Us and Them

Us, and them
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows its not what we would choose to do.
Forward he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end its only round and round.
Haven't you heard its a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
Theres room for you inside.

- Pink Floyd
"Us & Them" from The Dark Side of the Moon

Have you heard of Nandigram? You may not have: it’s only a remote village in a remote corner of West Bengal. I, born and raised in Kolkata, a few hours away from Nandigram, had never heard of it, till last year, when there was a proposal to set up a Chemical hub there. As with most change in West Bengal for various reasons, this one met with protests. The government announced that they will not go on with the project there, earlier this year. Everything there should be normal by now, the end of the year, right?

Wrong! Because while the protests were going on, some of the opposition parties in West Bengal formed a Bhumi Uchhed Protirodh Committee (BUPC), literally: Committee opposing people being uprooted from their land. They clashed with cadres of CPI(M), the largest party of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal. People from both sides were uprooted from their land, and people who were not aligned to any side were the hardest hit. Both sides seized villages and posts. Some people were killed, the area turned into a battlefield. The local police was hopelessly inadequate to control this, so the government called for Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). So, CRPF arrives, takes control of the situation, and bring things back to normal, right?

Wrong again! Because, while the CRPF is on its way, CPI(M) armed cadres formed formidable battalions and took control of most of the area. All in a day. The police were supposedly ordered not to interfere. The Chief Minister, Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s reaction to that? “They have been paid back by their own coin”!

Who are they, Mr. Chief Minister? Aren’t they part of your state? Aren’t you responsible for their welfare? Is anyone who is not part of your us (the left front), they? I am politically non-aligned, am I also they?

More than 30 years of ruling a state is a long time! Perhaps this gives the ruling party and its Chief Minister a sense of invincibility! Perhaps he thinks he is almighty! I say, when a man thinks he can do or say anything and get away with it, those are the sure signs of decadence, hence ultimately downfall. This is not communism, this is not democracy, this is organised ochlocracy! And this simply cannot go on!

It's your life!

My second cousin suffered a heart attack on Sunday and is in the hospital. Fortunately, he is out of danger and stable now. He should be back home after a couple of days of observation. But I am not writing this to let you know about his condition, or about the good job Ramkrishna Mission is doing with their hospital. I am writing this because my cousin's story is eerily similar to many people I know:

He is 33, married (no kids yet), moved in to his new apartment recently, and loves driving his car. Recently he changed his job and joined one of India's biggest banks with a good profile.
He was also obese, went on crash diets, and smoked. He didn't "get time" to eat at regular times, and definitely didn't get time to exercise.

My friends: I can't think of anything more important in this world than one's own body! Please take care of it. I am not asking you to build muscles like Arnold or starve yourself to look like Heidi Klum! All I am asking you to do is find a few minutes to work out, re-look at your eating habits and make corrections to them, and be healthy. If you can't help yourself, take help from professionals. But please, don't neglect your body; act now!

Ten years of Net

I am celebrating ten years of using Internet! Just realized that while talking to my sister about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Phew! That's a long time!

It was all a new, big, confusing thing (and really slow thing) those days. I remember preparing a weekend course on Internet for Aptech students, since it was not part of the course then. We used to explore things like Gopher, PINE, Finger and Archie. And yeah, no e-mail server with 5GB space, so big files were uploaded through FTP protocol. I remember I searched Yahoo! a lot then along with Lycos and Altavista (no Google :)). E-mail meant a client called PINE, and later hotmail and Yahoo mail. No "social networking sites", no photograph sharing (not with that speed!), no online shopping, no tabbed browsing, no blogging...

One question: Does anyone know how to retrieve the date when one opened their hotmail account? I would love to know that - that was my first email account, and its still active :-)

Happy Days!

Someone I know observed that it’s the build-up to the Durga Puja which is more exciting than the actual Puja. The actual Puja days pass so quickly, that often one can’t account for the four days. But then, this is no time to do boring stuff like accounting. This is the time to have fun, meet friends and family, eat food, and be happy. At least for four days of the year, all Bengalis are happy! Even after the end of Puja (Dashami or Dusshera), we go and visit relatives with mandatory sweets. This year though, our extended family made a change to this tradition and arranged a potluck instead. Needless to say, that was awesome fun; and healthy too :-)

Talking about change: A few environment friendly changes to Puja have been implemented in recent times. The tradition of releasing Nilkantha bird has been practically stopped since it is now a endangered specie. The idols (during Bisarjan – marking the end of celebrations) are immersed in the water, but immediately taken off to prevent pollution. These are welcome steps which will also spread awareness about environment.

I was in Kolkata during Pujas this time after a few years, and I had a hell of a time! Subho Bijoya / Happy Dusshera.

This is how we do it

The countdown begins way ahead of the actual event. Buying new cloths, new shoes, comparing the number of new dresses, etc. The Pandals start getting built at least a month ago; in some cases, more. Then the actual Puja days come. Millions of people, dressed in their new dress, will come out and see the Pujas. They will walk from one Pandal to another, watch the idol, say their quick prayers, appreciate the decoration, and walk to the next Pandal. In between there will be a few food and drinks break. The Pandals are so crowded that there are mile long queues to enter! It is impossible to get a table at any half decent restaurant without waiting As the night progresses, there will be a sizeable number of people limping because of blisters from new shoes. Its impossible to cover the whole city in one day, so people plan their circuits: yesterday, if it was South Kolkata, today it will be North Kolkata. Even at midnight, there will be hundreds of thousands of people on the streets.

I was one of them. I used to do circuits of Pandals with friends. I never used to eat food at home during Pujas. I used to come back home at five a.m. Then I was away from Kolkata for the last eight years, and avoided coming to Kolkata during the Pujas. A vacation during Puja would leave me more tired after the vacation than before. This time, I am in Kolkata. It’s time for me to celebrate Durga Puja, the good old style.

Slight problem though: most of the friends are not in Kolkata, I can’t eat so much anymore, and I can’t stand the crowd. But as the saying goes, “If there is will, there is a way”. So I went out with a close friend and his wife, avoided the busiest Pujas, never went inside any Pandal, and ate in 3500 calorie moderation. We also saw a Bangalore based band – Aurko, perform live. Met a few friends and acquaintances.

One thing which is common to every acquaintance I meet is the conversation pattern. After the usual “Hi, hello” and “How are you? It’s been a long time!” comes, “Have you tied the knot?”, “Why don’t you get married?”, with plenty of advice to follow. A friend of mine even asked for my photograph! Sometimes I wish I could just lie and say that I am married with a kid or two, and my wife couldn’t come with me because she is expecting another child soon. I think that would make people happy.

Anyway, let people be happy in whatever makes them happy. This is no time to complain about things - It’s happy time! Come to think of it, this is no time to write blog posts - got to get ready - my Mamaji will be here any moment now and we will all go out Pandal hopping. Happy Durga Puja everyone.

Obituary

With me, since school, you've been
through the thick and also the thin

You stuck to me like lovers should
When I was beat, or feeling good

Other friends, at least a few
suggested that I tell you, adieu

But I always, ignored them
keeping us together, in one frame

Alas, the devil in me grew
finally, today, I murdered you

Maybe in future I'll miss you, even be sad
but so far, so good; doesn't feel bad

For now, Goodbye; Adios, my friend
It's time to move on, it's not the end.

Good things

... that has happened to me after coming to Kolkata:

• I don't have to shave everyday. It might seem strange that I put it at the top of the list, but from 5/6 days shaving each week to 5/6 days of not-shaving: bliss, absolute bliss!
• Had some delectable food. I guess this one was obvious.
• I met a few friends from school after a decade! Thanks to Orkut! It is SO good to remember good old days!
  
• I am reading books voraciously. Rediscovering the joys of reading Pujobarshikis (Special edition of Magazines released just before Durga Pujas).
  
• I am discovering old roads and lanes of Kolkata during my daily evening walks.

Hope there are more to come in the coming days.