OH!! Calcutta

Yippy….Its now less than 20 days and I will be in Calcutta again, but sadly for a week only. Every time when I plan to go to Calcutta, I have this strange feeling of being there more and more, or in other words, settling down there. I don’t know, but there is something unique in Calcutta, whose spell bounds me every time. Even after being away for the city for 3 years, there is still something which attracts my heart. There is part in me which wants me to be there, again and again.

Calcutta- “The City of Joy”,

--is rightly described by Dominique Lapierre. It’s the city where joy and happiness are among the top priority list of the people. There is no mad rush to amass huge wealth. Calcuttians don’t mind sleeping for a couple of hours in the afternoon after having their favorite Macher jhol and Bhat. People, there, don’t mind even if that two hours nap cost them in their revenues. For Calcuttians its happiness that matters. They are content. They know the art of living and to get maximum of every bit of life.

Calcutta verses Mumbai

-- Being in Mumbai for more than three years and have explored every bit of it, the comparison is obvious. But I don’t want to make this comparison. Mumbai is better in every aspect which can be described in materialistic terms. Mumbai have bigger flyover, wider roads, better infrastructure, Industrial houses, BFS industry and Bollywood. Calcutta is way behind in each of these aspects. But there is an aesthetic appeal. It’s the appeal from the lovely time spent there, life LIVED there. Being away from Calcutta, I miss-

- My loved ones- family and friends.

- My office –PWC and my colleagues there.

            - “Adda”- after the office and on Sundays.

- Amazing food at Azad hind Dabbha, Curry club, Rose, Haveli, Gangaur, Teej,Gautam’s…….

            - Music at Tantra, Sheesha….

            - Hanging out with friends at City Center.

            - Underground metro.

            - Puchkkas (especially the ones at Jorabagan crossing and in front of Jaya Cinema).

            - The yellow black ambassador taxi.

            - 2-3 strikes every month.

            - Holy dip in Ganges on Sundays.

            - Rabindra Sangeet on festivals like Durga Puja.

            - The people of Calcutta.

The amazing nature of calcuttians to accept a stranger as a part of their family and the compassion towards fellow beings, it’s simply awesome.

The list will go on. These are the things which Mumbai can never compensate. I am not cribbing about Mumbai, will never do. It’s just that there is a special place for Calcutta in my heart.

Love you dear; Love you – City of Joy- City with a heart.. mwaaaah!!

Scared to be the next one

It was a usual evening till 6.50 pm. There in the canteen, on the 3^rd floor of our office building, I was having my evening snack and was watching the western sky. Sun was setting as usual. Traffic was slowly increasing on the road below. People were returning to their heavenly abode. Everything was just normal. Suddenly the TV screen flashed the news-

“Mumbai vandalized again”.

----Terror has struck to the city again. Three blasts in a span of 10 minutes.-- Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri bazaar-- 15 died and numerous injured. Once again our intelligence and police have failed. Mumbai will be under high alert for next few days.

The newsflash shook me from inside. Terror again. So many people died without knowing the reason of their death. So many lives were taken for no reason. Those who died were the ordinary mumbaikers. The thought that I could had been one of them, sent chill down my spines.

This is totally unjustified. I felt this act of terror to be highly unjustified on the part of ordinary people. People who were never involved in any such things were killed mercilessly. I felt like people were helpless. I felt like I was helpless.

Though none of the organizations have taken responsibility, this act of terror can be done only by a coward. He who kills people for strengthening his own belief can only be a coward. And the belief is also such which he only believes to be right. Killing for proving a point cannot be justified. But terrorists have different set of thoughts. They think they have done something correct which cannot be justified by any extent of imagination.

Mumbai have been struck again and again. And once in every three years for last two decades. Form 1993 serial blasts till now; there have been 14 acts of terrorism.

http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/database/mumbai_blast.htm

Be it blasts in train or in a bus; terror has struck again and again. Intelligence has failed, security systems have failed, faith of an ordinary man failed.

Faith in Judiciary has also failed after the unending trials of “Kasab” not leading to any conclusion. Something which should have taken months is not ending in years.

But an ordinary mumbaikar has little to do. Seeing these seemingly unstoppable strikes, he has accepted this as a part of life. And have accepted the loss of fellow beings, every few years, as something inevitable.

Media talks a lost about the indomitable sprit of Mumbai. Mumbaikars, forgetting what has happened yesterday, standing up and starting a normal life again. But is it the reality? Does he have any choice? I feel the choices are limited. He takes the same train which was the blast site yesterday. He feels he was lucky last time and was not a victim of the blast. I feel the same—

                                                                 I was lucky last time. But nobody knows when my luck might run out and I may be the next one.