The Bengali’s Durga Puja

Today is Mahalaya. The holy day that starts with taking bath in the Ganges. The day when we rise up at 4 in the morning to hear the Mahalaya in the radio and stare at the television sets at 5am to watch the Mahalaya program, commemorating the coming of Devi Durga to this earth to kill Mahishashur.”Mahishasur Mardini Ma Durga”, as we call it.

The Durga puja occupies a deep sentimental place in the heart of us, the Bengalis. The puja is actually for 4 days from 25th September to 28th September, 2009(Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dashami) as per the Bengali calender this year.But the preparation starts long back. We can say that these 4 days in Bengali’s life is dedicated to Ma(the goddess).

It has got a long tradition. It is an event of great grandeur and celebration, all for Ma. I interpret in this way, whatever we do throughout the year is for Ma and during these 4 days we dedicate everything to her. We also enjoy a lot to only please Ma. Ma is happy only when her children are happy. So we must show Ma that we are happy.

The annual festival has got a long tradition. It is show cased in many of our contemporary cinema as well. There is a bit of illustration that you can find in blockbuster movies like “Devdas”. The celebration of Durga puja in olden days indicated power, prosperity, grandeur and prestige of the zaminders and the rich people who used to celebrate this in a very grand way. Today also it is celebrated in many of the rich families as a tradition. It is a time when everybody return to their homes. In Kolkata and West Bengal,in some of the very old families it is still celebrated with a lot of pomp.

But today it is not confined to that .Today it is also a corporate mega show, some of the puja budgets crossing about Rs.1 Crore to even Rs.5 crores or may be more.The Bengali’s in big positions in the corporate world pitch in to get sponsors for their local puja’s in lakhs.Then there are the political heavyweights who are also involved in some of the major pujas.Then there are pujas in apartments. The most important dimension that the puja adds is the involvement of the masses in such a big way in all places be it Kolkata or at the suburban towns or at the distant villages, celebration is everywhere. Even outside West Bengal and even abroad, the Bengalis celebrate it in a very grand way. The footfall in Kolkata of people visiting from one pandal to another during these days crosses crores, similar figures noted at other places as well.

It is a time when even the poorest of the poor is influenced by the Autumnal wind with the smell of the kashful which welcomes mother goddess. Every ones mind is filled with joy with the news of mother goddess Durga coming to this earth with her four children- Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh.

At the end of those four days, Ma again returns back leaving us with tears in our eyes.

However now it is time of celebration. Ma durga is arriving soon and its time to enjoy.
I wish all my fellow Bengalis throughout the world a very happy durga puja.

Sabaike amar Subho Sharodiar Preeti Suvecha o abhinandan.
Baroder amar pronam.
Pujo Sabar Bhalo katuk.

“DURGA MAIKI JAY”

Amitava Banik
Mahalaya,
The 18th September,2009

INDIA HAS ELECTED

Huuuuuuuuu!
OHHHHHHH.

Elections are over and India has elected very decisively the UPA for the next 5 years with Dr. Manmohan Singh at its helm. It was after a long time that Indian people has given such a clear mandate.

This election had loads of surprise on offer. And for me the greatest surprise had been the humiliating defeats faced by the left in Kerala and West Bengal and particularly West Bengal. Smells of change is in the air in West Bengal after about 3 decades of the red rule.

Change is inevitable in all walks of life. Big dynasties have fallen, great emperors have lost their power and so also the long democratic rule of the Communist in West Bengal may end.

I am pro-change as change brings in growth and development. Change removes complecancy. It brings in competition. It enables you to challenge yourself.

But what I am most worried about is that whether change is really for the better!!
I am really concerned about the arrogance of power. When people votes out someone they do it with a lot of hope. We should not play with the aspirations of the people.

If somehow Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress comes to power in West Bengal in 2011 along with Congress, it will be a great manifestation of the hope and feeling ushered by the people of West Bengal. She has to take care of that along with her team and that will be a mammoth task. Congress rule in West Bengal earlier was also not a very good one and people know that. So people will be apprehensive at the same time along with being optimistic. Another thing I will expect from Mamatadi is that when there is any failure on the part of her govt, she should not give an excuse by comparing it with what the predecessor or left govt has done previously. This sort of attacks and counter attacks has not done any good for the country.

Now about the Central mandate. Well here also people have voted with a lot of hope. Economy worldwide has created ripples. People in India have tried to avoid further misery by bringing in an unstable govt. They also bestowed great hope on the leadership of the UPA especially Dr.Manmohan Singh. Also Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s sober politics has paid off. But here also I am concerned about complacency, arrogance, abuse of power. Such an overwhelming majority is something unseen in India in the recent past. The new government should make best use of this mandate by pushing in reforms and development in a large way leading to growth, wellness and prosperity of nation and its masses. There should be absolutely no Dadagiri and corruption. Safety of women and downtrodden should be a high priority.

Along with fiscal and monetary reforms, government should pay utmost importance to the fundamentals of the economy and society-Primary education, Health and hygiene, Drinking water, sanitation, food and nutrition, roads and transport, etc should be of prime concern and the government has to answer these concerns with utmost care. When the fundamentals are strong, the improvements on it will be easy and will reach the masses more easily. Public distribution system has to be strengthened and that is only possible by checking on mass corruption, otherwise nothing will reach the poor at the end of the day.

So I along with my fellow Indians look to the next five years of rule as a transformational era in India history. India has to be very powerful. Our competition at this juncture is not with anybody else but with ourselves. Our war is against our poverty, our corruption, our malnutrition, our lack of awareness and education, our unemployment, our bad and divisive politics, our lack of ability to be adventurous, our lack of ability to challenge the status quo and so many other things.

We have to win all these wars and that too decisively.

JAI HIND

Amitava Banik

THE WAY FROM BEARISH TO BULLISH

Hello friends.
Today is the fourth day of the Bengali New Year!!!
A belated “SUVO NABABARSHO” to you all.

As I proceed to wish you all on this auspicious occasion of POILA BAISHAKH(Bengali),Baishakhi(Punjabi) and also Easter, it leads me to compare some stark contrasts that I notice in the cycle of events that has unfolded between the start of the New Year'2009 and this time.
We started this year 2009 with a gloomy Economic scenario and to top it all was the Satyam scam coming into the limelight raising questions on the credibility of our world class corporations and the Software industry in particular of which we are so proud of.

But with the start of the Bengali New Year on 15th April, we find Satyam has been able to find a new owner. Yes Satyam has been acquired by Tech Mahindra. I see it as a great beginning to the end of a crisis which has directly attacked the dominance of the software industry in India.I personally feel that this acquisition will be a win-win one.Tech Mahindra business line though different conform to that of Satyam,the acquisition will give them great scope to diversify their portfolio of software products and services and they may soon be in a much better positition to be among the ones dominating this sector in India.

On the other hand,there are also indications on the revival of the economy as well.The SENSEX and NIFTY both are showing signs of recovery.The SENSEX has shown a continuous upward run in the 10000-11000 points level for about a week now.The fiscal stimulus are also showing results.The FIIs has also started flowing in slowly.

Also, the election is under way,which is certainly going to be a very important and decisive event.The formation of a strong and stable government at the centre can contribute in a big way in tackling the Economy and to implement necessary fiscal reforms which are on the cards for a long time and are very much necessary to take the Economy to the next level of growth.

That’s all for now.
Thanking you all.
Good Bye………..

With best regards,
Amitava Banik

India and Slumdog Millionaire

Today is a very important day (supposedly) as India considers(as the media suggests) it a great achievement as the film made on our very own Mumbai with primarily a Bollywood caste and AR Rahman at his best wins 8 Oscars.

Slumdog millionairre has bagged 8 oscars and there is a lot of hype in the media.But I doubt whether the same film if made by an indian director and producer on the same theme would have attracted so much of world attention.I though not an expert on the fim industry but definitely a viewer of Indian movies feel that there had been many such movies and infact better movies made by Indians and in India.AR RAHMAN has given many musics better than joi ho but those are not recognised.I consider this to be nothing but utter hypocrisy.

Ladies and Gentlemen please remember Satyajit Roy was not awarded for his immortal creations-Pather Pachali or Agantuk (but they were forced to award the genius with the LIFE TIME AWARD) neither was AR Rehman for his music in Lagaan.

So before we start to celebrate this victory at the OSCARS please try to analyse whether it deserves such attention or not.

Thank you very much.

Bye..........

Amitava Banik