Saturday, May 16, 2009


Change & Suicidal Bengali



I checked with dad, “How many seats do you think Mamata would get this time around?”

“They are saying it would be 50-50 this time. 21 seats each for CPM & Mamata”

Indrajit, a CPM sympathiser, said- Max to max 16 for TMC + Congress. While Drupad, a Mamata & kabir Suman die hard fan did not comment- but kept pleading in Orkut for voting for them…

At the end, the bell for the end of CPM has ringed. They are confined only to 9 seats (15 including CPI, FB & RSP). With assembly elections just two years away, knowing the Bengali Sentiment, End of CPM is all but certain. Only one person can save them and that is Mamata, by doing another self injuring blunder.

But how does it stack up for Bengal as a whole? Not good at all according to me.
Firstly- CMP in order to win back people, would not push Industrialization at all for next two years. Secondly- TMC, if voted to power, would not talk about it since this very anti-industry stance would see them home.
Lastly- With all other states pushing rapid industrialization, we would have no takers after 6-7 years. (I am sure Bihar would get the special status soon and most probably start attracting more industries than any other state in eastern India).

I am convinced that Industrialization is the only answer Bengal has to all the problems of unemployment, development and work culture. I have pointed this out in all my previous posts on similar subject. With Industry shying away, we would miss the tide Buddhadev tried to bring in and mess with the state.

But why committing this hara-kiri? The answer lies in N C Chaudhuri’s comment- Bengalis are suicidal. We love to live in the past, want to relish the glory of yester years while keeping a blind eye to the present realities. For long, we have been romanticizing - how others are envy of us and how they want to pull us down. We want to continue that. Even slightest hint of a temporary hardship for a better future, makes us nervous. We don’t mind turning into group of self destructing souls.

The main slogan for TMC in this election was for Change…

Ironically results show what we have pushed away is exactly that… CHANGE… The inner change.

2 comments:

Calcutta said...

আত্মঘাতি বাঙ্গালি indeed. I have a theory that Kalidas was Bangali which you might agree with if you follow this logic : The Bangali nation ( or Jati ) has never played any significant role in India ... not since the time of the Mahabharata right down to the Moghuls. It is only with the advent of the British and their lucky choice of Calcutta that Bangalis got access to Western education, science etc and moved into a position of power in the national thoughtscape. But then who were the most vociferous and active in throwing the British out ? It was the same Bangali -- biting the hand that helped him stand up in his own land.

Since Kalidas' cutting of the branch on which he was sitting is so similar to the antics of the আত্মঘাতি বাঙ্গালি that i can only conclude that Kalidas was born in Bengal.

QED!

non-Bengali said...

I think TMC's win will prove to be good for Bengal. CPM needed a jolt which they got. Now, TMC and CPM will compete in true democratic style (can be messy by nature). More serious problem is when there is a monopoly on power like the one CPM enjoyed.

As for Bengali contribution, let's not forget Netaji and Tagore. of course, things could have been better than they are today but look also at the neighbors - Bihar, Orissa and Bangladesh. I wonder if separation of east Pakistan and socio-political turmoil thereby caused was more important a factor. there are ups and downs and as the saying goes, "it is always darkest before the dawn"