Mamta says - West Bengal Shining

Recently, almost in all occasions, Ms. Mamata Banerjee is saying that if Tata’s are withdrawing from Singur, nothing is going to happen in this state, and there are many investors to come. Well, what’s the meaning? The meaning is West Bengal under the Left Front Government, as a state, is doing very well, and people are eager to come and invest and prosper.

I don’t think so. In terms of %, probably the state is doing well, because our base is so small. So, actually Ms. Banerjee is helping the state, and the left front.

No, I am not going to write this blog on Singur, cause there are many, and my individual idea in is line with a few, and against a few. Only comment that I can make is I think all three persons directly involved in Singur, i.e. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Ms. Mamata Banerjee and Mr. Rata Tata are honest to the core. And it is a debacle arising out of something, where three honest persons are involved. What a fun. What a tragedy. What a case study.
I am also not going to write a bigger blog, but I want you people to think.

What Ms. Banerjee thinks is right or not? I repeat once, she thinks the state is doing very well under LF Government.

Mobile telephone making our life faster – my love life

I started using cell phone from 2002, i.e. after complete 6 years of Indian entry. I never felt the need of that, even though I was engaged in many photographic assignments. I also don’t quite recall that I had any problems in contacting people, or people contacting me before I started using cell.

Now the big question, whether my life is faster than it was pre 2002?

I seriously started seeing a girl from 1990, and, I was still in my junior school. So was she, but in a different school. Suppose her name in Annie (Annie’s Song is one of my favourite song). We used to meet once or twice in a month, in planned manner. Till 2007, I was in Jadavpur Uiversity, and our frequency of meeting enhanced. I was really busy in things like photography, music, rock climbing, college fest, and yes studying mechanical engineering. We used to meet in JU, Gariahat Anandamela (a famous meeting point of 90’s, before the mall culture ushered here), Nandan, different Metro stations, and etc etc. Till 2001, I really do not remember any occasion, that we did not meet on time. Annie always used to praise me for my compliance to time, despite my super busy schedule and various kinds of commitments. I remember, in 1997, we were returning from 8B bus stand, walking towards our home, and one gentleman was speaking quite loudly while travelling in a Rickshaw. Both of us screamed, “see…….. that’s a mobile phone”. It was a thing to us. However, we also never felt down or frustrated, that we don’t have one.

The next phase of my life with my second girlfriend was even interesting. The first part of the period was me, my cycle, public transport or office pull car, my work, my music and my photography. And the second phase was the same, minus office car, public transport, and plus mobile, my new Maruti 800 car, and my new Yamaha bike.

My commitment towards keeping time was intact during entire first phase, when I am dependant on persons driving me. However, the next phase was really a transformation. As I told earlier, I had many friends and many many commitments to keep. And I used to plan like that. Tannie, accepted, and loved that busy Swing, and always supported to convert my various dreams into realities. During this period I also left my first job of Alstom after a long 6 years for photography.

I started calling Tannie using my mobile, that, I will be late by 15 minutes today. Well that was the start, and that was the start of using a contemporary tool called mobile. Earlier, meeting people for keeping various commitments was planned, but this planning evaporated from my life with the introduction of mobile. I also do not remember any occasion of meeting someone, where I was always on time. The time allocated for Tannie started reducing.

When we parted, she told me, “Swing, we were much better without our car and mobile. I have lost the person, whom I loved; you are not the very same Swing”. In between she also taught me “how to say no”, probably my biggest and most important learning till date.

Can we ever think not to confirm a planned meet, using our mobile, just before meeting? Can we just even think to visit out near and dear ones without giving a call to them? No, we can’t.
Mobile has changed our value system. Mobile has changed our personal commitment plan. And most important, mobile has made our life slower.

Kolkata and tokyo

Hi, actually a long time after, I am typing in TV, so you can see, read and hate self. This blog is essentially for people from Calcutta, or people stayed in Kolkata for quite some time. Also, last few months, I was travelling, and travelling heavy. I have been to China, Thiland, Srilanka, Dubai, Japan etc etc, and obviously I was there with my camera, tripod, and a few lenses. I will also include a few photographs from these places, which may not be directly linked with the text of this blog.

Internal Branding

This blog may take all of us during our school or college days. Well, let me just not start abruptly. I am asked by our senior management team to drive a new branding policy. No no, I am not going into my organizational affaire, but there is a link. At present we do not have any separate brand other than our name. So my first initial though was to create and propagate an internal branding exercise, which will lead us to external branding.

In my college days, I was a brand, and I feel proud to state that. The brand “swing” was used to describe many things, few of them were good, and few of them were bad. Like me, there were many brands, and there were many students, who were not brands. In JU (Jadavpur University, where I studied), after you pass your final year exam, a book called tech is published. All your classmates and batch mates write about you there, and the thing is kept for years. I have also seen a tech of sixties, when my father was a student, and what was written about him.

In the editorial, I saw my name, and though I do not really remember who wrote that. May be Dipta or Nilendu was behind it. (Dipta is Ditakirti Chowdhury, who’s really a “kirtiman”, presently based in NCR, and responsible for managing a famous Indian company, related to media; Nilendu is a typist, types and sees that in television, but he says what he writes are software, presently based in US of A, and one of the best orator I have seen).

They wrote that after 1997, Swing is no more going to come with his brakeless cycle to the main hostel during the semester to know the syllabus! After 10 years of professional life, we are still very much engaged with our University. What makes us so, various incidents, education, friends, all together, what ???? Do we know, do we want to know?

Let’s get back to the topic, branding and engagement. What do you think? Why we are still so much associated with our schools....

This post is not complete, and will continue..

Human beings readily accept traditions without seeking the reasons behind them. Since ancient days the semitic people have been observing the practice of circumcision. Moses and Mohammed accepted this system which today has become tradition. The ancient Austrics used to worship the Sun. Their purpose was to please the Sun God and be blessed with heavy rainfall and bumper harvests. In the social system of the Austrics, women had a predominant role. Thus, in the system of worship and other religious ceremonies, the priest had no significant role. Even the Sun God was looked upon as a female deity and the Moon was a male God. The Sun God was addressed as 'mother' and the worship done in her honour was called `Chat Puja'. Even today in Magadh Chat Puja is held twice a year during the harvest time. The sentiment of Chat Puja was so deeply rooted in Magadh that their system of worship is in vogue even today even after such tremendous Aryan, Buddhist and Moslem influence. Of course, in the external rituals of worship some changes have taken place, but the system of worship has not yet become extinct. Even the Moslems participate in the Chat Puja. In some areas they themselves organise the ritual and in other places they get the puja performed through the Hindus. This Chat Puja has now become a tradition. There was a time in Bengal when the Moslems used to worship Satyana'ra'yana or the Ola'ica'nd.

We are all lazy people, and we all know it. Today I have decided to load three photographs; I took in last September in Calcutta. I was carrying a Mamiya 67, and I knew I could take only 12 photographs.

I was also carrying a digital one, and most of the time I was using that only. After developing the film, I discovered that how lazy I am. There is a distinct difference between digital and old school black and white. (my digital camera is not bad either). See and comment

old man and his cycle

This was taken during 2006 Durga Puja in north Calcutta. I was moving from Sovabazar Rajbati to College Street. I saw this house, 190 years old, a man, may be 80 years old and his cycle, which is (don't know) years old. The man can't here, and so can't speak. Can see, so can cycle. His life is Cycle, and Cycle. I was with him for quite some time. Learnt a lot of things about that "gali". He was writing all these for me. i was carrying a Mamiya 6 X 7 and a Manfrotto Tripod.... and I was feeling light after the discussion...
The brand of the Cycle is 'HUMBER'

Smile in Ganga

Lion and Leg

Kumortuli and Kolkata Pujo

Kumortuli, where kumors play with clay and make idols. We are hearing for the last 10 years that the place will get shifted, this time we heard it's true for sure. I don't know. It was taken on 26th August 06. I am getting a salute from the kid, let me salute all the kumors. Join me..

Bhagmundi – surfacing ignorance

I remember, when I was a kid, still in morning school, there was a program in Salt Lake stadium at Calcutta, called hope 86. One of the main people behind that show was Subhas Chakraborty, who was a minister then. (For those, who does not know SC – he is a minister in the left front government, an important member for several decades)

The then Chief Minister, Mr. Jyoti Basu and other CPM politburo members, and a host of pseudo intellectuals of Calcutta termed the entire show as “Apasanskriti”, and that too before the show itself. The visioning capability of the entire group without the help of time machine was too extreme, no doubt, though it is not reflected from the present condition of state.

However, let’s get back to the main story, - to counter the allegation, Subhash Chakraborty said “sabaner biggapone amar mukh thakle sei saban bikri hobe?? na Rekhar mukh thakle?”. Well that attracted me like nothing.

When I was growing, (still I am), I got slightly disillusioned by a few of his remarks, as he openly said to the reporters and journalists, that “apnara shob ardhho sikkhitoder dol”.

Well, today, I have no doubt to say, that he was right, and he is right, he was contemporary, and he is too. I am referring to the present case of Bhagmundi in Purulia in West Bengal. Five students, three boys and two girls went for rock climbing and trekking, and due to flash flood, three of them died. Our own Calcutta media decided to ‘discover’ the ‘actual reason’, and they only surfaced two things for themselves, how dirty they are, and how ignorant they are. Ignorance is best tolerated when it is not argued upon. These bunch of journalists are truly ‘ardhosikkhito’.

The role of the fourth estate, i.e. the role of press is so very important for the development of a nation, and here, in our own country, own state, where people are termed “intellectual”, trying to inject wrong steam to stimulate dirty minds.

Sex sells, and it sells more in print form, when actually the takers are unable to perform the actual art. I request all my readers to tell the takers of journo’s product on Bhagmundi, that they are all non-performers.

New kid in the Blog

My "Thakuma" decided the names of her two grandsons, my cousin's was Radhakrishna, and mine is Madan Mohan. My "Jathaima" changed Radhakrishna to Subir stating that must have some similarities with father's name, which was Sudhir. My parents decided to stick to Madan Mohan. (In fact my father had a very little role to play there).

From the age of 5, I was too fond of the game cricket and also Dolna or Jhula, and from the combination, the name SWING evolved.

Most of my friends call me Swing, and with that Madan Mohan Chakraborty is so very contrasting. I am a new kid in the blog, and this is my first attempt. How is it?