2020

We know that as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the 31st of December, we step on a brand new year — with a bang and a lot of hope. But, strangely, we never stop to ask why do we celebrate this particular date and time? Why not, say, the first of March or the 25th of March or even on the 25th of December? This is, incidentally, not idle prattle, for all these dates have had the historic honour of actually being observed as ‘New Year’s Day’. Yes. So let’s get into the story of how we went past all these dates to arrive at the first of January.

সৌমিত্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়ের দুঃখজনক মৃত্যুর পর ওঁকে নিয়ে প্রচুর লেখা বেরিয়েছে, আরও নিশ্চয় বেরোবে। এই মাপের একজন অভিনেতা, আবৃত্তিকার বা সম্পূর্ণ বাচিক শিল্পী পাওয়া সত্যিই বিরল। আর তার সাথে সাথে তিনি যে কবি, নাট্যকার ও প্রকাশকও ছিলেন তা সাধারণ লোক বোধ হয় খুব বেশি জানেন না। এত জনপ্রিয় হওয়া সত্ত্বেও তিনি সারা জীবন একেবারে সাধারণ মধ্যবিত্ত বাঙাlলিই থেকে গেলেন। ছিলেন এক স্পষ্ট সহজ স্বচ্ছ মানুষ। আর্থিক উচ্চাকাঙ্ক্ষা বা পদের লোভ ছিল না বলেই তাঁকে কেউ বাগে আনতে পারেনি। তিনি তাঁর রাজনৈতিক আদর্শ ও স্বাধীনতা সম্পুর্ন না হলেও যথেষ্ট বজায় রাখতে সক্ষম হয়েছিলেন। সংস্কৃতির জগতে এত লোককে দেখেছি তাঁদের নীতি ও বিশ্বাসকে বেচে দিতে, যে সত্যি সত্যি ঘৃণা লাগে। এই রাজ্যে ২০১১তে যেই মুহূর্তে বামেদের ৩৪ বছর শাসনের সমাপ্তি হল দেখা গিয়েছিল এই রঙবদল। খুবই দৃষ্টিকটু আর অনেক খানি নির্লজ্জ ভাবে হয়েছিল।

Irvin and Sunquist have mentioned in their very well-researched book, History of the World Christian Movementthat “prior to the year 300 AD there had been no consensus among Christians concerning the date on which to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Some argued for a spring date, but others suggested December 25...the day celebrated in honour of the ‘Invincible Sun’. Most Christians came to accept December 25, as the birthday of Jesus, integrating thereby elements of the solar monotheism of Solstice and Roman festival of Saturnalia with Christianity”.

When the suave Arun Jaitley introduced his electoral bonds scheme in 2017, few could understand then that it was a very smart sleight of hand operation that legitimised funding of political parties even by suspiciously anonymous donors. By April 2019, the ruling party had bagged 95% of these very opaque funds, but we may never know what quid pro quos were given to the benefactors.

To appreciate a meteoric writer like Michael Madhusudan Dutt and estimate his contribution to Indian literature and culture, we need to first take him from the confines of Bengal, where he is stuck, quite unwittingly. In his home ‘province’, he is remembered forever for introducing lasting innovations that enriched a language that was struggling to move out of its archaic mould.

In the 1880s, John Robert Seeley pompously announced that “India is... only a geographical expression and does not make the territory of a nation” while John Strachey declared with equal contempt that “there never was an India… no Indian nation, no people of India”. Like other British imperialist commentators, they were both obviously underestimating the inner strength of a civilisation that had arisen over millennia of coexistence, compromise and consensus.

Eyes popped open when the Chief Justice of India (CJI) pulled up the government twice, on October 8 and November 17, for its faulty affidavits in the Tablighi Jamaat case. The court was visibly annoyed that the government was not responding clearly about its steps to control communally provocative media. Television viewers saw how viciously the Tablighi’s congregation in Nizamuddin in March was held responsible for spreading the coronavirus everywhere.

I never imagined that I would be writing an obituary for someone so full of life as Soumitra Chatterjee. Those who were lucky enough to know him at reasonably close quarters, which is quite a large number, it would really take a long time to accept that he is no more. Rarely has one come across an all-round cultural personality with absolutely no airs. He was in life as he appeared (and will always appear) in his films.

If we are to select one festival that every Hindu in every corner of India celebrates in some form or the other, we would invariably mention ‘Diwali’. It epitomises the operational plurality of Hinduism that has thrived for millennia without a high command, headquarters or one designated holy book.

As many of us admit, one of the major mistakes committed by a secular India was to assume that religious tolerance and amity would last forever. The secular state’s duty was over by declaring public holidays on the major festivals of all religions, but it never seriously considered explaining to the people what and why these celebrations were observed.

Many have often wondered how ancient Indic religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (Sikhism is not that ‘ancient’) survived and prospered for millennia without a designated holy book like the Bible or the Koran and with no Mecca, Vatican or Jerusalem to guide people. With a little introspection, we come to realise that it is actually this absence of a ‘central command’ and non-uniform format that account for this.

People often wonder why Bengalis worship Durga on the grandest scale possible during Navaratri and why they do not observe the mandatory fasts or rituals — instead gorging on non-vegetarian food. And, this propensity is not limited to any class or caste because Brahmans and so-called upper castes lead the way to celebrate with the best of fish and mutton dishes. The other question is why is it that only Bengal’s image of Ma Durga is so completely different from the rest of India?

It is a pity that after managing to control the rates of infection, recovery and mortality from the coronavirus reasonably better than five other comparable metropolises, Calcutta now appears determined to tease its fate during Durga Puja. When the coronavirus appeared in tiny numbers, knee-jerk, unplanned, nationwide lockdowns were clamped down with a lot of drama, with politics and image-building taking precedence. The social media was inundated with hate-filled messages targeting West Bengal’s special incompetence in combating the pandemic, ignoring the fact that most other states were floundering as well.

Enough is enough — says Bollywood and many others who are sick and tired of toxic trial by media and daily abuses hurled on tabloid television. Terms like “dirt”, “filth”, “scum”, “druggies”, “cocaine and LSD drenched” and “the dirtiest industry in the country” have been freely used by some obviously-interested channels in the past few weeks, that went on lynching the reputation of film personalities with just wisps of their ‘evidence’.

Despite truckloads of criticism that are heaped on all governments all over the world, they are still looked upon to restore peace and order. In general, they are expected to be fairer than those who are involved in parochial civil or criminal disputes among citizens. Of course, local-level policemen and other overlords can get really nasty if their interests or their oversized egos are hurt. Many also develop vested interests, with or without gratification, and yet, the system creaks along, everywhere.

The claim that some television channels were caught red-handed bribing households to raise their television rating points (TRP) was met with howls of approval from the rest of the media and an exasperated public and, of course, equally cacophonous protests from those accused of manipulation. Interestingly, almost the entire TV news industry appears to have united as never before against this reported malpractice. In this bedlam, major issues are, however, getting mixed up and while scores are being settled, the unprecedented nationwide interest, alarm and angst should call for some positive course-correction.

সরকারি মতে আজ মহাত্মা গাঁধীর জন্মের সার্ধশতবর্ষের উদ্‌যাপনের সমাপ্তি। এই কোভিড সংক্রমণের মাঝেও বেশ ঘটা করে উৎসব অনুষ্ঠান নিশ্চই হবে, অন্তত টিভির পর্দার জন্য। প্রচুর অর্থের বিনিময়ে যে সব কার্যক্রম ভারত সরকার গত দু’বছর ধরে কার্যকরী করলেন, সেইগুলি কতটুকু সফল হয়েছে আর সাধারণ মানুষকে গান্ধীর ভাবধারার প্রতি আকর্ষিত করেছে, তা বিচার করে কোনো লাভ নেই, শোনার লোকের অভাবে। মূর্তি স্থাপনেরও খুব একটা সুযোগ নেই, কেননা বিগত ৭২ বছরে এমন কোনো শহর বা গঞ্জ বাকি নেই, যেখানে গান্ধীকে নিয়ে ভাস্কর্যের নিদর্শন দেখা যায় না। রাস্তার নামকরণ আমাদের একটা জাতীয় বদ্ধসংস্কার, কিন্তু এ ব্যাপারেও খুব একটা অবকাশ নেই — আমরা তো কত যুগ আগেই বিভিন্ন রাজ্যে প্রধান সড়কের নাম এম জি রোড করে ফেলেছি।

As the 150th birth anniversary celebrations end and the Mahatma returns to his confined habitat of museums, a fact worth noticing is the visible turn — we still cannot call it a turnaround— in the attitude of the Hindu Right to the man they hounded to death.'

Strange as it may sound, there was a wave of disenchantment about Gandhi ji in West Bengal after Independence and it was passed on to us who were born within a few years of freedom. It stemmed, perhaps, from the shoddy treatment that was meted out to Netaji by a group in the Congress that was close to the Mahatma. Many of us, therefore, began with a negative "opening balance" about Gandhi and that is what makes our turnaround more interesting.

Of the three labour Bills passed by Parliament recently, one has a special dispensation for unorganised workers, who have surely been neglected by successive governments. The utter chaos and largely avoidable pain that migrant labourers, inter-state or intra-state, suffered after the sudden announcement of the nationwide lockdown in March this year is still fresh in people’s minds.