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)

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”

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



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



* 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.

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