ChinmayC Blog

Yes! We ask why shouldn't the pure Commerce show of the Durga Puja Carnival in Kolkata be canceled in view of the worsening medical crisis? For how long this cruel irony of continuing the worship of the Mother Goddess and continuing to torture/kill the Mothers in human forms going to continue?  Greed, limitless greed of humans! Dear God! This time Goddess Durga came in a cradle which in itself implies ominous times, and further, the tithis from Mahasaptami onward came mixed in such a way that you get three days of worship, technically. Yet, the greedy and selfie-social-media-crazy crowds of 'devotees' were still not satiated, descending on the Puja pandals in uncontrollable hordes for as long as seven days, and to pander to their greed and to have the maximum of business, most of the Puja organizers disregarded the tithi break-up completely and have been celebrating Bijoya Dashami or the Dussehra well into Ekadashi, the eleventh day! They expect the hordes to descend tonigh...

That evening in end-July a Bangla family friend came to our house in Kolkata profusely sweating and drenched in it from head to foot. However he was carrying with him a packet of smoking hot beguni (Brinjal fritters) and Chops (Cutlet fritters). Before he could cool himself enough under the full-speed ceiling fan he commanded us to partake of the items before those cooled off! And yes, we had those gobbled up quick in extraordinary gourmet delight and also supported by hot steaming cups of tea! Well, in our traditional belief that ‘heat neutralizes heat’, particularly when the heat (like May) is oppressively humid (like monsoon)! This dictum is of the utmost importance now, because the supposedly wettest months of the South West Monsoon, June and July, have gone with absolutely no rains in South Bangla and Kolkata city. In fact, the month of July has proved to be the driest July in history in the Eastern and North Eastern regions of the country. And into August now, there’s hardly any...

Prologue: There is some reason; you may call it even frustration, in republishing my old article here. It is for someone who is getting helplessly caught in the crossfire of favors being granted or taken without having the ability to overcome or neutralize it. It applies anywhere the ‘someone’ works to eke out a living; it may even apply to governments. You all know what to expect when there is change of power—it means persons in key posts either get transfers or even the sack and some others filling up those posts. Naturally, the new rulers do not have ‘mutuality’ with the present ones and therefore take in the ones who fit their exchange for favors granted or taken. In an office the powerful chief possesses the strongest exchange and can thus indulge continuously in giving and taking favors (favors meaning any kind of profitable assignments). In a bigger office where there are more powerful post-holders parallel exchanges for favors work. When one chief does a project s/he invites a...

Emperors or Kings of ancient and medieval India used to have their ‘ darbar ’ or ‘courts’ to hear and address the subjects’ problems. These autocratic monarchs had full authority to decide action or punishment on the spot and nobody dared question the verdicts. However, modern Indian democracy is much more different, and Arvind Kejriwal’s brand of ‘common man rule’ is the extreme contrast with everybody having the right to ask, question or contest. Besides, Indian mob behavior is only too predictably well known. In an almost unmanageably overpopulated country plagued by unemployment and inflation the huge crowds at the employment exchanges, freebie events and public transport stations are only to be seen to be believed. And then the ‘me first’ mentality has been a constant witness to innumerable stampedes at religious places, fatal road accidents and huge traffic snarls. Having a Chief Minister within a touching distance you can lucidly imagine how desperately the crowd would behave. ...

Nagpur: The final Report of the Two-member Inquiry Commission appointed in January, 2011 to look into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam was tabled in Maharashtra Legislature by a hesitant Government yesterday. The Report names three ex-Chief Ministers of Maharashtra in same roles, one former CM in the role of revenue minister and two existing cabinet ministers in the roles of urban development ministers for giving political patronage to the Adarsh society in Mumbai. It names about twenty top existing and retired bureaucrats for illegal ownership of flats, nepotism and favouritism, and blatant violation of housing rules. Citing the classic saying that ' a man needs just five and half feet of land finally' the Report terms the Adarsh as a tale of absolute greed and corruption and the most shameful act for a progressive state like Maharashtra. The high drama and suspense leading to tabling the Report started, in fact, from 19th of April, 2013 when the Commission had ...

Nobody could have imagined in his/her wildest of dreams that the premiere and the most trustworthy investigating agency of India would find itself suddenly out of business. It actually happened on Thursday, the 7 th of November, 2013 when the Gauhati (Guwahati) High Court while hearing on a petition held the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ‘unconstitutional’, and not even a ‘police force’. It quashed the April 1, 1963 Resolution constituting CBI under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 and declared all its actions unconstitutional.   The judgment by the division bench, comprising justices I A Ansari and Indira Shah, came on a writ petition filed by Navendra Kumar challenging an order by a single judge of the high court in 2007 on the resolution through which CBI was set up. The whole country was plunged into a deep crisis. For obvious reasons. CBI has been investigating innumerable cases relating to corruption, frauds, high profile murders and more all over t...

The corrupt are the most despicable creatures infesting our Mother Earth in large numbers, particularly India. This is just not right not to be seriously critical about it. However some amount of humor in corrupt practices is always there to tickle you in the abyss of absolute darkness. And, if you are corrupt you can still laugh in a guilt-ridden introspection and maybe you give it up in the effort to enjoy. If you are honest you can laugh all the clearer and louder. Since in the present constipated situation in India you need to laugh out a lot we have decided to start a new Series ‘Humor In Corruption’ on September 8, 2013 and today this is the second installment. If you have your experience on this please leave your plot or write out the full story as a ‘comment’ below . We will publish it in your name. Once upon a time somewhere in India I was having my warm cup of tea wrapped up cozily in woolens with the newspapers for extra company that wintry morning. I was on a family visit ...

Mumbai Police today chargesheeted Gurunath Meiyappan, the former Boss of IPL franchise Chennai Super King (CSK) and son-in-law of the step-aside BCCI Boss N Srinivasan, for betting and leaking crucial team information along with Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh and twenty others. Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf and 15 bookies were also named as ‘wanted accused’ in the 11,500 pages long chargesheet filed four months after the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal rocked Indian cricket and the world of cricket. Gurunath Meiyappan who was arrested on 25 th May, 2013 has been charged under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act. He has also been charged under sections 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 490 (breach of contract), 420 (cheating), 212 (harboring the offender), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Vindo...

The corrupt are the most despicable creatures infesting our Mother Earth in large numbers, particularly India. This is just not right not to be seriously critical about it. However some amount of humor in corrupt practices is always there to tickle you in the abyss of absolute darkness. And, if you are corrupt you can still laugh in a guilt-ridden introspection and maybe you give it up in the effort to enjoy. If you are honest you can laugh all the clearer and louder. Since in the present constipated situation in India you need to laugh out a lot we have decided to start a new Series ‘Humor In Corruption’ from today. If you have your experiences on this please leave your plot or write out the full story as a ‘comment’ below. We will edit and publish it in your name. Once upon a time one young man in a town somewhere in India submitted an application for a driving license in the local office. He had already bought a second-hand scooter and learnt how to drive it too through a friend...

Coming as one more refreshing victory against pervasive Indian corruption the defiantly greedy N Srinivasan failed to come back as the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) President after he had to call off the Working Group meeting in New Delhi today. There had been widespread rumors of a revolt within the BCCI in the last three days following the Bombay High Court stricture against the dubious goings-on in the richest cricket Board of the world. Reports today confirmed that at least 6 BCCI members revolted against Srini, and if he happened to chair the meeting today two vice presidents and at least two members would have resigned. Visuals on a national television news channel even showed how the IPL Commissioner cum a Union Minister Rajiv Shukla brushed aside a Srini greeting in the meeting lounge. The wily fox sensed all this and called off the meeting apparently to avoid an open confrontation. In a press statement issued last evening N Srinivasan was set to defy even the J...