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Showing posts from March, 2008

Special Feature!

Kumartuli—The Workshop Of The God Makers In Kolkata! And Durga Puja!

Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year.  With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...

Loan Wavering!

The most discussed the most debated the most controversial hottest topic at the moment in India is the loan waiver granted by the Union Budget-2008-09 to all small and marginal farmers holding upto 5 acres of land. There are more demands now-that is say maybe more greed- by all political parties. 'Give loan waiver to big farmers too holding land beyond 5 acres'. 'Give it to other communities too like the fishemen folks'. 'Give it to all poor folks'. One smart reporter in a news room had a fertile suggestion. 'Why not demonstrate for a complete loan waiver to all credit card holders!' Right buddy! So many credit card holders are plagued by goons invading their homes to recover the dues.

Never Go For Unsolicited Credit Cards

Beware! You get calls on your mobile all the time offering you credit cards with lots of promise. The freelance agents will tell you it's a lifetime free card and many other features. But these features will be missing in the agreement form of the bank if you decide to take it. When you confront him the agent will confirm again it's free. Problems start sooner than one year. If not backing out on other promises the bank will definitely charge the annual fee after a year. Enraged, you will ask them to cancel the damn thing. But they will go on postponing it and go on harrassing you for payment threatening legal action. I'm still having such a problem with the largest nationalized bank of India, the State Bank of India. So, what to expect from others? It's better not to make such mistakes at all.