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...
Corruption has deep roots in India. To get done almost all of your mundane tasks you need to pay 'speed money' and since it's 'time is money' for you, you don't mind paying. Then, for all your requirements of life like a job, licenses, favors and windfalls you need to make bribes or payoffs which is an increasing function of priority and to be a part of a lobby or a racket. It has become almost a way of life whether you like it or not. For employment you are forced to 'buy' a job which is the prevalent practice in most of the Indian states. When someone buys a job the immediate priority for him or her is to recover the 'spent' money as quickly as possible and one cannot achieve it in the normal course of employment. So, in a way it's like being 'initiated into corruption'. Corruption is a basic function of 'greed'. Once you have enough greed you can embark on a course of making 'money' by hook or by crook. After becomi...