Shocking West Bengal Government’s plea to the centre!

It is quite a shocking news for me. The news of the morning welcomed me with a great jolt. The WB government is all set to ask for a 3 months’ package from the centre to save the state from more ‘saturation’. As if it was not there. However, my point here is why aren’t the state’s probable measures for the future of West Bengal finance being discussed or displayed by the WB government. A state does have the right to ask for financial packages from the centre but there should be some graceful pointers brought forward as well. I do not see any of it presented by either our honourable  state finance minister or our CM!!

WB needs serious help in bailing itself out from the astronomical debt figures. I agree the state plea but what I do not agree with is the nonchalance and the lacunae on the new WB government’s part to come out in the open with visible steps to save the state and add to the treasuries. CM has already shown her enough honest measures of puling in money for the WB state treasury but the state needs an ocean of hope when only drops of it are being added!!

Probably the existing series of shocks weren’t enough. That is the reason why this morning started off on this note.

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ami beedogdho, rashtro beeshe,

byartho, motto.

ami hahakar, maron joge,

nuye achhi, tobu beeshe beeshodhor,

rashtro-neshai heeshebi unmadona…

ami beedogdho, buker pahare jomechhe onek jong…

akta dure aalo dakha jeto, aaj se boddo beshi dure,

buk purechhe, jong dhora paharo,

beedogdho nijeke shamlate na pere,

dure shore gechhi, prem-shomoi theke,

dure gechhi shore, morechhi ghure ghure…

that time of the year…

it’s again that time of the year when we forget all about our resolutions, promises and health regimes! Tonight I will probably tend to do so. We fear our very own selves during this time as in the midst of all the good spirits we forget to remain within ourselves and become a new sub-human!!

today i got late for office while shuffling my old cd rack. these days while i am not getting any younger, memories of a much musical life gone by often hits me and brings back some brilliant flashes of a more cheerful ‘this time of the year’ when in spite of being foolish amidst smoke and spirits, i used to be a gem of a poet. now the time seems to have changed and the heart seems to yearn for a softer Christmas glory and a bigger new year.

i wish all my readers and friends a beautiful Christmas and hopefully a great new year! (sparing all the fears surrounding 2012 resolutions! please for heavens sake!! )

Climate Changes on the run

Everything seems to be changing way too rapidly. Kolkata winter chills are becoming stronger with each day. For the last three days the minimum temperature has dropped abruptly. Today the morning dip was around 11 and the fog was such that several domestic and international flights were delayed.

The climate changes are supremely visible these days with reports of extremely chilly winds and minimum temperatures in planes compared to high minimum temperatures in the hilly areas of West Bengal. This is possibly a new turn in the climate confusion!

I sit here and only dream of a white Christmas in Kolkata!! Well, I guess it will not be a distant reality anymore with the fogs, chills and wild winds sweeping Kolkata off its balance and nature…

Google Zeitgeist Looks Good

Just came across Google Zeitgeist 2011. Had an amazing feeling of “2011 feel”. Google seems to have buckled itself up against the competition of sorts on how to attract users and instantly by millions?! Just an “eye-over” on the images has given a great visual pleasure – it was classy, smooth, apt, extremely to the point and a clear cut statement. 

I was left thinking – ‘Go Google Go’! On my way to finding good things that are being done, developed and searched around the world.

suprises to come

i won’t reveal! well, not that i’m off to become a terrorist or someone like Anna Hazare but something good is what I see coming my way. Apple has already announced the possibility of launching a much cheaper iPhone. i’m sure my surprises will have nothing to do with the usual news about people, places or things. this can also be about the recent scientific finding of higgs-boson particle range weakening. but none of it is seemingly near…

neither can we touch gold, nor can we fast properly (as there is too much eating involved in fasting!) at the moment. so we are sickly left with the economic condition of the world and all the maddening politics of war surrounding us. There is no good news as Libya is being drooled upon by the leading nations of the world.

Whatever be the case every morning we will be getting up to a warm cup of coffee/tea and a handpicked fresh bunch of hot and bloody news! that is what the surprises will be of! let us wait for who knows what – may be a free jam-filled doughnut!!

why amy winehouse of all people??

why does god or whoever up there it is do it over and over again, take away the most talented and much loved people? it is hard to let down the news of amy winehouse’s death all so easily. i of all people have listened and worshipped amy’s voice and albums. they had everything that was needed to make the right kind of music in the times when the meaning of music was getting faded more often than not.

i do not understand why are talents taken away so fast and so easily from us? any winehouse was not just a powerhouse of talent but an exemplary and iconic musician of all times. her strong, powerful and soulfully vibrant voice will always remain alive in our ears and heart. i cant really say how hard it is for me to express all this in words. she was a very close artist to me as i was a religious follower of her life, performances, records, albums and times.

all the maddening news of drug overdose being the cause of her death doing the rounds has made me feel like yell out at all of them who are doing this evil thing of spreading the bad news about this great artist. we cannot comment on a dead person’s possible causes of death until we actually get the real news – the news from her autopsy will be brought out late in the night today. according to initial reports it is believed that she has died of a seizure and that too while taking alcohol and not the alleged drugs.

amy’s talent will ever remain fresh, alive and young in the days to come. such a fine voice full of soul,jazz,rock and pop flavour was never owned by anyone in the past and will possibly be never owned by any other artist in future! we, the followers of amy’s music pray for amy’s soul to rest in peace and may she be born as amy winehouse all very soon for us to get over the shock of missing her!

Chetan Bhagat’s weird antics

I really cannot fathom how a writer comes down to showing such weird antics like Chetan Bhagat. Everytime filmmakers approach him for getting all rights of his novels, he willingly gives that away but refrains from writing out the script or helping in screenplay progress. This time it has been no different with Chetan’s 2 States being chosen by Vishal Bhardwaj and Shah Rukh Khan to make a very big Indian film of international flavour. Chetan has silently opted out when asked to write the script. I hope that this time he does not create much noise like he did during 3 idiots (based on his five point someone) .

Vishal has found a suitable screenplay writer for his film who has worked with Mira Nair. This is said to be a very big project with SRK and Vishal tying up for the first time to present something for the entire globe. My best wishes for Vishal, SRK and of course Chetan for staying silent (at least this time!).

Can’t believe Sourav has been snubbed!

Why does this always happen to the deserving ones? Everywhere there is the same thing doing the rounds - Sourav Ganguly the leading Kolkata Knight Riders man has been snubbed for reasons other than cricket and ability as a true player of the game! I am still in a state of shock. I really cannot take the fact that Sourav has been snubbed by all the franchises. Why has this been such a simple affair?

I can state that I am looking at the matter from a very neutral platform. Sourav was a performer and probably one of the best teammates that we ever saw in the “true spirit” of the game. Ganguly being snubbed by not just KKR but all the franchises, brings to light the blatant presence of politics in the “game” of cricket.

Can anyone tell me what has become and how? If we get our facts clear, Sourav was the most successful cricketer in all the IPLs. Sourav got most number of Man of the Match awards while playing for KKR. Sourav had not let down the KKR team by any means. All the controversies surrounding him were led by the media and the KKR management.

It is not that you have to be somebody’s fan in order to come out with your blog, etc! I was taken aback as to what is wrong in the system that has led to this? Lalit Modi should surely be reconsidered. All the present day controversies related to Franchises’ upperhandedness with players and all the politics surrounding IPL needs to be looked into. The question is surely not just about the 28 players being snubbed but how transparent is the IPL system?

Kolkata Cops gearing up well for the mad Pujo rush

Well well well! Our good old Kolkata seems to be having a gush of alert movements. Kudos to Kolkata Police. The cops here are trying hard (and have come up with good results as well) to bring back an honourable status. THE DURGA PUJO as we all know starts much before Goddess Durga actually comes to earth. The mad shoppers’ rush and the heavy disgusting traffic snarls make life for daily commuters a living hell. But this time we are seeing a sea change in the Kolkata Traffic management.

Besides a keen eye on taxi refusals, road deviations and traffic management Kolkata Cops have also brought out several public awareness journals and campaigns. It is really good to see how the public service (almost forgotten till now) department of Kolkata Police has tried and acted promptly to be with the city and the common people day and night.

I was quite surprised to see civil clothes policemen helping out commuters to take the right roads and the right crossings.  There have been special supplements and teasers spread on regular basis by the Kolkata Police which have dealt with public safety issues.

Durga Pujo is a festival of massive celebrations. Keeping that in mind and several other stray incidents (that are linked with security and public safety) cops have given out telephone numbers of several crime and civil issues departments. The public will now be free to report any untoward incident happening with him/her or within the locality or even anywhere he/she is going during the Pujas.

Often we have abused and foul mouthed the cops for staying inactive or deaf towards situations but with the current positive attitude shown by the cops we give THUMBS UP to our cops. Three Cheers! Let us all welcome Durga Pujo with a safe and sound environment and a very secured feeling that has been aroused by the Kolkata Police.