some in the case of options the other in stability. some on in logic...

the most logical form of democracy hence becomes Functional Democracy..
What is Functional Democracy,
Its a democracy without constituencies or political parties.
the society is devided into multiple functions
or feilds of work...Like the feild of Lawyers, Medical Practitioners, Armed forces, Laboureres, Economists, House wives, Farmers... they choose the their representatives to the parliament.. and the parliament then chooses a governmentaccording to the representation, not by virtue of votes but by merit.. but at the same time the leader of each function automaticaly gets their portfolio..
like the elected armed force representative will get the defence portfolio..and economist will get finance
The what i ask and seek comments from the readers is ... is it feasible to have Democracy in India.. and my next few blogs will be on the same topic after getting your suggestions

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Economics of Bribe Part II A Serious Note

Are all Bribes Illegal?


Bribes either have a legal or a moral connotation to it, either its illegal or immoral, what about bribes which are neither, what about a mother bribing a child with a candy to go to sleep so that the mom can take some rest, what about my brother buying me several drinks , for saving his ass a several times.. Are they illegal or immoral? They are neither.

Everybody has a selling price..Which varies from time to time what he will be selling for,

My friend might buy me drink to save his ass from his girl friend for not visiting her. But a single drink might not be enough for me to save his ass if I find him cheating on her..may be 25 drinks wont be enough.. But a bit of sentimental self pity from his side will make save his ass again..
The bribe can tangible or non tangible... like drinks, money, gifts are all tangible .. Emotional bribing though is not materialistic but is the worse form.

Then there is the third sort of bribing.the worst possible. Which though is not immoral or illegal to many .. But it is some thing, which is not human in lot of respect.. Its exploitation of wants Do you think we will be the people who will sell their votes.. Or even the less fortunate than us. The answer is no.
The people who sell their votes. Don’t even know what voting means, they don’t know what constituencies. They only know may be a meagre some 200 rs and some food will quench their thirst and they for one day have a square meal.. If u don’t have food in your belly or clothes on your body... and roof over your head.. then democracy can go to the dogs its a luxury.. as humans will first try to get their basic necessities right first.

Another intriguing story is that of Missionaries and the down trodden, low caste. tribal, poors, lepers etc
the Missionaries take care of them.. provide food, shelter, child education.. and as their service to god take their religion, and convert them..
do you thing for the people who they are converting.. religion mattered earlier.. what mattered was food and shelter.. they in a way bribed them to change their religion.. but was taking such a bribe IMMORAL or ILLEGAL. n the other side the Missionaries are doing their service to the god, and converting is very small price to these people for the amenities they are getting , they would argue.. but could this service to the god be voluntarily done..
At times bribe givers are re more immoral than the takers, as the takers re held to ransom..

if i had not eaten in 3 weeks i could kill for a bread...

EVERY BODY HAS A SELLING POINT. IF NOT MONEY.. THEN MORE MONEY ..IF NOT THEN LOVE... IF NOT LOVE THEN EMOTION.. IF NOT EMOTION THEN MAY BE FAITH..AND IF EVERY THING FAILS HOLD HIM TO RANSOM

The Economics of Bribe

In my days in college in Pune, we use to ride motorcycles without Driving Licence or PUC, or NOC.. And every once in a while we used to get caught for the cops, if one saw the combined fine being caught by a cop for breaking a signal or parking in wrong location, given the above anomalies would amount to exactly 2000 rupees then, (900 for noc, 700 for driving licence, 300 for PUC, and 100 for breaking the signal)

Every time we got caught, we bribed the cop 100 rupees, but it was not the 100 rupees that was important, but the harassment undergone was huge ordeal, hence we reduced parking in wrong places, stopped breaking the signals and got that occasional PUC done .

Ronald Coase once said if there are two parties in a conflict, and there are well-defined ownership rights, then Pareto optimality can be achieved by mutual consensus by bargaining a middle path. (I know that’s very basic argument and no rocket science involved. but he still got a Noble in Economics for proving this and is called the Coase theorem, that’s what most economist have got their nobles, proving basic arguments)

Why do I say so, well government has a well-defined quasi ownership to road safety and law and order, and the conflict is between me and the protectors of law. Hence a mutually beneficial middle path can be achieved which will be Pareto optimal, by mutual consensus of bargaining. Basically Bribe.

Lets make it simple in a way: The cop who gets peanuts of a salary finds it incentive enough to catch hold of the person breaking the signal for that Rs. 100 as a bribe, he will calculate a suggest 2000, but I will pay 100, if I had Paid 2000, then he would not find it incentive enough as he had to make a challan of the same, and the money goes to the Government not him.

Also its beneficial for me as I am get away paying 100 rupees instead of 2000 but the harassment is something I don’t like.

So I make sure from next time I don’t cut the signal, have a PUC, NOC, DRIVING LICENCE, and do not park in no parking.

This becomes socially beneficial, and doing so attains a social optimum.

Now take away the bribe scenario, what happens I always Pay 2000 rupees, so the cop does not have an incentive of catching me as His salary is not a Function of number of law breaker he catches, so he shirks his duty, and I break the signal and go scott free.

So the social optimum is not attained.

Hence what do I conclude, Bribes good???

No I would not say that exactly, I would put it this way, a Law Enforcers slary should be a function of the variable x plus a Constant C.

Or f(y) = fx + C (Hebrew?? Sorry I had to do it, at the end I am an Economist by Education)

Where y= the law enforcers salary

X= the incentive derived from catching a law breaker

C= Constant, or the basic salary he receives from the government irrespective of number of law breakers he catches.

With the basic Economic Assumption of Ceteris Paribus as mentioned by my fellow economists.

The basic hypothesis is to remove bribe and still have a social optimal the policy makers should increase the law enforcers basic salary (C) by giving him an incentive to catch the law breakers (x) to reach a Social Optimum situation or else the Economics of bribe will allow the society to achieve the Pareto –optimality between law breakers and enforcers.

The Preface

I am Making my own destiny.. i just wont realise that till the point I reach there.
Hence will never realise the opportunity cost incurred on forgoing an alternative while making a choice in life.Will never know where the doors and avenues that i did not take would have lead me..
I just hope when i reach there i find it was a good life all in all seating with my lady while i pass the pipe around,

Its the end that always mattered
i thought of writing a book
then i realised my book doesnt have an end..
u cant tell a story.. if it has not ended
i hope of coming back to kolkatta which will give me an end.. the end to a seven year long quest to a quintessential life of a student.. who left home a boy and came back a man

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

The Under Trial

JUSTICE FOR JESSICA or Hang THE MATOO MURDERER

I have been hearing this for a while now, then the Nithari Case, where Mr Pandher was bashed up by the Lawyers....
We want the criminals Punished. but why do we give the judgement before the court actually does..
We convict the under trials much before into criminals, before the court actually gives its verdict.

For Instance a big News Channel suddenly took up the case of in search of Bitty Mohanty, who jumped Parole, after being convicted by a fast track court. We were all praising the fast verdict.. but have we thought was the verdict too fast..
Was Bitty Actually framed.. why would a German tourist go with him from Delhi to Ajmer, stay in the same Hotel room.. and then after few days accuse him of rape..
i am not trying to be a chauvinist here .. but its easy to black mail a man when he has slept with some body, with the new DNA tests, he can be hold to ransom as he is very vulnerable to be accused of Rape when it was consensual sex.
Some where down the line we have forgotten to think and are to gullible to what media states...
Mr Pandher again had to face the wrath of the lawyers, and was beaten blue .. while still in trial.. is that fair.. he is not even proven guilty, actually the first series of Narco tests can actually acquit him.. but no media says he is a killer.. so let us kill him.. Wait a min here, I am no way defending what he did, thats in human, and i will be one of the first to demand his head if proven guilty.
Going back to the old Jessica and Matoo case, what if the accused are actually innocent, what if Ram Jethmalanis statement of dual bullet was actually true, why will a an fire to rounds of shot for asking a drink, when the first shot fired in the air, wont he give enough time for the waitress to react and may be out of fear get him his drink, hence shooting her immediately sounds a bit rusty..
But the media had a huge effect, on the case.. not only media but the people in general.. but did we think about the pros and cons of the case.
In Matoo case with no new evidence available to the High Court, pronounced Mr Singh guilty, out of sheer media, hype, while he was acquitted by the lesser court for lack of substantial evidence. Not only was he proved guilty , but also was given the capital punishment, which now has been stayed by the SC for
Lack of Substantial Evidence.

The under trails only become convicts when they are adjudged so by the court, we some how driven by the media, do not give the under trails a fair chance under article 32 of the Indian Constitution as a part of the fundamental right to constitutional remedies.
we adjudge some as terrorist and some as murderers, they might be so. but some might just be being framed... and we kill them to.
so next time please leave the thinking to your self and do not allow the media to think for you.