Kolkata Kolkata

This videos been doing the rounds on Facebook. Here for posterity. It must be framed on the ad for MP tourism, but it is influence well used. Anyone who calls it a rip off, does not know what they are talking about. Its creative, its well thought, its touching... all thats required for a great ad or video. Way to go producers.

And truly its not just about Kolkata. The Bengal tiger represents Sunderbans, still a great tourist attraction. I wish some more were there. We know about the Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling, the sea of Digha or Mandarmani, the jungles of Sunderban and Dooars, but what about heritage in Murshidabad or Malda, not to mention Kolkata itself, and historical pilgrimage sites of Nabadwip, Dakshineshwar, Tarapith etc. And what exactly is Shantiniketan, a university town, or a heritage site.

I wish the video said more, but it has to portray the most recognizable for everyone, and so it does a good job even on the recall factor.

"Ma Maati Manush" running out of steam?

After threatening to pull out of the Govt after rising petrol prices, and successfully being part of the voices against FDI in retail, one would think Mamata is sticking to her core ideology of being people- friendly. (Though why FDI is not people friendly is not clear to me yet). But there must be a can of worms lurking somewhere when it is politics, innit?

It seems farmers in Bengal are now complaining that the ruling party is no longer receptive to their woes. Point to be noted, Trinamool and Mamata didi's Ma Maati Maanush campaign against the then ruling party is what won them the state and her the chief minister-ship. The Tata factory fiasco in Singur is just one of the instances of the stalling of industrialization that Mamata's party believed in before they came to power. It was an ideology for sure, that cant be denied. The farmer's land is gold. Land acquisition cant be haphazard by any standard. And even those of us who cursed Mamata and her party for taking the jobs away from the state, still believed, maybe, there was a point in what she was doing. That farming land should be protected, that farmers should get their due. And it was time she won to bring that elusive balance between Maati and Maanush, Maanush here meaning the jobs, the industries which would bring in those jobs and perhaps the reversal of brain drain which had happened for decades.

Now latest is that the balance has again toppled. The land given to Infosys in Rajarhat (note here that this land was acquired by the previous govt coming under fire for coercion that time) is in jeopardy. 50 farmers with 20 acres are refusing to part with their land for the Infosys Development Centre. Now Infosys has been shopping for many years for a viable option in WB/ Calcutta. Will this be the last straw and will they take the Tata Nano route? Out of WB and in to the next welcoming state?

Has the Ma Maati Maanush mantra fizzled out? Is Mamata realising you cant keep everyone happy? Or is this another of her wily games, just for the sake of it. When will she, her party and the state, grow up?

Winds of Change 2

Mr Tata sent a congratulatory note and even mentioned in an interview how hardworking Didi is, working past midnight and through weekends. However, the chief minister is going to make public the treaty between the Tata company and the past Government regarding the Singur plant, said to hold a lot of startling revelations. Tata has still been welcomed to build his plant on the available land in Singur having retuned the disputd land to rightful owners. Maati.

The Red bastion, Writers is up for a revamp, from floors to computers. The infrastructure is just not good enough for the new batch of ministers. They might also think of turning "green"er. The Joka- BBD Bagh metro route work has already started... yesterday. She is in talks with the finance ministry, heralding changes in funds allocation for projects. The police force is changing colours, literally, more areas coming under Kolkata Police and changing their uniform from khaki to white. She travels on her black santro, no bullet proof cars for her, and her convoy has 6 cars and 2 bikes as of yesterday, all following at a discreet distance. And she stops at red lights like the common man. Let me repeat that: SHE STOPS AT RED LIGHTS LIKE THE COMMON MAN. Maanush.

Is this the beginning of honesty and sincerity in politics, finally?

Watch this space.

Winds of Change in West Bengal

Didi wins. I am here at the right time. To experience celebrations in green. Crowds on the road laughing, dancing... mikes roaring Ravindra Sangeeth all over the city, blasting eardrums- who needs the sound limit of 60 db prescribed by the Reds?! Traffic gets a new lease of life- autos standing in 3 lanes, taxis parked everywhere, who needs rules when Didi is on board.

As I walked the cobbled route on Red Square, yes, in the land of the communists, the red bastion bid goodbye to the West Bengal throne after decades of uninterrupted rule. Almost on the same day (13th May). There were SMSs hailing a change... finally, excitement, we can look forward to CHANGE.

Yesterday she was sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal. The occassion almost beautiful in its poetic justice. She had been thrown out, dragged out of the very rooms she now would sit in to govern a state she had been trying to supposedly "save". Her slogan, "Ma Maati Maanush" has touched a nerve in every brain.

Not that she was the choice of every one, but people were poised for a change of guard. Goonda politics had taken every person who came in touch with it, to the brink of desperation. Every institution was coloured red. Universities, the Police force, the Traffic system! If you did not have the right contacts at the right places then you would not get into the school service examination pass list. Or the college teching entrance. There were people who does not support anyone, but for the lack of a better alternative, she became the obvious choice.

When Buddhadev Bhattacharjee came into power a decade ago he was speaking the rhetoric of a chief minister who would take the state to new heights of technlogical advancement. We were passsing out of our MBA at that time and working in different cities, and the thought was uniform among us Bengalees in various cities in India and all over the world. Perhaps now we can come back. Perhaps the state would provide the opportunities to work, grow... much like Gujarat had done. And a lot of us did come back. But the dream did not last long. Soon we were looking for a path out, as we could just do this much in the state.

Maybe its time for the next wave of reverse brain drain. Brain regain.

At least the signs seem right. Sabeer Bhatia is her PR Manager. She is talking ethical land acquisition, not land grab. She is also talking industry ("We are not anti-industry").

The time of celebrations is over. Its time to get to work. Make it possible for us to come back again, Didi!