BLOG BY A COMMON INDIAN

When the announcement for Shri Mithun Chakraborty’s news of being nominated for Dadasaheb  Phalke Award for his iconic contribution to Indian Cinema made public, being a Bengali and an ardent fan of the legendary actor, my first reaction was that no one could have been a better flag bearer as a human being to bring back golden days of Bengali Cinema. As announced by I&B Broadcasting Ministry of India on 30 th September 2024, the award was scheduled to be presented on 70 th National Film Awards Ceremony on 8 th October 2024. In middle and lower middle class Bengali community, the word ‘DADA’ , means big brother is uttered with great respect. Mithunda is a person, who earned this respect across the strata of the society and age barrier by his sheer integrity, hard work and humbleness. Today, Mithunda, is not only a film actor, anchor etc, but we look upto him as a brand for every facet of life beyond barrier of merely film acting only. Already, he has earned his respect pan ...

It seems that using quotes from yesteryears eminent literary and poets, and use it in distorted way have become a fashion these days in West Bengal. From Rabindranath to Jibanananda, quotes are being indiscriminately used modifying their original version, partly or fully and incorporating new phrasing to the will of the presenter, be it for the advertisement for renowned real estate company or by individuals. It is, thereby, more often than not, brings about meanings which have no distant connection of inner meaning with its original version.     We are living in an era, where reading of books & periodicals in an old fashioned way has become almost outdated and it has become and becoming more and more through Smartphone etc.   Old style local libraries have become oblivious. I doubt, people, who are unaware of originality of those prose and poems might consider these distorted versions as the original one, since the submitter of these versions merely acknowledge t...

 I am not a historian. Neither is a literary nor an intellect. What I feel as a common man, I tend to pen down and keep a log of things as I see from my point of view. I see it as a scribble of my thoughts on paper.   2020 started like any normal year previous to this but who knew things will take such swing in mid March. Corona virus aka COVID-19 and its spreading wave shook the Globe. Imposition of lock-down changed the whole scenario in India. Aimed to protect our country from spreading of Covid attack, this lock-down turned the table on its head.     How, the lock-down impacted life of commons is truly unthinkable. Whether corona got restricted or not is highly debatable, but one thing is for sure, improvidence in implementing lock-down cost more lives than corona did. In a country like India, where economic imbalance is strikingly palpable, imposing lock-down brought about curse on thousands and Lakhs of Indians, mostly daily wagers, or small time workers lo...

Eventually, the bad blood is spilling out. History taught us the grave consequences of this demon in past. It is apparent that we have not learnt enough to refrain from indulging into the same mistake what witnessed bloodshed post partition. The demon of communal riot, time and again, tried to unleash itself in different parts and it is our heritage, culture and pluralistic lineage inculcated by our ancestors which kept it in check. The fact that, we Indians take pride being the largest democracy in the world, largely contributed by practise of pluralistic coexistence and careful yet prudent check on this demon for the last 72 long years.      Sporadic eruption of communal disturbance tried to spread its fangs in different pockets of the country over the period of time, but could not prevail largely due to mass conscience along with administrative measures. All these years, from the dawn of independence, there are individuals, political and religious groups co...

Hit by protest against implementation of Citizens Amendment Bill (Citizens Amendment Act, now), West Bengal is writhing. Daily life has become immobile and the role of states’ administrative machineries has become questionable. Be it Rail & Road blockade, brainless destruction of public property or setting fire to trains & busses,    all sorts of vandalism are being showcased in different pockets of the state in the name of protest and instead of taking stern actions against those, state administration watching over as mere spectators is bound to raise eyebrows. If you interpret, after reading up to this point that I’m advocating in favour of this Act and thus voicing against protesters, it will be half truth. Problem with public pandemonium is that very easily sentiments take over from logic. Unfortunately, political intolerance in our country, across all party lines has become such that criticism is interpreted as opposition. CAA itself is deplorable since it direct...

Civilization, undoubtedly brought about lots of meaningful changes for mankind, but also begot one demon as its flip-side which is called ‘MARKETING’. No matter how we glorify this term or activities related to it, the fact remains that it is nothing but the art of hoodwinking of the highest level. A ‘product’, ‘brand’ or ‘image’ can be built or ruined upon marketing and successful execution of the same can deceive even the most pragmatic person on earth.         Successful marketing can promote almost anything and everything irrespective of their quality and efficacy.   Umpteen numbers of examples can be cited where marketing promotion helped outdoing quality with propaganda, packaging and presentation. Might sound cliché but given a choice, most people prefers aerated drinks over coconut water. Similarly junk food preferred over homemade one. It is shear marketing, which beguiles people, especially in our part of the world to choose c...