TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE THAT IS THE QUESTION

It was midnight in Canada. A phone rang somewhere in India, more precisely,Kasba, Kolkata. A guy in his mid twenties received the call. "Hello, how are you? I am calling from Canada" said the voice from the other end. The guy who received the call replied "Not now dear! Our would be MLA Satarup Ghosh is visiting my place." The guy from the other end was a bit embarrassed and annoyed. He disconnects the phone and wonders who is this Satarup Ghosh who is creating so much hype back home that his dearest friend is ignoring his ISD call. He searches internet to find a guy who has emerged from college politics (means yet another guy who did not care of studying in college) and wants to make a mark in politics now. His starting balance is Rs 308.50 as declared (let's hope it does not become 308.5 crores after 5 years in the chair). The ignored caller started reading his statements and speeches as published and also started going through the election manifesto (www.myneta.com) and was shocked to see that this guy 25 years of age exuberance of youth have no innovative ideas of how to shape up the future of Bengal. He is simply reciting the excerpts from the party election manifesto.

In the eve of a major change in Bengal when the common people are looking up to the youth what we are served with is the same bunch of mundane marauders who have already been streamlined to the main stream politics. For whom the party code is more important than bringing providing innovative ideas to the utterly disgusting political scenario of India. Whenever you go to vote the options you receive from ruling and opposition are the same. The choice in voting is choose between the evil and the less evil. So why to vote. Why does Barkha Dutt make so much fuss about voting? I mean given the choices we get while voting it is a clear suicide. And Barkha committing suicide is a crime. There is no option of no confidence while voting in India otherwise the working class would have always opted for that.

The conclusion is vote or no vote the situation in Bengal is going to be the same. It's just like watching the game of IPL between KKR and Rajasthan Royals. For last three years you have enjoyed the fruit now it's our turn. The commencement is with slapping, hope the ending is not with whipping.

Joker signs off requesting the common people of Bengal just do not vote for the sake of voting. We need innovative leaders rather than diligent party workers. Anyways happy voting. 

DRAWING ROOM VS BATHROOM

I was always a clumsy person and still am. My room was a filthy place and everyday me and my mom fought Kargil war on the issue of cleaning my room. The situation worsened as I went to college. During my college days I befriended a lot of people and due to my reputation of being a decent student a lot of them came to my place to study. My mother became more concerned. The day my friends were supposed to come I got an idea, I took a huge bed sheet and covered all the loitered books and clothes on my bed, took a broom and pushed the dirt under my bed and showed my mom "Mom,look I have cleaned the room". My Mom replied, calm as cucumber "Son, no matter how much you decorate your Drawing Room if your Bathroom is filthy your house still needs care" and she left. And like just another average boy I got back to work and lit a cigarette (whose but would eventually be thrown on the floor). As life moved on I realized the meaning of what Mom had said at that time. The summary is address the problem and do not try to cover it up. 

Every year the Budget session comes as a new hope for Billions of Indians. Average middle class struggling to meet both ends think they would have some respite from the huge burden of maintaining a family. India is a peculiar country where of a family of ten, nine stay back home waiting for that one man, who has gone to fight the daily battle, to come back home and feed them. It is this man who is the mitochondria of the family cell. His sister blames him for not arranging the dowry for which she could not marry the hunk next door. His mother with a moist eyes ask whether this time he is taking his father to the best doctor in town. His wife refuses him of pleasure as the diwali gift promised did not materialize. And above all his only son tells him stories about a certain Kavish Jagwani in school who when enters Class II D the whole class is full of the fragrance of the costliest perfume in town. Sounds like a melodramatic Hindi Cinema friends? But this is the life of an average middle class Indian. The lower middle class and poor are in conditions worse than stated above. Still each year one billion Indians look forward to the budget. Or, do they? 

Does Yunus chaiwala or Krishnapada, the farmer care about the budget anymore? Does the budget call for their betterment? Has the situation improved? The answer lies in what my Mother had said long ago. The condition is same for all the BRIC countries. The GDP of our country is growing with leaps and bounds but so is the inflation. The reserve bank is busy with it's repo rates as the farmers commit suicides. Above all the mantra is don't think of recuperating in a clean and comfortable nursing home because that would cost you more. Hospitality Industry has already become agony and now FM adds salt to the wound. Thanks Sir!
According to the media there are lot of positives for the agriculture and infrastructure. Let's hope this is true. Sustainable development calls for development all over and not rich becoming richer. Let's hope this time we have decent curtains in the drawing room but not putting the bathroom into stake. Joker signs off saying that our honorable FM has opened the Pandora's Box once again and we have no other choice than to depend on the Hope Fairy and so friends Hope for the Best but still prepare for the worst.

The Naked Emperor

When I was young I heard a story where a naked emperor walked through the road and people could not say at his  face "My Lord You are Naked". For me the condition of the Indian Cricket Team under the leadership of MS Dhoni is just like that. Me as a cricket follower never understood Dhoni's policies as a captain. Till today I believed that the reason behind that is me being a dumb guy. But now as I go through the leading dailies and various articles I find a billion such dumb guys back home. From the auspicious day this  maverick guy (with a long hair back then often compared to Lion's mane) took the baton of the Indian Cricket Team in his hands we have enjoyed victories and the team has reached the epitome of success. But there has always been a problem which just like the Naked Emperor we refused to see. It's that the success of Dhoni's boys were always dependent on conducive conditions. Whenever a daunting task came into their hands they were found wanting. And above all is the defensive tactics of the skipper. It was always his main weapon in the arsenal and became proud of it to such an extent that we have seen our skipper bragging about it on National Television. Though we lost number one spot in test ranking we blamed luck and did not find the flaws in our team. Again our dear emperor is never naked. Winning a game is not about batting. It's about how you perform in all the three departments. In the current day limited overs cricket where you have three powerplays any moment the situation can turn upside down. Yesterday we saw a humdinger between India and England. Believe me England tried their best to lose the game. But Piyush Chawla ensured that doesn't happen. England made a mess  out of this game. All odds were with England and thanks to our captain who always loses a match even before it's over. Unless he was forced to bring fielder's in during Powerplay he would never have done that. The fact is the bowling department needs favourable conditons to perform well which they won't get here. Hence it's all dependent on Sehwag, Yuvraj and Sachin Tendulkar(since 1992, just like Raymonds) to score 400 in every matches such that even if my mum bowls India wins the game.Joker signs off saying that there is still hope of India winning this World Cup as Dhoni is an extremely lucky captain. This match was destined for England to win but 'hamra babuya ka luck bahut tagra hai kaa samjhe!'. So I cheer myself up and will again stay awake the whole night to watch South Africa-India duel. Long way to go in this tournament folks.'De ghuma ke'...

The Coming Back

The word 'Reunion' has a huge significance in my life. Being just another average boy studying Chemical Engineering and looking for a decent job, a beautiful wife and a spacious flat I never thought that the department standing in the corner of Raja S.C.Mullick Road was the only real property I have. It housed me for four precious years of my life, taught me how to take challenges and above all made a man out of me. In 2007 the opportunity arose out of nowhere when four dear friends became associated with the recommencing of 'Reunion' in the Chemical Engineering Department. My friend Saptarshi christened it 'CHEMBridge' to bridge the diaspora of JU Chemical Engineers. And then, we met a man whom during my first meeting I thought was insane as he had planned a Magnum Opus and not a reunion(which I had conceived in my mind). I was apprehensive to count the chickens before they hatch but when I looked into Sir's eyes I found something inexplicable.Something which took an overtly pessimistic guy like me into his confidence. It never occurred to me at that time, that this association was going to be an association for lifetime. Mr.Alok Basu became Sir for us and we became his extended family. 

There is a jinx that all the members of Chembridge 2008 are never together at a single place for any event after Chembridge 2008. Someone definitely misses out. Recently when Saptarshi got married everyone from Prof. Ranjana Chowdhury (the then Treasurer) to Mr. Alok Basu (the Lifetime Secretary) were present. Even the ever busy Nitin Khanna was there. But yours truly played spoilsport there. Sitting in Canada pursuing my dream to join Academia I am missing the most precious event of my life CHEMBridge 2011. I missed my best friend's wedding, my brother Anirbanda got married in my absence and now CHEMBridge. Hope I do something constructive with my life because to pursue my dreams I have sacrificed some really priceless memories of which I could have been a part of. Joker signs off wishing all the best to the  current organizing committee and praying to GOD that the Department of Chemical Engineering Jadavpur University become the best department in the world.

THE BIG EVENT

The Cricket World Cup has always been one of the most important festivals in India. Cricket, which is one of the religion among the several religions in India, has often brought the whole country to stand-still. People on streets biting nails, praying to god, refusing to go home to do the daily household chores would be a common feature in the next one month. As for me, I opened my eyes in the world with my country as the defending champion and my city slowly but steadily shying away from it's once favorite sport Football towards the one where India started gaining global reputation.Thus for me the cricket world cup is a major event where my country starts as one of the favorites rather than Football or Hockey World Cup where  Indian team always   provides us with excuses rather than spirited performances. In the last World Cup I was back home down and out with Bangladesh defeating my team and advancing to the next round. A team which was expected to win the Cup returned home losing their very first game shattered all our dreams as avid cricket lovers. I was explaining this feeling to my fellow researcher Mamun (from Bangladesh) who shared his feeling how happy he was on the same day! Today we met in the lab in the morning and besides all research related discussion he reminded me that the match starts exactly at 1:30 at night and not 2:30 (we generally follow the 12 hour difference convention between India and Canada) which ensured that I won't miss the first few overs. This new feeling of able to see what the opponents feel on a match day happened to me for the first time.  But believe me, it is quite exciting ands quite embarrassing at the same time. Nevertheless hope India wins and as millions back home would say Joker  signs off saying "De Ghuma Ke".