Mahalaya brings a festive flavor in Bengal due to Durga Puja

Durga Puja is the most important festival of Bengalis. This year it is special for Bengal because of the recognition accorded to the festival by the UNESCO heritage committee. Hence, the Puja committees have removed all stops to welcome foreign tourists to highlight the hidden talents of those of those who join hands to construct pandals and decorate them. Many of these have out-of-the-world appearances that defy expectations. It is usual for celebrities to grace the occasion of the inauguration. However, this year there appears to be an exception due to whatever reasons. Durga Puja 2022: Why did Bollywood disappear from the glittering Puja event? Fear of ED here? . As it is, there are the old traditional pujas and there are the new wave theme pujas. People flock and move from one pandal to another to enjoy the sights and sounds all around.

Incidentally, it is usual to conduct the inauguration program after Mahalaya, preferably the Panchami. This year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated several pujas much before Panchami. Probably she had to keep in mind the changed equation in view of commodification and commercialization. Durga Puja is the quintessential Bengali festival where the city of Kolkata gives its all. The outbreak of corona forced the devotees to spend the last two years practically sitting at home. Obviously, the excitement for this year’s puja is different.

Durga Puja from outside India and within –

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It is difficult to mop up black money

The source of one’s earnings are usually authentic like employment or business. One portion of these go to the government. These are the norms all over the world and followed dutifully. However, in some countries, people do not like to part with their money. They falsify documents and conceal the money in hard to locate places – they choose banks where one can park his cash safely. These are unaccounted money and is known as black money. Switzerland is famous for its watches, the Alps and banks where it is not too difficult to open an account and store money and other valuables because those will be difficult to locate. It seems it is a global phenomenon and it is customary to refer to such holdings as ‘black money.’ Black is usually associated with evil – like black magic. Witches wear black clothes, and no one likes the black sheep in a family. However, the Men in Black was an exception – it was a Hollywood movie and dealt with Extra-terrestrials ETs. There was also a Bollywood movie of 2005 titled Black where Rani Mukherjee portrayed the role of a blind girl. To her the world was black. Amitabh Bachhan was also there.

To return to the subject of black money. It is a topic that can embarrass people in high places. Those in power in the government know about the existence of such unaccounted assets but are unable to lay hands on them. It would amount to stirring up the hornets’ nest. Therefore, they follow the policy of let sleeping dogs lie. In India, there was jubilation when BJP came to power. The new Prime Minister made an announcement on the subject but there has been no visible progress on the issue. Indian kitty in Swiss banks jumped 50% to over ₹30,000 crore in 2021

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If only I had become a doctor

When young, I was fascinated by the aeroplane. Our house was not too far from the airport and some of our neighbors who stayed in our area worked in the airlines. I would see them go for duty in their company buses and longed to be like them. I did choose the aircraft industry but as luck would have it, I went into the aircraft-manufacturing stream. I was in my early 20s, got an appointment in Kanpur and from there moved to Nashik. I have been in Nashik for more than half a century and my son chose to join the IT industry. Today, I sigh and wonder if only I had become a doctor, my life might have been different. This is because today I realize that the medical profession is loaded with money. I hope my friends who are in this profession would agree with me.

Medical profession is a noble one because it is all about healing people and saving lives. Sanjay Dutt proved it in the 2003 Bollywood movie Munnabhai MBBS. It was a blockbuster and one cannot forget the message of Dr. Asthana (Boman Irani). It was that personal feelings should not influence the decisions of the Doctor. However, in the scenario of 2022, one observes that specialization has played havoc with this noble profession. I read somewhere that there are dentists who specialize in the upper set of teeth leaving the lower set for others. A time could come when there could be separate opticians for the right eye and the left or the right arm and the left or the right leg and the left. If only I had opted for this profession in my youth, today I might have been rolling in money. All I would require would be a degree, a suitable location to set up my clinic and contacts among other doctors. That way I could refer my patients to others more knowledgeable than me.

He was framed for a crime he did not commit

Here is the twenty fourth unforgettable character in my life …

We have seen in Bollywood movies of how sincere and honest men are victimized by bad elements and punished for a crime he did not commit and I have seen it happen in real life.
The gentleman was a soft spoken man, an officer in our organization. He was jovial by nature and his only vice was drinks but, he remained within his limits and did not be a cause of anxiety for his family. His family consisted of a son and two daughters and the younger of the daughters was more of a tom-boy. At a time when girls were more accustomed to ride on the pillion rather than be in the driver’s seat, she would zoom around on a motor bike dressed in jeans and jacket, her hair flying in the wind.
The elder daughter was a docile creature and the son loved everything rough and tough.
Anyway, this friend of mine was sincere in his work and hardworking and was due for promotion but had many competitors. In those days, getting a promotion involved a bit of luck because the number of aspirants was invariably more than the number that could be accommodated.

But, in his case, what happened was downright evil and whoever dreamt up the plan must have felt sorry at the way things turned out in the end, he must have repented but that cannot wish away the sad events.
In those days, the entry and exit gate for officers was separate and the security never checked their bags. But, on this day, my friend was stopped at the gate and the security guards searched his bag. They discovered some material that belonged to the company- in other words, he was stealing company property.
Normally, the bags of officers are not searched but, in this case, it was. Obviously, it was a plant and the security was informed to check his bag. Out went his promotion and disciplinary action was initiated against him but, it was too much for him to digest. He suffered a heart stroke, was hospitalized and passed away. When I think about him, I wonder how people can stoop so low to victimize others for their own selfish needs.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Times have changed and, today, it is all about deo sprays. Scantily clad models cast meaningful glances at the usually bare chested young man and swoon over him who has sprayed the exotic deo spray on his body.

Another men centric product is the fairness cream – it is touted as a cream that can impart a fair complexion to any man. And, it is promoted by a celebrity of Bollywood. In spite of that stars of the silver screen as well as of the small screen have begun to sport beards – a bit strange.
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Banyans have swayed the movie kingdom as no other product has been able to.
A banyan is a garment that the menfolk wear and the purpose is to absorb the perspiration and keep the shirt clean. Banyans usually come in two types – the ones with sleeve and the sleeveless ones. And then there are the T-shirts – these are banyans with collars and pockets and are worn during the summer months.
The exact point of time when Bollywood celebrities entered on the scene to promote different brands of banyans is not known but, the fact is that several of them have, and are still, seen in ads of banyans. They are well known for their macho images and are Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Deol and Salman Khan.

Obviously, banyan is a paying proposition and has opened up job opportunities for all those associated with the ad world. There has to be catchy phrases and memorable jingles that will be remembered long after the banyans have lost their usable lifespan.
Some banyans have messages emblazoned across the front and rear – these could be ‘for a specific cause’ or to let the world know about ones feelings. The cryptic messages and one liners are real treats. A couple of examples –

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‘You know what’s disturbing about you? You.’

While on the subject of banyans, I remember my school days. We used to wear half shirts and, if the sleeve of the banyan peeped out of the shirt sleeve, we were taunted – ‘your Saturday is bigger than your Sunday’.
I have still not yet been able to figure out this riddle!


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Didi always plays her cards right. She knows just when to strike the red hot iron so that it takes the proper shape. The scrapping of old notes was what she needed – it was a chink in the armor of her opponents – black money continued to remain hidden.
She wanted to drive the wedge in.
‘What do I do now?’ she asked Moo Cool, her closest confidante.
‘Bulldoze,’ he replied.
‘Bulldoze? But bull is related to cattle,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be associated with any form of cattle. It could send out wrong signals to my dedicated vote bank.’
Moo Cool sighed.

‘I can assure you that your vote bank will remain intact,’ he said. ‘What you must do now is to keep hitting the opposition. They are now at a disadvantage because the common man is still crying. They have money but cannot use it. They are wasting hours in front of ATMs or in bank queues and are even dying. These are your weapons.’
At this point, Dee Wreck joined the discussion.
‘I have studied the present situation,’ he said. ‘I think the time is ripe to launch an attack that will cripple the opposition.’
‘And what is that?’ Didi asked.
‘Bowl them over with your googlies.’
‘How?’
‘There are so many movie stars young and old in our ranks, right?’ Dee Wreck asked.
‘Yes.’
‘And - there is one from Bollywood who also owns a cricket club in our city. They can all be roped in for a special movie titled ‘Notebandi – the Note bandits’. It will be a runway hit.’
‘Not a bad idea,’ Moo Cool added. ‘There could be a detective angle with a character like our so popular Boom Cash – the ultimate detective. He could go about hunting for the bandits.’
‘And – it will be in black and white,’ Dee Wreck added. ‘No color.’
‘Why?’ Didi asked.
‘Because its theme will be black. It will have blacks – right from black money, black market, blackout, black cat, black deed, black magic, black flags, blackbird etcetera.’ (to be continued…)


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