Bengalis are a politically conscious lot

Bengal is probably the only state in India where politics begins literally from the cradles – at the grassroots level of schools and colleges. Bengalis mature very fast in this field and the training begins early because Kolkata is the only city where school going children have to grow up facing the wrath of political parties and politicians.
Their training begins with bandhs and rallies on any subject under the Sun – the children gradually get used to be sitting it out in the traffic jams as the protesters shout slogans and march on the streets. Obviously, the message goes out clear and loud to the kids that might is right and, if you want something, demand it as a right and take to the streets.

Once the Bengali children move on to the next level of education namely, college, they really get into the thick of things. They have to align themselves to some political party because politicians are firm believers in the logic that the college is the nurturing ground of future leaders. Naturally, the students step into a new world where a general feeling is that the party in power can dictate terms and others have to follow, else face the consequences which could be death.
It was there earlier and is still in vogue – only, earlier it used to be on a selective basis, and today it is free for all.
Believe it or not, one of my nieces passed out from a reputed school and got admission in the prestigious St Xavier’s College but she elected to in City College because Xavier’s was not politically oriented and she wanted to see action first hand!! (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

(Image curtesy ikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Qatar Airways changes its policy of sacking cabin crew for getting pregnant or getting married

Women’s hockey team into 2016 Rio Olympics after 36-years on Dhyan Chand’s birthday

Mumbai’s 9000-tonnes of daily plastic waste a major environment issue


Tila Tequila evicted from Celebrity Big Brother because of her praise of Hitler

‘Phantom’ – a Saif Ali Khan Katrina Kaif starrer with Mumbai 26/11 as backdrop

Cate Blanchett to be honored with BFI Fellowship at London Film Festival


Foolish robbers caught in London - they wore burqas but did not walk like women!!

Horror of free access to firearms – West Virginia 14-year-old takes 27 classmates hostage at gunpoint

Trained jihadists from Iraq and Syria returning to Europe to strike terror


A street food named jhal muri
A tribute to Kishore Kumar, the legend, on his 86th birthday

Indian kitchens must have ‘besan’

Writing crime stories is fun because they have variety

It is but natural for anybody to ask why I chose to write crime stories – that too in Bengali. One reason was an old book that I had found and purchased from an old book stall in College Street – it was a copy of a thesis submitted by a high ranking police officer on crimes in Kolkata. It was full of facts and figures of crimes in Kolkata from the times of the birth of Kolkata. How that particular copy came to be among the old books on College Street is and always remain a huge mystery but I bought it.
Moreover, from my schooldays I have been brought up on stories of William (of Richmal Crompton), Five Find Outers (of Enid Blyton), the Hardy Boys (of Franklin Dixon), Billy Bunter (of Frank Richards) etcetera.
Then, in my college days, I was always an avid reader of crime story and novels. Our library in St Xavier’s College had wonderful stock of books by authors like Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Ellery Queen. And – I had got addicted to books of Earl Stanley Gardner, James Hadley Chase, Ian Fleming, Nick Cater and the likes. The paperback came cheap in the days when $1 was equal to Rs 5 only.
To add to my repertoire were English movies that had themes of crimes – it was the era of James Bond and his clones. The first James Bond movie was Dr No released in 1962.
All these inputs egged me on to put pen to paper and I began to try my hand at writing crime related stories in Bengali. In order to ensure that no one got a whiff of what I was up to, I gave myself a new name, a pseudonym. (to be continued…)

Another interesting blog - Violence and atrocities

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Growing up days – learning German language

In the 1960s, growing up was synonymous with learning a foreign language and the preference was for the German language followed by French. In Kolkata, German was taught by the Max Mueller Bhavan and its setup was located in Ballygunge. The classes were held in the evening and it was convenient to attend after classes in St Xavier’s College.

The French classes were held at Alliance Francoise – this was in Park Street and was nearer to my college but, I opted for German because at least two of my cousins had been to Germany. One of them studied in BHU, Varanasi, and had come in contact with a couple of Germans who had come to India on a student exchange program. They helped my cousin to go to Germany. He had studied Agriculture Engineering but, once in Germany, he had to get a job in a bank to survive. He even married a German girl and lived happily ever after.
Anyway, one of the reasons to learn German was to add to my knowledge and be prepared in case I get a chance to go to Germany. Another attraction was to make new friends and interact with a different set of people. Therefore, words like Fraulien and Frau got added to my vocabulary like danke and bitte.

Unfortunately, I could not finish my course because my tenure in St Xavier’s College was for one year and, after passing out, I went in for studying engineering and my new college was too far away from Max Mueller Bhavan. (to be continued …)

Growing up days – going to college

In those days, it was not too difficult to get entry into a college – since I had studied in St Joseph’s, and had secured good marks, my obvious choice was St Xavier’s College. And – since I was in the science stream, it was bit natural that I select that stream. When I came for admission, I discovered that there were students from other schools also and I also discovered that I had entered a new phase in my life.
Yes, I had broken out of the shackles of school and strict rules and regulations. I had discarded the school uniforms and embraced a new life where I could allow my fancies to take over. I had become independent and it was up to me how I used my new-found freedom.
For a start, the classes were nearly one hour duration and, unlike my school where there were a handful of students, here the class had several times more students. And – they were from all walks of life and different schools. It was a totally new scenario and I had to adapt myself to the new setup.
In school, I had Christian Brothers as my teachers but here the teachers were Jesuit Fathers. They also were equally experienced in handling Indian boys and were sincere in ensuring that the students were taken care of. The attractions of the college were the huge library, common room and the canteen. (to be continued …)