What Gautam Buddha Taught...

Let tolerance and openness be our mantras as the country celebrates Buddha Purnima ~


My unwell and frail mother is breaking her disciplined routine of the past few months on the occasion of Buddha Purnima today. It is the full moon day that marks Gautam Buddha's birth anniversary and to ritualistic people like my mother, this is one of the most auspicious full moons. People will perform Satyanarayan Pujas at their homes and workplaces. Many will throng the temples from the early morning. They will have food only after offering the pujas. 

Religious fanatics like my mother search for excuses. They love to fast and follow rituals. And they do this blindly. I wonder how many of them have read about Buddha's philosophies or have tried to adapt their lives to Buddha's teachings! Comprehending Gautam Buddha's philosophies and teachings releases one from all fanaticisms. Buddha takes us to newer heights of enlightenment where rites, rituals and blindnesses have no place whatsoever. I wish all those who are fasting and offering pujas eagerly with flowers and sweets today read and practice at least one teaching of Buddha throughout this day of his birth. I wish we could adopt Gautam Buddha's tolerance and compassion in our lives more fervently than how we are offering pujas today. 

A New Dawn - A New Era

The dawn of May 14, 2011 brought a new era in the state of West Bengal. This morning is the first morning in my 34-year-old life when my state West Bengal is not ruled by the Left Front. The Assembly Election Results declared yesterday (May 13, 2011) did not surprise many. Everybody was expecting a TMC+Congress win over the Left Front. But did any of us foresee such a WHITEWASH? Did the Left foresee such a pathetic DOWNFALL? They could only manage to win a mere 62 seats whereas TMC+Cong spearheaded by Ms Mamata Banerjee bagged as many as 227 seats!! People of places like Bardhaman and JangalMahal, believed to be strong Left loyalists, have voted for TMC+Cong thereby producing results that have surprised and shocked one and all.


The most shocked must have been the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. I do not think he was shocked at his loss. Had he not been anticipating a loss, he would not have restricted all his campaigns inside his own electorate Jadavpur. My friend's in-laws living in Baghajatin (inside Jadavpur) had hinted that the CM is foreseeing a hard combat with the retired IAS Manish Gupta. But did the CM think in his worst nightmares that he would lose to Gupta by a HUGE margin of more than 16000 votes? He has virtually been thrown out!! He did not even wait for the counting to get over. He hurried to visit the Governor and submitted his resignation around 1-10 pm on the 13th. 


Most of the "heavyweight" ministers of the state have encountered similar kinds of losses. Aseem Dashgupta, Nirupam Sen, Ashok Bhattacharya, Kanti Ganguly, Anadi Sahu and last but not the least Gautam Deb who had been the most atrocious in his attitude over the past few months. He lost by a vast margin to Bratyo Basu of whom he had "never heard of" before the nominations. The arrogance has got boomeranged back to Deb's face. Apolitical contestants with no political baggage have walked over political heavyweights. One can easily comprehend that the votes were not cast in favour of Debashree Roy, or Bratyo Basu or Manish Gupta. The votes were cast in favor of Ms Mamata Banerjee. And thanks to the vigilant attitude of the Election Commission votes COULD BE cast in the 2011 West Bengal Assembly Elections. A joyous vegetable vendor at the Gariahat Market told my Dad last evening: This was the first vote in decades that we, especially our women, could cast fearlessly. This was the first vote when women did not get persistent threats like "Do you want to put on your red sarees or do you want to put on only white ones after becoming widows?". This was how elections were won and the Left RULE was retained for decades. My father says, of the last 7 Left Front Governments, only the first 2 were democratically chosen ones. The next five were rigged vigorously. Voters were stopped from reaching the polling booths and multiple votes were cast by party loyalists. People who have been suppressed and threatened like this vented out their anger and protest in the first vote that they were allowed to cast fearlessly. 


The Star Ananda Exit Poll conducted in collaboration with AC-Nielson could not have been more accurate! They predicted 225 TMC+Cong seats which turned out to be 227 in reality whereas the prediction of 60 seats for the Left Front turned out to be 62. It was the only exit poll which showed the CM losing against Manish Gupta. Even optimistic TMC loyalists found this hard to believe. But this happened and the CM experienced a landslide defeat. The only prediction that the exit poll went wrong in was Gautam Deb winning over Bratyo. Or did Star Ananda change the prediction mischievously to inflate Gautam Deb's ego and arrogance before pricking the cruel needle on the balloon? 

Rabindranath Tagore - A Flowing River

"Swardho-Janmoshatobarsho" ~ That is what is being celebrated today. Not only today, it is being celebrated throughout the past year and it will be celebrated all through the present one too. Pnochishe Boishakh or the 25th day of the Bengali month of Baishakh was the day on which Rabindranath Tagore, the God of emotions, was born. Yes, I call him the "God of Emotions", as to me emotions and Tagore are inseparable. The 25th day of Boishakh generally coincides with 9th, 10th or sometimes 8th May.

This year, i.e. in 2011, Tagore's Birthday is today - May 9, Monday. As I mentioned before, tributes, homages and celebrations are going on since the last year. Rituparno Ghosh plans to release his movie "NoukaDubi" based on an intriguing novel (having the same name) written by Tagore. He is also making "Chitrangada" and we are waiting eagerly for the celluloid adaptation of this well-known Tagore dance-drama. Raja Sen made "Laboratory", a movie on a Tagore story, last year. It was released a few months back.
Sometime around July-August 2010, the Bengali entertainment television channel Star Jalsa had started a fresh and appealing tele-serial titled "Gaaner Oparey" which became extremely popular, especially among the younger viewers. Well, that is what it was all about. The serial addressed the never-ending question of whether the younger generation      

A painting by the versatile genius.

"dekha hoy nai chokkhu meliya,
Ghor hote shudhu dui pa feliya
EkTi dhaan-er sheesh'er upor ekTi shishir bindu."

today find Rabindranath appealing. Tagore, as flowing and contemporary as life, has been comprehended with newer connotations by the youth of today and now with the withdrawal of the "copyright" limitations, experiments and ventures are in full throttle.

Young singers like Aniruddha Sasha Ghosal, who have moved from Toronto to Kolkata to learn and sing Rabindrasangeet, have revamped how Rabindrasangeet singers and stage-shows looked till a few years back. I happened to be present in one of his shows last year at the GD Birla Sabhaghar and was enthralled by the interactive quality of his singing. He is fresh, open-minded and can drive the audience crazy with his expressive voice-modulations and body language. Another young singer who surprised me pleasantly is Shaan. Yes, I am talking about the renowned Hindi playback singer who despite being a Bengali admittedly lacks exposure to Bengali music especially Rabindranath's songs. His first Rabindrasangeet album "Khola Hawa" was released in 2010 and his songs touched every listener's heart. How passionately he has sung them with all the right emotions at the right places!! The songs like "tomar Khola Hawa", "Praan Chaay Chokkhu Na chaay" and "Praano Bhoriye trisha Horiye" have become consistent chart-toppers in all the FM radio channels since the album's release in mid-2010. 

2011 - The Year that Levels and Evens?

2011 is turning out to be a good year for people who have been sincere and earnest for long. ~ E.G. , Barrack Obama (eliminating Osama after a decade of continuous chase), Sachin Tendulkar (lifting the CWC 2011 on his 6th WC appearance), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (winning CWC 2011 within 4 yrs of becoming the captain).. .. .. .. the list goes on where I can very well add a few of my friends too .. and last but not the least Sourav Ganguly getting to play IPL 4 in his protege Yuvraj's team :)


Let me add the name that has proved again that 2011 is THE year for the sincere and earnest - Mamata Banerjee (i.e. the TMC +Cong alliance headed by her) emerges victorious in the 2011 Assembly Elections by winning a total of 227 seats! :) She has prevented the formation of the 8th Left front Government and has sworn in as the new Chief Minister of West Bengal. The day she walked in to the Writers' Building as the new CM, we were all reminded of the day when she was beaten and dragged out of there by the police at the orders of the then CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.