From The Opposition's View

Green will rule West Bengal once again. The colour that wiped out red in the 2011 Assembly Elections after 34 years of Left rule. Green is here to stay. This time with a bigger mandate minus riding piggy back with the Congress like they did in 2011.The Trinamool Congress's vote share increases from the previous figure of 38% to 46%. An ecstatic Mamata Banerjee is set to take oath once again as Chief Minister on the 27th of May. But the Opposition parties are also news makers in their own right. The Congress is disappointed at their performance. The Left Front could not win the hearts of their voters in the manner they envisioned by joining hands with the Congress. The Left and Congress both say the alliance was not a mistake. It was not just a set back for CPIM State Secretary Surya Kanta Mishra losing from his constituency Narayangarh but also that the Left Front is now relegated to the third largest party in West Bengal with 32 seats, the Congress faring better with 44 out of the 76 seats won by the alliance. While Congress State President Adhir Chowdhury too said the alliance was not a mistake, the Congress party had better takeaways from these elections, becoming the second largest party after the Trinamool Congress.    The alliance was an alternative for some of the urban populace that wanted to vote against the Trinamool Congress apart from the Left and Congress loyalists across the State. But the magic of the alliance failed to cut through the corruption issue that circulated the Trinamool Congress like a barb wire. The mandate of the people was clear with Trinamool Congress winning 211 seats. The alliance did not seem like a serious bet in a State where some questioned the quality of governance after five years of the ruling party in power. But as Adhir Chowdhury says, while gracefully accepting defeat, that these elections were fought like a Presidential election-either you vote for Mamata Banerjee or you vote against her. It was not the promises of the Opposition parties that won them brownie points serving as a viable option for the voters fed up with the incumbent Government. The Opposition party that was all smiles was the BJP, winning three seats and making inroads into the West Bengal Assembly. They were first time lucky in these elections, unlike the previous two occassions when they made it to the Assembly winning one seat in the by-election. While Rahul Sinha was leading in Jorasanko constituency in the beginning of the day, it was a complete turnover as he lost to Trinamool Congress’s Smita Bakshi. Jorasanko was where the impact of the Vivekananda flyover collapse was predicted to sting the Trinamool Congress in it’s bastion. There are many lessons to be learnt from these elections. While Mamata Banerjee showed that corruption was not a strong issue to shake her from her throne, the Left Congress alliance has learnt that there is more needed to be done at the ground level to convince the voters of their mettle as a viable option to rule the State effectively, rather than just be a last minute marriage of convenience. The BJP on their part know regional politics go beyond the Modi factor working in their favour. But something has gone right for the BJP in these elections. Now it is the road ahead that will shape people’s perception further of the party in the State before another election knocks the door. So for the next five years it is not just the Trinamool Congress that will be put to test, but the Opposition parties too, each looking to win the confidence of West Bengal’s voters.

‘Playing With Fire’

                                               

  

“A man is about what choices he makes. It falls upon that person to decide what is actually true or false. It is then a person’s true character that comes out.”

It is in the world of fantasy that a person often finds solace, which he escapes to, a world which he can connect to, a world which is surreal but the characters often are a reflection of people with myriad personalities surrounding us. In his depiction of a the surreal meets real world, 26 year old author Arka Chakrabarti believes that even a world of fantasy has a realm of reality which is portrayed in his maiden novel. ‘The Secrets Of The Dark’-The Saga of Agni. It was released in 2013, with a sequel to release in September this year.  Says Arka Chakrabarti, “Even in science fiction like Jules Verne’s ‘20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’, the concept of submarines were not prominent until much later. You mould real life concepts and put life around it. I wanted freedom to write about characters facing life’s struggles who are similar to us yet in a different place.”

‘The Secrets Of The Dark’ takes you on a journey through the mystical world of Gaya recreated through the author’s eyes, where the story of Agni weaves out not just a mystery that traces his past and true origin, but also brings out interesting perceptions of characters that make up the complexity of life. Whether it is a mythical fiction of Gaya where the Destroyer, born from the royal seed on the Land of the Setting Sun, brings the empires down or the enchanting world of the past spoken in the colloquial language of today-the book grips the reader who wants to discover more as he turns the pages. The main protagonist is strong willed Agni, brought up in the care of King Adhirath of Himadri, along with Prince Yani and his friend Vrish. Agni is forced to find out the truth behind his past, when he looses his fiancé Malini, Vrish’s sister who dies in a fire that grips the shores of the trading destination Himadri. Malini was his hope of a new life which was taken away from him and Agni won’t rest till he finds out the truth behind what started the fire that took her life, but the story goes beyond the present, that Agni lives in. It is a story of a man leading a normal life which makes the reader want to bracket him as a superhero in the fantasy world of ‘The Secrets of The Dark’. The twists and turns uncover the tales in the mythical land of Gaya, meandering through the land of the rising sun and the land of the setting sun and how the two worlds are intertwined for the reader to discover the Saga of Agni.              

Chakrabarti was 18 when he penned down the world of fantasy created in his mind. But it was not until recently that he decided to compile it into a novel, which was published by Shristi publishers after getting rejected by almost five others. Many said the genre would not sell. But today a book like Amish’s ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ has not just sold an unimaginable number of copies, but also reinforced the belief that mythical fictions are here to stay, offering the reader something new. A slice of history laced with fiction amalgamates into a realm of fantasy that takes the reader to a forgotten land, one that we vaguely remember reading in history books.

Rejections from publishers did not stop Chakrabarti from pursuing his mission to transform his manuscript into a novel after his family and friends gave him the courage to do so after reading and liking his work. “My work is about normal people leading a normal life which is what they liked. That gave me the courage to approach publishers.” Reminisces Chabrabarti. The story had a strong undercurrent of Sanskrit which has to be reworked to put the novel in it’s present form. 

He continues, “If you look closely, fire possess two extreme qualities, destruction and taking man to new levels of innovation. Man is like fire, who has the capability of doing good and bad. This is the core that I wanted to establish in Agni. It is the choices of man that make a man. There is a thin line bet right and wrong and sometimes it gets blurred. It leaves one in a predicament.”

An consulting accountant by profession, he continues to follow his passion to write. It was an accident that made fire an intriguing subject for Charabarti, when he suffered second degree burns on his right hand. The fear of fire still grips him, but it is the intrigue in one of the four elements of life that took his imagination to different dimensions. He gave up an offer at the Income Tax Department in Mumbai, to live his dream of writing while being a consultant. “When I got that offer, I was happy with my career. There are certain responsibilities when shifting base. Both writing and working provides me well and gives me a sense of fulfillment, when I have that, I don’t need to run behind anything else. I already have fulfillment and stability.”

Staying back in Kolkata has given him a sense of pride, coming from a land that gave the rest of the world the wonders of Satyajit Ray’s works. Chakrabarti feels he not done something different as such with his novel, but instead chooses to put it as showing readers other possibilities that exist and characters from another time and space which sometimes are alike people we encounter in this day and age.

There is a land of the rising sun and the land of the setting sun to read, layers of characters’ personalities to unpeel and to connect the dots to uncover The Saga of Agni which has overall gotten a positive response. The journey does not just end here. Come September, the 26 year old Kolkata based author continues the realm of his imagination in the sequel of ‘The Secrets Of the Dark’ while he continues to keep afloat on readers’ growing interests in The Saga of Agni.

   

The King of The Ballot...The Blogger?

You blog with passion, you express your views on thoughts you feel need to be pondered upon and when you meet like minded bloggers, it is a flow of ideas exchanged. That is the essence a Blogger’s Meet that brings out. A blend of thoughts, old and new, across barriers of age and profession. It is this blend that makes up the fabric of diversity in a country with a billion plus population. At the Billion Ideas Blogger’s Meet 2014, organized by the Indian National Congress, ideas came to the fore, with the hope of initiatives to be taken. My first formal event as a host that I was proud to be part of on Sunday in early March. 

With this thought outlining the reason behind the Congress choosing to hold a Bloggers Meet for the first time in three cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, a party manifesto could just dominate around thirty ideas placed forward by the blogger’s community. Why bloggers one may ask? But why not? Asks the Congress party. After all, it the social media platform where the ideas of a thousand individuals voice the script of a changing India.

Four themes ranged from pertinent issues like what would you do to ensure transparency in governance at all levels, retaining inclusiveness and secular fabric of India, innovation by the youth and empowering women at the household. Why these themes? Because these are the issues that dominate the thought process of many minds and question the political mind of the voter before the dance of democracy directs him to the ballot to cast his vote. Will it be the lotus, the hand, the broom or a giddy mix of federal cocktail?

While the outcome of casting the vote is a mystery, the Congress is making all efforts to include the ideas of the common man and ensure inclusiveness of the people of the country. At a time when people have almost lost faith towards the dream of a transparent and able government ruling at the Centre, the Congress is doing it’s best to dispel perception of a corrupt and poorly governing party dominated by the ideology of dynasty politics. It is the people after all that decide whom they want to see as their leaders and for individualistic reasons.

When it came to addressing issues like empowering women at the household, interesting answers came to the fore. Citing the example of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav putting his Rabri Devi in the spotlight in Bihar’s political game, one blogger who is also a journalist in Kolkata was of the view that it should be the voice of the woman who is not in the shadow of the man.  Let me not forget to add another interesting answer from this group of women speaking up for empowerment. Why silence the voice of a rape victim? Instead silence the voice of her rapists by putting them behind bars while offering the victim a job in an NGO empowering others like herself. It was the example of the Park Street rape victim as she came to be known. Suzette Jordan was raped on the 5^th of February 2012 in Kolkata. She was bold enough to reveal her identity later, giving herself a name apart from the synonym that defined her existence post the incident. Why can’t other rape victims be bold like her, to come out and reveal their identities and earn a living just like everyone else does in society?    

The youth comprising of college goers, some apprehensive to express their views, turned out to be a release of issues like reservation in educational institutions that plagued them. Why reservation? They ask? Why not choose merit over reservation? Some even asked what the point of the meet was and would it really make a difference to voice their view on the social media platform. It was then that the Chief Guest from the Congress digital media cell in Delhi, Ranajit Mukherjee assured the youth that their views would not go unheard, encouraging them to be active on the social media platform. A drop in the ocean after all does create ripples.

But it was surprising not to hear concerns raised by the youth over unemployment that troubles many a mind, a promise BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi makes in his speeches, to ensure are no longer the youth’s troubles. Is it that these youth who attended the Blogger’s Meet 2014 are unaware of the problems others like them are facing getting jobs in the country? But issues are relative. What maybe an issue for one, may not be an issue for prime importance to another. But the question that didn’t seem to be addressed to the fullest, was how the youth would use their potential for innovation. It wasen’t until the end that one of them said she and her friends would express themselves on social networking sites and make a difference in their own way.

There was an interesting point by one of the youngsters though, who was part of the group deliberating on how to ensure inclusiveness and secular fabric of the Nation. She started by talking about gaming creating an impact in India now, in many ways.  Initially it seemed like she was going off topic, until what she said made me marvel at what ideas the youth can come up with. And that to me is harnessing the potential of the youth for innovation. She said why not make games which depict securlarism? A simple, yet effective way to connect with the youth, communicating to them in a language they understand-Gaming. In an age where cartoons and toys of ‘Chota Bheem’ and mythological themes dominate the world of animation in India, video games or games on mobile phones and tablets with secular themes could well be on it’s way to becoming a big hit.

When I drafted the note that followed the theme of how to ensure transparency of governance at all levels, the first thought that came into my mind was the term corruption, keeping Arvind Kejriwal and the broom symbol of the Aam Aadmi party as the biggest talking point amongst the masses as elections draw close. But I was wrong. From ideas about providing security for Right To Information applicants who are often threatened and some even killed, to some blogger saying why not have notices in technologically challenged villages about the progress of the Government on issues they supposedly are working on?

If these are ideas that come from the common man, then why are these ideas not being pondered over seriously by the Aam Aadmi Party that portrays itself as a mascot of the masses? Why is it that the Congress is taking the initiative of inclusive politics? As they say in advertising, the customer is the king, the Congress through this initiative of hosting A Billion Ideas Blogger’s Meet for the first time is making the masses feel like the king alike advertising, the political way. If Congress in all it’s seriousness is making way for the potential voter to be the King of Congress’s manifesto, the people possibly will slowly start to look at the Congress in a different light. Not one of a corrupt party, but perhaps also one of a party that admits to mistakes and drawbacks with the will to look ahead and not behind. But it is the day of the results of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that will determine the masses thought process that culminate into votes for each party fighting the aggressive political battle. 

  

A billion ideas, a billion dreams, a billion hopes, a billion stories to be weaved. It is these billion stories that together usher in the progress, in a Nation of a billion plus population. Hence it is each initiative that could make a big difference in the smallest of ways. The Blogger’s Meet could just be the platform with the exchange of ideas that could make a big difference in the smallest of ways by making it’s way in the Congress party’s manifesto.             

    

“Creativity Cannot Be Limited Only To Advertising.”

Name and fame are you game? Of course anyone would be game, but is that why Sumanto Chattopadhyay went all the way from Kolkata to Mumbai to become an advertising guru? If so, then what makes him return to the mangrove forest of Sunderbans in West Bengal and disappear one fine day during his journey in the just released Bengali film named ‘Taan’? Is it the allure of acting opposite Rituparna Sengupta in this mystery movie. Or is there more to why Ogilvy and Mater’s Executive Creative Director South Asia, Sumanto Chattapodhyay was lured back to his roots in Bengal?

It might not have been his plan, but it was in his fate that the director of the film Mukul Roy Chowdhury was his former colleague in O&M and asked him to play the part of a wildlife photographer who goes missing in the Sunderbans, only to be caught in the murky net of flesh trade and the mafia. Contrary to his real life persona of a successful advertising big shot, Sumanto is an idealistic photographer in the movie, the opposite of ambitious, who is being frantically searched by successful ad film friend ‘Liza’ in Rituparna Sengupta’s world as a ‘Jolbeshya’ or river prostitute.

Being his first Bengali film, acting in ‘Taan’ was not Sumanto Chattopadhyay’s challenge, as his global stint in theatre gave him a strong footing. The real challenge was shooting his first scene, an intimate one with Rituparna Sengupta even before he had a chance to know the actress well enough and be comfortable doing the scene.  Says Sumanto, “While she had apprehensions about me considering I was new, later on the ice broke.” During the premier of the film, when the leading Bengali actress herself commented that Sumanto didn’t look like he was new to cinema, the flashback to the first scene he shot with her seemed  like it was actually never a big deal.     

Not limiting himself to advertising, he dabbled with modelling a decade ago in Mumbai getting his portfolio being shot by none other than actor Boman Irani who was then a photographer. After all, Sumanto says “I am a creative person, creativity cannot be limited only to adverting.” It was this thought that propelled him to take up the offer of acting as Lord Buddha in the play ‘The Life of Gautam Buddha’ by a Delhi theatre group, which toured the US and Singapore amongst other locations. He also got to depict his acting skills in a Rabindranath Tagore bilingual adaption of ‘Char Adhyay’ some years ago. Now it is ‘Taan’ that has made this UK born Bengali connect with his roots.

The initial response to the film has been mixed. While some audiences found it too bold a subject to handle, what with the promos bringing out more about the facet of the flesh trade, others have liked the movie. For Sumanto Chattopadhyay, it was a sigh of relief when his father liked the film centred around a bold subject. He is hoping there will more like his father who see the film in it’s entirety. Sumanto feels preconceived notions should not formed merely by the promos. “I would be happy if people went and saw the film before deciding if it was good or bad.”    

  

Unlike an Art film like “Char Adhyay’, a commercial film like ‘Taan’ is about box office numbers. While the fate of the film is for audiences to decide, for now Sumanto is enjoying his new creative high as he meanders along the murky terrain of the Sunderbans.    

Christ! What Just Happened In School.

When the ransack at Christ Church School at Dum Dum in Kolkata took place on Thursday the 12^th of September, no one had imagined it go out of control and things would pan out the way they did. Parents shouting names, leveling allegations, breaking chairs, tables, fax machines and glass panes of doors and windows, the Police just stood there helpless unable to control the mob. We the media, stood on the side sometimes, amongst the mob sometimes as we jostled to stay safe while capturing the situation to the best of our ability. Today when I look back, I still can’t get over the angry that spilled out onto the school premises. My cameraperson was injured as he tripped over a pot, yet his first concern was seeing the camera was not damaged though he was hurt and thankfully it wasen’t as someone caught the camera and helped stable him.

These are the scenes that first come to mind when I think of what happened that day. Outsiders mingling amongst the crowd deriving sadistic pleasure as angry parents were ready to heckle Principal Helen Sircar and Police tried to protect her in her chamber. She along with other teachers were ducking under the table. The crowds still didn’t stop pouring inside the premises. There was ransacking atleast 3 times that I remember. Rapid Action Force too arrived at the spot later only to be outnumbered by the mob as they jeered. Finally Principal Helen Sircar had to apologize to a crowd holding slippers and pieces of a flower pot to hit her.

Then under more pressure from the mob, she had to resign twice and be placed under arrest. Some students and parents rejoiced, some nodded at the unfortunate turn of events involving the Principal. What purpose did the incident serve when students are now kept away from attending school while the premises is being cleared up before it is functional.

Why was the Police there that day when there was nothing they could do? A Principal was almost lynched by a 200 plus strong angry mob and they could do nothing about calming the mob ransacking the premises from time to time. The Police was called in to protect the Principal and teachers and what happened went against her.

Whether she handled the case of ragging of class 5 student Oindrilla Das efficiently or not is still in question as Oinrilla lost her life and reports of whether it was ragging or the wrong injection administered poured in. But the situation caught everyone off guard, be it the Principal, teachers, the Church of North India that is the governing body for the school, the media and the viewers. And what would we say about the Police? That is best left unsaid.     

Que Sera Sera...

"Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be...The future is not ours to see...Que sera sera...What will be will be."

As I recollect the lines of this song most of us have learnt as children, I as a citizen wonder what the future of India will be. There was difficulty finding jobs when I passed out of college, but there were jobs. The economy was on the upswing and America was nowhere close to giving us an indication that recession would disbalance the economic stability in the world.  Post 2008, recession saw the worst in America, UK and across the oceans in India too. Thankfully India not being a free market economy saved the developing country from future doom and finally got it’s chance to prove to be smarter than the USA, a first world country. 

Things picked up eventually, people began to face reality and settle for jobs they could get. Everything seemed to suggest in some way that times might be difficult compared what it was prior to 2008, yet things would look up with time. But now as I see it 5 years later, there are jobs but the possibility of people loosing jobs is also high. This is disillusioning when I hear of people loosing jobs in the media industry too as a cost cutting exercise. But is that the only disillusioning part? 

There is a the Central Government too that plays a role. There are scams galore that UPA 2’s tenure  is laced with. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee once mentioned to me about being unhappy at the way the Parliament functions. There are more disruptions in the sessions than there are discussions and political dissidence overshadows the overall benefit of the masses, be it FDI in retail or the Food Security Bill. With general elections less than a year away and Narendra Modi likely to be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP, the battle to gain mileage by the ruling party and the Opposition is heating up with the plot changing by the day. 

While the aam aadmi goes about his daily work, in someway the awareness of the existing political scenario sets in which will translate into votes for the party that is elected in 2014. The Congress led UPA 2 Government has left the masses pessimistic of economic progress as rushes of all the scams cross the mind. Scams that involve crores of hard earned tax payer’s money. On the other hand Narendra Modi’s name resonates a note of positivity after the transformation of Gujarat. The 2002 Godhra riots are forgotten by some, but not by all. 

So while some dicard Modi’s credibility and ability to lead the country, some hope for better financial stability for the country as a whole and inturn reap the benefit for themselves and their families. Call Modi’s visits to various cities and speeches as a good marketing strategy, but what would you term the result of a prosperous Gujarat that was once just a vision? An example that speaks for Modi’s achievement? Or would you choose not to use this as a benchmark to decide his potential to rule the country efficiently? Going by the theory that a known devil is better than an unknown devil, would the Congress do justice to people's expectations given a 3rd chance to rule at the Centre with some strategies fine tuned?

While 2014 will decide the path India and it’s economy traverses, it is the anxiety that will give some people sleepless nights. While for the rest who worry less, what will be, will be. Whatever it may be, may optimism not be a redundant word in the dictionary, for a country that comprises of scores of employable youth waiting to take forward the mantle. While for me, I would ride on dreams of a resurgent Indian economy.                        

Darjeeling Diaries...

Amidst the July end 72 hour strike declared by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to demand a separate State, the beauty of Darjeeling takes my breath away. The roads are devoid of tourists who otherwise would have hijacked the mall area, a place where you can sit at a Café Coffee Day, sipping your coffee and looking out at the mountains peeking amidst the fog. I wish I had an SLR camera to do justice to scenic beauty. If you just want to take a walk down the mall area, sit on the benches to chat while the furry street dogs and horses walk about, you might just forget there is a city bustling with activity and the honking cars that you left behind to steal some time away in the hills of Darjeeling. The small clean station of Darjeeling with it’s toy train parked thanks to the strike, cries out to be occupied by tourists. Eventhough the strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha translates into shops downing shutters and offices not functional, Darjeeling won’t let you leave without an image of it’s beauty imprinted in your mind.

The GJM President Bimal Gurung resigns from post of Chief Executive of the Gorkha Territorial Administration which came into being on 18th July 2011 after a tripartite agreement was signed by the Centre, State and the GJM. The GJM say they are not happy with the functioning of the GTA with unwanted interference from the State Government and unapproachable attitude. They have gone back to a more firm demand for separate Statehood in the wake of the UPA 2 Government agreeing to separate Statehood status for Telengana, breaking away from Andhra Pradesh. GJM wants Gorkhaland to be the 30th State of the country, refusing to be sidelined anymore by the Centre and West Bengal Government. They are stepping up their peaceful agitation, asking tourists and school students to leave the hills in 2 days time. Torchlight marches will give way to more sloganeering with flags of GJM and other forms of agitation.

Many from the GJM have switched loyalties to the Trinamool Congress, the future of talks with the State and Centre now depends on their ability to convince them that they mean serious business. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not too happy with the turn of events of Telengana and the echo of Gorkhaland growing louder. The GTA was her achievement and the Hills were smiling as she would say. But the people here say Darjeeling was a territory part of Sikkim in 1988 as per the white paper published during the Left Front Government’s rule and a realignment of territories took place. They say they speak a different language, their culture is different from the rest of West Bengal.

When I speak to one tourist from the UK who had grown up in Kalimpong not far from Darjeeling, he is saddened at not being able to visit there due to the bandh. I tell him he can come back when times are better and he replies saying “I am 73, I doubt I will be able to come back”. The tinge of disappointment, the pondering over the strike which will affect the economy of Darjeeling as the hills primarily depend on tourists makes me ponder. When will tourists be able to come back at leisure without being disappointed, to enjoy a sumptuous breakfast at Glenary’s or Keventers?

The empty hotels wear a longing look to usher in tourists into their hotel rooms and witness the scenic beauty of the mountains from their cosy rooms, like the hotel where I am staying at. Owned by a Tibetan, naming the hotel Seven Seventeen considering the numbers lucky with everyone’s birthday in her family falling on the 7th or 17th. She says the hotel owes it’s success to the patronizing guests…But when will luck favour her soon again? Ushering the tourists back without the disappointment of being sent away due to another strike, by the people hopeful of the birth of Gorkhaland.