Dreamland Express

Life, breathing…

2009-02-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

Travels are not always to cherish the natural beauties. Sometime it is about the people and the socio-economic structure of that place, about its history and the culture. And when you came in contact with some local people, you get even more clear idea about the place. I am talking about our recent short trip to Garpanchkot in Purulia, mostly known as underdeveloped, unprivileged district of West Bengal, a troubled place nowadays for frequent terrorist activities.

“This is now a common incident to us, basically they don’t disturb our lives. But we must say every time a disturbance happened people triggered to them where the reality is something else.” - said Basudeb Mahato, assistant cook in local tourist lodge and who lives in nearby Barhaichatal village. We don't want to get into the controversial reality but we found some other reality in our short stint there.

The scenario here is changing. You can see a much-developed portion of Purulia here. The well-made roads connecting Purulia and Asansol, electric supply to interior villages from nearby Panchet Dam. On our way we have seen nearly 10-12 primary school run by govt. in every gram panchayet.

Take the incident of Garh, where we met Bishu, a 10 years old boy from nearby village guided us to this ruined palace of King Panchkot. “Come, See, this is the place where queens were compelled to suicide.” I asked – why? He replied confidently “because of the bargi attack.” (There is enough evidence in history that dacoits from Maharashtra came to this remote part of West Bengal during the 1760.) I am quiet sure many of the boys of his age in Kolkata don’t know about Victoria memorial, Town hall, what this boy knows about his place. He studied in class 5 of Nituria chakra school. His father is a labour in Moynadih Steel factory and he wants Bishu should continue his study. Not only Bishu, we saw fare numbers of students are cycling back to home from recently started Madhyamik examination center near Boronti.

Accidentally we need to visit local block hospital in Harmandi where 7 doctors, 12 nurses and 15 other staffs are doing their job. Though the hospital environment is not so clean but local women and children are getting regular care and assistance from them. We spoke to Miss Kabita Biswas, a freshers from SSKM posted in this remote place, staying alone, far from her home at North Kolkata for a noble cause. Aha, Impressive picture everywhere.

As I have said, sometimes you can get even more satisfaction when you experience life in lap of nature, you sense its breathing in air. Once upon a time this region is known as “maan-bhum”(land of pride) and certainly you fill the pride of it and your heart may fill with joy like the colors of Palash in this spring.

Fear Factor

2009-01-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

Shhhhh..... somebody is there
behind the curtain, opposite the wall,
into the darkness...
death can come this way-
do not speak louder,
time to keep mum, time to wait
until everything is stopped.

Boooom.... another one!
how many lives this time, how many lost?
how many breaking news....
how long is the night?
bloods are flowing everywhere
beware... don't cross the line,
try to keep safe distance.

Whoooosh.... bombing plane!!!
soon they will discharge shells into
the lively city beneath
to stop all the sounds.
it's red alert... here and there,
keep your heads down,
hide below the covers,
time to pray for your loved ones,
time to pray almighty god.

but don't ever dare to speak out,
shut your mouth,
keep your heads down,
safe within your limits and
live like rats, rest of your life...

Are we missing something?

2007-04-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

These days we’re having frequent disgusting load shedding day & nights. The summer is really hot in Kolkata and if you’ve power cuts you’ll feel like living in a furnace. Nothing to do, just go on sweating and wait for the power to come.

That day I’ve found an old friend – my transistor radio. I just turned it on and the miracle happened. I didn’t know which center (or FM station) it was but the melodies splash in my 10/12 small room. The golden voices of the maestros like Mukesh, Rafi, Kishore, Shyamal Mitra, Lata… the immortal numbers…. Ek din bik jayega, Suhana safar, Roz roz ankhon tale, Dil kya kare…. Aro dure, Aha oi anka banka path, Ei eto alo, eto akash…. was roaming around the room.

Radios are becoming popular again for new FM stations but I’m not talking about the experience you may have with your new advanced mobile set or the car stereo.
It was not only the songs… the almost dark room with a small candle, the horn of rickshaw in nearby lane…. a gentle breeze from somewhere passed through my window. It’s different feeling altogether. Believe me or not I forgot the hot, steamy weather ….it made me feel nostalgic. It reminds of those muffasal days where power cuts and bibidha-bharati used to have strong impact on our lives.

That evening knocked me of something …something that has became vague in memories, the pale, yellow pages from the chilhood….

we’re missing something….

Right or Wrong?

2006-12-29T23:23:00.001-08:00

Mr. A: We must follow the line of mass industrialization…. For that purpose we need to acquire lands…

Mr. B: Stop Nonsense! How can do justice to all those poor farmers mostly depended on the agriculture??

Mr. A: See… If you want to develop the economy industrialization is must

Mr. B: But not for the cause of thousands people fate…

Mr. A: Civilization cannot march back…. So it is obvious choice… and many people will get the job there… their life become more stable

Mr. B: Farmers?? Huh… Why would mfg co. take them??

Mr. A: Company will train them… the other dependant industries will also flourish…that means more jobs…

Mr. B: I cannot accept the fact of building industry in a fertile land… and some primary cereals and vegetables are coming out every year from there

Mr. A: The farmers get compensation for that… and they are getting the best package out there.

Mr. B: All bullshit!! That’s one time compensation can’t compare with what they will earn from the land time after time… and what about other family members who used to do only farming??

Mr. A: The industry will earn 100 times more from a one-acre land compare to farming

Mr. B: That will not serve poor people… it is only for the cream of the society and the capitalist owner.

Mr. A: Capital is flowing all over the world… we need to grab it for our own purpose… and it will definitely by and large serve the poor people also

Mr. B: Bah… then some day one MNC may come and say “we think Maidan is the best place to set up our industry”… and should we grab this for our economic dev??

Mr. A: Now you are talking like a stupid… definitely not… in the midst of a city how come it possible?? Pollution will occur

Mr. B: Hmmm… come to the point… ecology, pollution… How can you discard these facts?? The reality is that you can even sell the maidan for money…. People life’s become commodity now

Mr. A: Stop talking like an old haggard… these are all bogus thoughts... and to prevent pollution you need to plan it properly... if you keep talking about problem rather thinking the alternate way out you will never start a process

Mr. B: Even when I know all these processes are for the betterment of a specific class? Anyway.. Why don’t you choose other infertile lands??

Mr. A: See … Industry needs some favorable situations … I mean transportation, availability of water, power supply access and other dependent industry nearby…

Mr. B: but at the same time this is a fertile land also…

Mr. A: Oh…not again… you know people are getting paid for that… cost of the land for..

the debate must go on….

Backward march !!

2006-09-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

Breaking News
The Arabian Sea water became sweet…

Picture Perfect
A mother pours the holy water into mouth of her 9 months old child.

Memory Rewind
Lord Ganesha having milk from his pilgrims.

Reaction
Alas Selucas, what a strange country this is!!

When gin cloning, space venture & many other scientific developments are happening throughout the world….
on the flip side of the card our country is still struggling into the darkness of superstitions, prejudices and religious believes.

Last word
It often reminds me the regular & common command from Kolkata bus conductor – “Pichon dike egiye cholun”(move towards back).

Friend indeed…

2006-09-10T03:34:00.000-07:00

[‘Bandhu’ is a script adopted from Satyajit Ray’s short story ‘Bankubabur Bandhu’ and the production got immense appreciation from audience.]

Bankubabu is very much known to us. You can easily come across the people like him around us – coward, weak and less confident fellow and some people are making fun out of him.

People like Bankubehari become self-centric, unsocial and psychic patient by humiliated publicly, repeatedly. This public embarrassment is of various types – physical abuse, mental torture or may be by the name of religion/caste.

Do we ever think what happen if these people come out from their all stiffness and dumbness and revolt against those bunch of jokers.

In this science fiction a symbolic extraterrestrial character ‘Ang’ appears to rejuvenate Banku like a true friend but the real life Bankus and Haripadas are likely to be upraised any day against all embarrassment, so don’t make joke to someone’s weakness rather stand besides him, be a friend…. A good friend.

Cross-connection

2006-09-10T03:32:00.000-07:00

Nijhumpur

3:30 pm

….. a calm and sobre pond near the window…

a dahook is whistling around some bushes….

The mango tree branches bend over the water…

Ohh… look at this monitor lizard… moving slowly towards pond

gentle breeze passes away…

a baul song is coming from somewhere …

Saltlake, Sector 5

3:30 pm

a small window pops up –‘server error’

bullshit #@*$ -------- the program needs to write again

the delivery is scheduled on tomorrow

maybe have to stay back overnight

Uff…. that Dracula like project manager is coming again

AC is in full swing… but the drops of sweat are on face

Where have all the flowers gone?

2006-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

Some days before on my way back to home from office I experienced something that shattered me… It was almost dark, nobody around that place… A saraswati idol without dress and the head upon it standing in the roadside bushes in bare negligence. The sculpture of the nude goddess, the lights and shadows, the junglee shrubbery around it.. It was simply breathtaking. A surrealistic visual grasped me. Thousands of words can be written, plenty of snaps can be taken.. but I did nothing… I just wanted to feel that moment itself.

People may raise their eyebrows… fundamentalists can start debating on the issue (like another MF Hussein story) but I am not going into that rather not even bother what they will think.

What amazed me that I used to travel office through this road only but I never noticed it and local people reported that it was lying there since saraswati puja. That day I realized we have lost something...our vision.. We used to be more driven by the brain than heart. We are so much busy in managing professional and personal life, scheming our EMIs, engaging mind in material output that we don’t get time to look at the world around us.
We prefer to cherish natural beauties in the idiot box rather experience it live. And for this we don’t have to go to Kashmir or Digha. We can feel the life right here. Remember Tagore’s immortal lines?
"Dekhite giyachi parbatmala, dekhite giyachi sindhu
Dekha hoy nai chakhkhu melia, duar hoite dui paa felia
Ekti dhaner shisher upar ekti shishir bindu"

Just think of these questions... When was the last time you have seen the green paddy field from the local train window? Have you visited the regional fair last year? Have you noticed the drenched crow on the fallow antenna? Have you ever heard the rhythm of the rain?

Try to get as much as possible from the world around us, explore the artist within you or else flowers will disappear in the concrete jungle one day.

Be a rebel !!!

2006-02-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

One of my friend Somen wrote a blog titled “Where is your Basanti”…. It was on a recent Amir Khan starter movie “Rang de Basanti”… I could not be able to post the whole reply because it's crossed the word limit.... so I decided to start a blog to share my views.

After having several discussions with my friends and colleagues I found it all bogus to spend times in debating and lecturing about our deshbhakti. You need to be in the battlefield to experience the truth… you need to know the harsh reality…. on the roads, in our remote villages and in every walks of life. Suddenly a movie hits the theater and youth start burning with revolutionary thoughts… where are they when graham stains was burning, when Mahesh-sarita was brutally murdered, when Gujrat incident happened. I myself saw two young guys were charged by the movie and next day they were going to have fun and dance in vineet-debojit show in a city mall…. It proves we all are nothing but hypocrites.

Although I think cultural revolution can only change the mind of people, aware them and educate them to differentiate what is good and evil… and what I also started 3 yrs back by starting a theater group in my small village town… I don’t know if I am able to change the viewers perspective but surely I can attract some youth and their views as they are regularly spending time in good cause rather than just hanging around.

And last of all about the film… I do not agree with the director’s point of view to sacrifice life in a sudden emotion… exactly what bhagat and other did long time back… when the nation need his leadership badly. DJ,Suki, Aslam, pandey can think some methodical and organized action to change the society (…ofcourse not by killing people).
But I must appreciate rakyesh mehra for what he had showed in the middle of romantic bollywood saga… a subject with a bit uncommon opinion.

Last but not the least ……to answer your question Somen… basanti is everywhere…. You just need a eye to sense that, a heart to feel that… in your desired way.

When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream