Commotion at a Durga Puja!

 

The Durga Puja pandal was quiet in the morning hours, except for the occasional bursts of incantations from the priests, amplified by the mics. Suddenly, there was a commotion. Two street urchins, probably around 7-8 years of age, entered and marched ahead confidently and occupied two empty plastic chairs in the front row. Their tiny skinny bodies black as coal and clad in rags. Somehow, they were in possession of two toy pistols that they were firing continuously. The decent devotees at the adjacent chairs looked askance at them, horrified in some unnamed way. They immediately asked them to silence their pistols, and the kids gestured they wanted food. A senior organizer looked around annoyed, perhaps not finding the volunteers assigned with the duties of crowd control. Even as the firing continued unabated, a seemingly resourceful lady devotee consulted the priests on the altar and eventually managed to collect some particles of food--of sweets and fruits--that she gave away to the urchins. Although not apparently pacified, the kids took those and left the pandal, firing and chatting louder. However, all those in the pandal were back to their undisturbed devotion. 

Kolkata: Cancel the Commerce of the Durga Puja Carnival!

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 tonight too into their pandals and continue to gorge on their food stalls, generating more business for them!

And, in came heavy thunder showers in the afternoon, probably washing away the pandal premises of various Pujas! Wrath of Mother Goddess and Mother Nature so clearly visible, not just this time, but many other times over the recent years. But to what human avail? The greed, the eternal insatiety, the moral degradation, the paralysing corruption and the tantalising hypocrisy are all irreversible: set seemingly in an automatic motion to bring the End inevitably. And, what can we fools do but for crying or making unreasonable demands? 

Kolkata: The Deadly Tentacles of Global Warming!

It’d be wrong if I say I’ll never be able to forget about that particular near-dawn while nestled inside a crammed flat in a congested locality of Kolkata, which was once, in my opinion, given the euphoric title of ‘City of Joy’. Instead, I should say I’ll always remember that particular near-dawn which is essentially to keep myself somewhat prepared for more similar or worse experiences in the near future. Yes, it’s about the IMD-described ‘one of the longest and deadliest summers in India’ of which Kolkata is a very significant part. Now to what happened in that near-dawn which is, in fact, is only a day before. 

I woke up suddenly in the dead of the night and immediately felt the oppressiveness which was apparently the cause of waking up. The ceiling fan was whirring above us, my wife and I; but its gusts of air were no longer airy—it only seemed to have lost itself into the relentless clutch of that oppressiveness. I was sweating profusely and the heat rashes all over my body were pinching me like long needles, rather letting me only have the usual itching. The night was calm, still and thick. As if the tentacles of that oppressive heat that was raging outside barged in through the concrete walls and the closed doors and windows and launched themselves into our hapless bodies mercilessly. I checked my mobile: it was just past three in the morning, a near dawn. I couldn’t believe my eyes. How is it possible? This time the surroundings always cool off leading all of us humanity to a welcoming relieving beautiful morning.

 

I tossed around on the bed for some time, thinking the air was going to cool off soon and the hands of the ceiling fan would restore themselves to their normal business. But nothing of the sort happened even as my wife stirred, sat up on bed and shared the oppressiveness with me. It seemed like an attack from the aliens: perhaps they are launching the final assault after all those preliminary warnings.

 

I had before me only the last resort to fall upon. We have an ageing window air-conditioning machine that befits the old rented flat and which we normally run in the evenings for a few hours to cool the house, and at bedtime we switch it off. That night too we switched it off around one in the night. Scared by my writhing body my wife asked me if she should switch it on. I nodded at her with a guilty feeing—guilty because I was thinking about the huge majority of our country’s population that still cannot afford an AC machine. I do always think about those daily labourers, the cleaners & rag-pickers, the rickshaw pullers and all others caught in that cruel cycle at no point of which could they afford a day lost without work. And for that matter, the ACs are not the solution at all—they only give temporary comfort like painkillers to the ‘lucky’ users and make the world a far worse place to live in.

 

It was not important that we managed to fall asleep within the next two hours and could also afford the luxury of waking up late in the morning; what is of utmost importance is the question as to what future we’re running toward! Kolkata is just a case study for us even as the summers in India and in many other countries around are becoming warmer by 2-3 degrees more every year, and in this particular summer the ‘landmark’ 50-degree Centigrade has been reached in many parts of India including capital Delhi. Like last year, the heat waves started in Kolkata in the month of April too this year, and as a departure from the previous year the 40+ temperatures this year raged on for several weeks on the trot, not allowing even the seasonal thunderstorms locally known as ‘Kal Baisakhi’ for mid-term relief, even once. And to add more, the nights everywhere in the country are no longer cooling off with temperatures refusing to come below 30-32 Centigrade; occasional rains too are failing miserably to bring the temperatures down.

 

Cyclone Remal brought some relief to Kolkata in terms of a user-friendly weather, apart from the damage it had caused in its trail in the eastern and the north-eastern regions. However, the cyclone probably left a veil of moisture hangover, and therefore, as the temperatures started to rise again the humidity became a deadly factor, not to speak of the immeasurable damage caused by the UV index to the human bodies thanks to the intense sunrays. At nights or even in the wee hours if you have 32-degree temperature, the humidity of about 80% would surely make it feel like 40 or more. And this tells the exact story of Kolkata in the last fortnight, and nobody knows for how long yet: intense sunlight and the occasional clouds coming together in the evenings to make the nights horribly hot and gloomy.

 

But we cannot explain it off with only the cyclone occurrence, because from late May to June the atmosphere gets laden with moisture due to the advancing South West Monsoon. It boils down to the mercilessly rising temperatures which become near-fatal if combined with the rising humidity. This does not augur well for humanity at all. And even with temperatures alone, more than 50-degree C can cause havoc to the human body, leading to sunstrokes and deaths. This summer many humans have perished in India including poll officials on duty for the General Elections and many are falling sick and perishing still, which our politically supercharged media hardly takes any note of. And our leaders or the world leaders? Well, less said the better! They’re more interested in power and war games! How the hell are we going to combat Global Warming and to protect our planet and humanity from its relentlessly spreading tentacles? Time is running out! Anybody listening at all?

The Modern Tarakasur on the Ola Grounds!

(Although no pun is intended as for the upcoming Durga Puja and the killing of demons or evil forces, we must clarify that this particular demon or raakshas or asura Tarakasur, according to ancient Hindu scriptures, was killed by Kartikeya, the elder son of Goddess Durga as believed, and not by the Goddess herself. The name of the demon is being taken here just for its resemblance to the name of villain of the piece. No malice toward any and all.)

In the City of Joy, Kolkata, enthusiastic people start visiting the Durga Puja pandals (what they call ‘Thakur dekha’) from the very next day of Mahalaya, that is, from the first day of the Devi Paksha—the illuminated phase of the Moon when Goddess Durga descends on earth—as and when the Pujas get inaugurated or opened with the idols installed. They do it because of the wish to visit as many Pujas as possible and to avoid the impossible rush of crowds that start visiting in millions when thousands of Pujas are open across the city, particularly during the actual Puja days. Most people prefer taking the public transport and walk miles for the pleasure as they love doing that enjoying binge eating amid the crowds of devotees or revelers. But some others, perhaps due to increasing age or illness or to make the experience comfortable, hire drivers for their own vehicles or hire cabs for the whole of the day or the whole of the night and have hectic bouts of pandal hopping.

Our protagonists, Pinakpani and Paroma, an elderly couple whose two daughters are married off and the only son is working in a different city, decided to hire an Ola cab for the maximum allowed duration of 10 hours and planned to move out in the early afternoon and enjoy till late night. The cab driver called them half an hour before the booked time and arrived at the right time to pick them up. Pinakpani found the bearded and tall young driver amiable enough and also knowledgeable in regard to the Pujas that are already open for the public and the myriad routes connecting those.

Pinakpani told the driver to go a famous Puja at the farthest northern end of the city so that they could visit all other pandals while coming back. The journey thus was to continue for nearly an hour. After a few minutes calls started coming to the driver’s mobile phone, and slowly and steadily he got visibly upset, raising his voice, but never rejecting the calls. What Pinakpani and Paroma could understand was that he was talking to his elder brother and there were some family issues. Pinakpani got irritated when the driver was plain shouting into his phone, and curtly told him to shut up and concentrate on driving, also pointing out that the police could haul him up anytime. The driver agreed, reluctantly and gloomily though.

The rest of the journey was quiet. They got dropped near the entry gate of the Puja and the cab left, the driver instructing them to call him up ten minutes before they were to be picked up and that he’d tell them where exactly to wait.

Pinakpani and Paroma had the bonus of beholding the famous Puja they never could visit before along with a smaller one in the neighborhood. After taking tea they started walking toward the exit to the main road. Pinakpani called up the driver who asked them to wait for ten minutes at the landmark location he himself spelt out.

And then all hell broke loose. The driver kept on calling, telling them to wait there, and at the next minute asked them to move a little toward the left or the right. After doing all those unsavory exercises and still unable to sight the vehicle the couple began feeling harassed even as the humid cloudy weather increased their discomfort making them sweat profusely.

Nearly an hour elapsed and the traffic congestion plus the deafening noise all around them further heightened their unease.

Now Pinakpani was in a boiling rage, shouting at the incessantly calling driver, throwing him names and liberally using the foulest of abuses. Fearing for his health Paroma took over command and taking his phone started negotiating with errant driver. But to no avail. As Pinakpani walked away to a corner to have some peace of mind Paroma, helpless now, requested the police guard on duty to talk to the driver. The policeman obliged her and after speaking for about three minutes gave her a few instructions. Accordingly, Paroma signaled Pinakpani to accompany her to the designated spot.

In the meantime, Pinakpani was searching for all options for help on the Ola App and finally finding some space to write something about the issue he wrote a few lines requesting them to cancel the trip and punish the villainous driver and sent the message. But no reply came up.

They crossed the traffic junction through an underground subway and moved to the bus stop, on the same side of the road though. They had to move at a snail’s pace along the crowded barricaded pavement as the public buses kept on coming, stopping at the stop ahead and leaving. They were nearing an opening for boarding the buses when they saw the driver hustling up to them from the opposite side. As he began speaking to Pinakpani as if trying to explain how wrong both of them were in not finding the location or him, our fuming protagonist motioned him to stop and not dare touch his arms.

Without a word they moved into the backseat and as the driver quietly got into his driving seat Pinakpani wrote the destination of their home in the app. When there were seven hours still left of their paid rental trip.

Paroma was extremely unhappy when she found out that they were moving back home.

“How can you trust this demon to again drop us at some Puja and vanish for hours? I’m telling you; he’s doing this willfully…he needs to be home immediately to sort out family matters and cannot afford to wait till midnight. So, he’s trying to harass us out of it!” Pinakpani explained to her in a hushed tone.

“Then why are you obliging him? We should make him toil harder for our money!” Paroma argued.

“But again, as I told you, he’ll start doing the same, and maybe we’ll be able to see only one Puja in the rest of the time. So, I want to cut short the trip so that he suffers in terms of reduced payment."

For the rest of the journey, it was all quiet inside the car.

Pinakpani gave him the end OTP as they reached home. And he got another shock of unexpected proportions. The bill is the same as when booked. Not even four hours of the booked trip are spent and yet they’re being charged the full fare for ten hours and hundred kilometers!

“You’re as bad a devil as your goddamn company! No! I’ll not give you a single paisa; sort it out with your company!” Pinakpani roared as he alighted from the car. He checked his mobile and found an email from Ola waiting which promised some action in response to his earlier message. He frantically started writing a reply mail, narrating the injustice: both in terms of a villainous driver and atrocious billing. As he was waiting for a reply from the company the driver, in a surprisingly quiet mood, was standing by the other side of the vehicle and talking over his phone. Finishing the call the driver spoke to Pinakpani, “I’m calling over my brother here. You can talk it out with him.”

That worried Pinakpani: he heard of many stories about physical scuffles between passengers and Ola or Uber drivers some of which really turned ugly. Fearing for their safety he enacted a dramatic act.

He took out the notes from his shirt pocket and literally threw those over the roof of the car to the driver and didn’t wait a second more. He motioned Paroma and started walking toward their home. The driver who got about three hundred bucks more than the fare ran after Paroma, trying to return the change. Pinakpani stopped him delivering his punch line, “Have all of it, you sickening demon! Have a feast! And Maa (Goddess Durga) is sure to punish you, remember that!”

Back home, he found a reply from company telling him that as per rules applicable to Kolkata only there is no refund for rental trips and full amount is charged irrespective of the duration of the trip. He now understood why the driver was so confident! He knew he'd get his money whatever happened! Pinakpani quietly opened the app, logged out and uninstalled it. “Accursed devils! Damn your joyrides for the City of Joy!”

Megablock on a Metro!

 

It was early afternoon on a hot and humid day with the sun playing hide and seek with the non-threatening clouds. I hoped there wouldn’t be many takers for the special seats on the metro trains at this unfriendly hour, but I was wrong. As I boarded the seemingly empty train and marched toward the special section of the coach I found all the seats occupied, and more worryingly, a few oldies were standing, crouching hopefully and watchfully around the seats.

 

I stood in front of the two-seater and immediately found a frustrated oldie arguing with one of the two seated seniors to make way for him to sit as he fervently pointed toward the three-seater where a fourth person was accommodated. The defendant argued that the two-seater is a new addition and very narrow making it extremely unhealthy to accommodate a third passenger. Finding no support coming his way the plaintiff slowly moved away in search of greener pastures in the next coach. ‘Shit! They’ve already unlearnt the Covid lessons!’ I thought ruefully. The other oldie that looked much older and emaciated, in his early seventies or probably more, seated next to the defendant was fully absorbed in his smart phone.

 

Suddenly there was some movement in the two-seater that I missed as I leaned against the steel railing looking at the full length of the coach, trying to enjoy the scenario. It was too late! I discovered that the emaciated oldie got up and the seat was taken instantly by the not necessarily nearest standee. In fact I was the nearest. The defendant smiled at me in a rather curious way, muttering something that I failed to catch.

 

After maybe around three minutes the emaciated oldie came back and the new occupier had to vacate, to his silent chagrin. ‘What’s he doing? Confused about his destination and asking around or what?’ I thought. I looked at the defendant. He again smiled at me, this time understandingly, although I again failed to understand, this time miserably.  

 

Hardly two stations passed by when the emaciated oldie stood up again on a new lease of movement. The standee, frustrated previously, made no move this time; looking glum and fearing a repeat if he went for it. Not knowing exactly about the correct course of my action, I, being the nearest, logically sat down. I thought even a two-minute comfort was going to do only good to my aching knee joints. Now, I could clearly hear the amused muttering emanating from the defendant, sitting next to me. He told me that the emaciated oldie was extremely preoccupied with his mobile and was showing it around to almost all the passengers, consulting them avidly. He also added that though he couldn’t figure out what the problem was he overheard something about ‘blocking’. ‘So, he is expected to resume his seat anytime soon!’ I muttered back to him now.

 

I saw him consulting the seated oldies in the opposite bench, showing his phone liberally. And obviously, getting fed-up perhaps, he came back for the seat reclamation. As I prepared to make way for him he motioned me to sit on and adjusted himself somehow in the middle. That move surprised me to no less bit; however, his next move explained why.

 

This time he showed his phone to me, opening up the WhatsApp message page. He pointed to a number that had no name to it.

“I want to block this number! Do you know how?” he asked me in utter helplessness.

“Oh! You really need to block him or her?” I confirmed.

“Yes, yes!”

I showed him how. Simple and sweet! The emaciated oldie blocked the number immediately and launched himself fully on his now-fructifying mission. If he was excited and elated by that simple discovery he didn’t show it. He just mumbled something without moving his eyes from the device and I interpreted it as a customary ‘thank you’. Most probably!

 

My station came and I alighted. My peripheral vision informed me that even though the emaciated oldie remained glued to his instrument with his newfound knowledge he was circumspect enough to not allow anyone to propel into the third possible spot. As I walked to the station exit I smiled to myself, thinking, ‘A lot of people could be going to be affected by his educated tantrums! But why should I be worried? I’d not be responsible at all for all the megablocks he may have already created or might be creating in the foreseeable future! And anyhow, ‘blocking’ has of late become a somewhat necessary exercise!’

IPL 2023: And the Three Playoff Slots Go To…?

With just four league matches to go the three Playoff slots in the IPL-2023 are still open for grabs, only Gujarat (GT) having already secured the top slot. Thanks to their abandoned match due to rain Chennai (CSK) and Lucknow (LSG) are in some advantage, with 15 points each after sharing a point each. We think this gives bit of an edge to the two teams, because even if they lose their last matches they could still go through depending on what Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai (MI) do. But the dangers are also equally palpable. With 14 points each, if RCB and MI win their last matches they will straightaway enter into the Playoffs leaving only one slot to others and in that scenario either LSG or CSK will get thrown out, based on the net run-rate (NRR). And if CSK gets eliminated that’d be shattering for the MS Dhoni fans who’ve been celebrating the former India captain with the speculation rife that this could be his last IPL—the scenes were really evocative in Chennai when CSK marched around the stadium with Dhoni in the lead and cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar lining up for captain cool’s autograph and that was after CSK lost the match against Kolkata (KKR). However, more positively for the Dhoni fans, if CSK beat Delhi (DC) in the afternoon match today they’ll secure their Playoff slot. If LSG happens to beat KKR in the evening match today they’ll too enter the last stage. Therefore, in that scenario only one slot will remain for the other top contenders, namely RCB and MI.

 

Mumbai takes on Hyderabad (SRH) in the penultimate league match tomorrow, and as we said a victory for them will take them straight into the Playoffs depending on the results today. Bengaluru takes on the top team Gujarat in the last league match tomorrow, and like Mumbai a victory would take them into the Playoffs, depending on the results today. So, as regards the Playoffs, these four matches are virtual eliminators and qualifiers combined. What more could be expected from a competitive tournament with majority of the teams still caught in the throes of going through or not till the last moments?

 

If Mumbai and Bengaluru lose and Kolkata wins, a four-way deadlock at 14 points each could emerge with only one team hoping to fill the last slot based on the best NRR. Therefore, the contenders, RCB, MI and KKR, must not only look to win but also to try increase the NRR as much to an extent as possible, and Bengaluru, playing the last league match should be in an advantageous situation as they’d know exactly the scenario. It’d be really unfortunate if Rajasthan (RR) gets kicked out which is more likely than not, because the franchise had been playing quite consistently with the stars like Jaiswal, captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, not to forget spinner duo of Ashwin and Chahal; their hopes crashed due to a few inexplicable aberrations, like getting all out for 59 in the all-important match against RCB. And it’s been really the resurgence of Mumbai, led by Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Tim David, and Bengaluru, led by captain de Plessis, Kohli to some extent and Maxwell, that has helped the teams remain top contenders.

IPL 2023: You Never Know With KKR!

First, of course, let’s talk about the cricket star born last night in the match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the 56^th match of IPL-2023. His name is Yashasvi Jaiswal who raced to the quickest ever fifty in IPL history taking just 13 balls and then going on to remain unbeaten at 98 off 47 balls to help his team RR win in style. Aged only 22, the southpaw opening batsman Jaiswal has humble origins—from a poor family in Uttar Pradesh—coming to Mumbai to train in cricket at the age of just ten and then struggling there for years, with no place of stay and doing gigs in dairies and paani puri shops. To make this cricketing dream come true he then started living in a tent with the cricket grounds men till he was noticed by a Mumbai training academy for his talent. He has several feats in first class cricket as the youngest player ever, playing for Mumbai in domestic cricket and he started his IPL stint from the year 2019. Yashasvi has mostly been consistent as an attacking opener in IPL and in the current version of IPL-2023 he’s scored more than 500 runs so far with a century to his credit. Now, who bowled to this marauding opener in the opening over?

 

There seemed to be no earthly reasons at all as to why KRR captain Nitish Rana should open the bowling: because he’s not been even regular part-time bowler; he had in his command three specialized spinners including the stalwarts of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, of course, the latter being totally ineffective in this IPL, but definitely more resourceful than Rana; and KKR was defending a very modest total of 149 which again thanks mainly to his consistent failures as a batsman and also as a captain. But he still bowled. And there flowed from the bat of Yashasvi Jaiswal two sixes, three fours and a couple to make it 26 runs in all in that opening over only. The captain lost his team the match right then and there. And also the prospect of making it to the Playoffs, because with only two more matches to go KKR can get to a maximum of 14 points only if they win both and it’s not going to be enough with the huge negative net run-rate, achieved largely through that match that RR won with nearly 7 overs to spare . So, they could very well be joining Delhi Capitals in being virtually out of the tournament at this moment. If there happens to be deadlock at 14 points each any of the franchises like RR, MI, RCB, LSG and even SRH can make it through to the Playoffs on the basis of net run-rates. For all practical purposes GT and CSK are through with 16 and 15 points respectively.

 

Apparently Nitish Rana had no regrets or that he never cared to show any. He was reported to say later that if a gamble worked nobody would say anything. However, the question remains as to what kind of a gamble that was! To make things infuriating and unbearable he became the most hyperactive skipper ever seen on the field: he was talking insistently continuously to his bowlers and instructing them of what that could never be ascertained, even in the last two overs when RR needed less than ten runs to win with more than eight overs to spare plus nine wickets standing. However, Rana has not been a bad player at all over the years and was performing very well in the IPL when, of course, he was not the captain. Who had made the decision to appoint him to that post and why, also could never be ascertained!

 

That decision is probably only a part of all the mischief that’s been going with KKR franchise management in this version of the IPL: the selection of the playing eleven uneven and haphazard in most of the matches; not utilizing the services of the immensely talented Litton Das and Jason Roy from the initial stages; overdependence on the deadweight veterans like Russell, Gurbaz, Narine and Jagadeesan  irrespective of their performances; playing Rinku Singh much lower down the order even after his feat of the five sixes; the enigma of Shardul Thakur and many more. In fact, there’s an uncanny resemblance between KKR’s tactics and that of the Indian selectors for Team India, like not giving enough opportunities to the youngsters or not selecting them at the right time, persisting with the ageing veterans in all three formats of the game and so on. These are lessons that should never be inculcated by any team or franchise at any level of cricket under any circumstances.  

 

Is King Khan listening?

IPL 2023: The ‘Home’ Celebrations Get Hammered!

The ‘home’ perception and the celebrations thereof owe their origins to the naming of the competing franchises since 2008. Most of the franchises are named after major cities of the country like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. and one or two after the source state like Rajasthan Royals. Obviously, it’s always been expected that the cricket lovers of those cities or states would ideally be the supporters of the ‘home’ team and show full loyalties as respective fans (However, it’s not clear as to whether locals of the concerned city only or the full state should become ravenous supporters or not, because in case of Maharashtra there was another franchise named Pune Warriors once, and so it was ambiguous as to who the state of Maharashtra fans should support). And that’s what’s been happening ever since, although the whole ‘celebration’ syndrome defies all logic: because, first, the players for each franchise are selected through the path-breaking auctions with players joining the teams as per the bids; second, so, there’s absolutely no guarantee that any local cricketers, if available, shall be included in the concerned franchises; third, even if one or two local cricketers happen to get included there’s no guarantee that they’d go on playing for their teams which is actually subject to the glorious rules of the game; then, four, the auctions are not limited to India alone, but open to all cricket playing nations with the exception of Pakistan for reasons known too well; and lastly, there’ve been numerous instances of ‘local boys’ not being bought back by the concerned franchises in subsequent auctions, again depending on the glorious rules of the game that include not just forms but current market values too and very often being even left ‘unsold’.

 

Rest assured, we’re not at all trying to question or raise objections to the ‘home’ patriotism, we only happen to get a little concerned about it, thanks to various what we think sustainable reasons. For one, out of the 43 IPL-2023 matches played till May 1, 2023, in as many as 24 matches the home teams have lost, that is more than 50%--definitely a whopping statistic. This figure includes the match lost by RR in Guwahati also, because in order to bring that north eastern city into the IPL ambit for the first time, the city was suddenly marked as ‘home’ for RR. We’re at a total loss to know for what earthy reasons as RR has always been basking in their proper home shine of Rajasthan and besides, the ruling parties in both states are not even the same. Anyway, as regards our statistical point we must admit that we’re blissfully unaware of what could’ve been the scenario in the previous IPL versions and also accept that we’re not empowered to do that kind of research.

 

As we mentioned we’re also piqued by what happened in that Delhi Capitals match in Delhi against Sunrisers Hyderabad when, fans angered by the ‘home’ team’s abysmally consistent failure to win matches and stay in active contention, erupted into a freestyle fisticuff with rival or general fans inside the stadium. Besides, before that what happened in Kolkata (the iconic Eden Gardens), the fans there too agonized by the ‘home’ franchise’s consistent failure to win matches and stay in active contention despite the incredible Rinku Singh boost they achieved. In that match between CSK and KKR on 23^rd April, 2023, one specially frustrated KKR fan erupted into the public arena declaring that this practice of ignoring the ‘Bangla’ cause at the ‘home’ turf is not at all desirable, but actually very deplorable. Now, it is not clear as to what ‘Bangla’ ingredients he found in that franchise where even the lone player having the surname of Chakravarthy, is neither a Bong nor from Bangla. No doubt, rational and wiser souls have condemned the ‘patriot’ robustly.

 

This brings us to our last point. For MS Dhoni, the inimitable former India captain, he’d be welcome in any place in India and cricket lovers would really love to see him in full flow. And for that matter, former most successful India captain Virat Kohli (although fans have been getting used to watching him fight for a lost cause, always over the years), the present India captain Rohit Sharma (who refused to take Sunil Gavaskar’s advice to take a break and prepare well for the Test Championship match early next month) and quite a few other national and international achievers would also be welcome anywhere in India and general fans would love to see them dishing out inspiring and exemplary cricket.

 

The IPL-2023 has really been an exciting spectacle so far in terms of giving the fans veritable treats of both low-scoring cum high-scoring thrillers, invariably going down to the last over. So, why bother about home or no-home? India is our home and we should make ourselves free to partake in the cricketing bonanza. One positive aspect of the ‘home’ syndrome though comes out loud and clear: the apparently ‘home-infected’ dejected about-to-cry fans suddenly burst into life whenever one of the roving stadium cameras focuses on them! Many more thrillers are yet to come and the climax thereafter! So, enjoy!

And Then the Winter!

When we returned to Kolkata by the third week of January 2023 we hoped we still had a chance of catching the winter that we miss most often due to our compulsory visits to Maharashtra. As per our own experience in previous years in the city of joy the month of February could still be cold or even chilly if you're lucky! We had the stock of the woollens ready to welcome us in. However, to our utter disappointment the temperatures kept on climbing making the use of all my sweaters, jackets, blazers and so on an wasted thought. The summer looked to be around very early this time. In fact, in several regions of the country there were heat waves! February heat waves, imagine! 

Early March we came to Assam as another integral part of our compulsive itinerary. The first few days were almost the same in terms of heat, except that the nights were much cooler, but still not enough to justify the use of sweaters one of which I carried in my bag as a reasonable discretion. From the 15th of that month things changed, as if to recompense our unfulfilled desires. 

Weather became cloudy. Rains, not exactly downpours, became intermittent; there were thunderstorms in various parts; and a steady cold breeze became the order of every day. All these factors made the air cool, and then really chilly. I thanked myself profusely for my discretion of carrying a sweater. I wore that continuously for at least ten days and thought remorsefully about the unutilized stock cold shouldered by the cupboards of Kolkata! 

We don't know if the conditions thus created are thanks to the unseasonal rains or the westerly winds or the ominously omnipresent climate change phenomenon. But anyhow, we had the winter that we desired so much to enjoy, even though we'd discovered it quite a bit  late. Yes, and then the winter, belated but most welcome! 

Over the 'wintry' days we got the news that these conditions were observed in most parts of the country, and that the month became the coldest March in more than seventy years. 

Now, what but to brace for the looming summer which, as the Met department has already declared, is going to be rough with above normal temperatures in almost all the states of India. But as usual, we cannot be too sure of anything. Soaring heat that then becomes intolerably humid has been the state of things in the last at least three years, with add-on of the Pandemic. Only wish the Homo Sapiens had found a solution to tackle climate change and global warming effectively. To be safe, let's not worry too much! 

Durga Puja-2022 Heats Up Amidst Continuing Humid Heat!

Kolkata is fully back to its old-normal ways after two long painful years as West Bengal's biggest festival Durga Puja heats up. Pandal hopping is in full flow with thousands on a spree of 'Thakur Dekha' (how many Goddess idols have you seen?) almost since the start of Navaratri. Although Durga Puja rituals start only from Mahashasthi which starts today, technically for all here Goddess Durga descends on earth on Mahalaya, the last day of Pitru Paksha, that is the eve for the beginning of the bright lunar phase or Shukla Paksha.

There are crowds thronging the major pandals, particularly from afternoon to late night every day, with their mobiles clicking non-stop, falling upon each other for a better view, the rush for the selfies in all available spaces, thronging all the eating joints to their fullest capacity and all the smiles. Celebration is the motif and soul of the festival. Married or unmarried couples of all ages who could be going through lots of strain and stress in the preceding months/years now suddenly find their spouses or partners emitting heavenly smiles before their mobile cameras in selfie mode. The smartly-dressed ladies do it the best possible way, posing in selfie mode for hours and in the process dishing out the sweet and heavenly smiles that their now-energised male partners never possibly witness easily, particularly on the home fronts.

There are hurdles too. The almost unbearable humid heat continues thanks to the near-miss meted out to Kolkata and some other parts of the state by the South West monsoon and the forecast of moderate to heavy rains in the coming days. Temperatures are around 35-degree C still, further worsened by the cloudy skies and up to 90% humidity. However, the unparalleled spirit and enthusiasm of the Bongs defies it all. They'll walk, commute and crowd endlessly, sweating and getting exhausted in the process. Then there is the policing! Perhaps fearing an extreme rush after the two-year COVID layoff some measures taken by the police were also extreme. Entry roads blocked on one side, at times quite unnecessarily. Then they allow you enter the Puja pandal on some lane and exit you on some unknown backside lane due to which many puja revelers lose their way like in a maze and in the pricess losing precious tine and missing out nearby pandals. But come what may, the hoppers would defy all and  definitely won't have rains looking upon Maa Durga to grant their wishes.

Let the spirit of devotion and dedication prevail. Happy Durga Puja 2022!

A Grueling Tale of Relentlessly Humid Heat! Extremely Uneven Monsoon!

Climate change and global warming are by now household words, and more frighteningly, the impact of these terms have been cruelly discernible in the daily lives of the citizens in many parts of India and the world. The world leaders must understand the deadly reality of our only habitat getting hotter and hotter by the day, and if this is not checked immediately by whatever possible means in our command this planet is set to be uninhabitable very soon, sooner than we think. The South West Monsoon, still the mainstay of agriculture in India, has been uneven this year in the extremes—some traditionally dry regions getting excess rains to a huge extent, some regions getting their full quota delivered in a matter of days and some traditionally wet regions still not having a monsoon with its usual flow and downpours. Therefore, in all such cases the monsoon is not helping the farmers at all, and on the other hand, people in many areas with scarce rainfall are suffering from continuous heat waves and relentless humid heat even in the traditionally wet months of July and August.

 

We were in Kolkata, the state of West Bengal, during most of the first three months of June-August, and although the monsoon made an early entry it is yet to justify its normal course of behavior and downpour. The Met department has been putting the blame on the absence of low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal, and even though there were two or three low-pressure developments in the recent weeks the state of Odisha got the rains away from Bengal on all such occasions, leading to excess rains there. Therefore in Kolkata and several other districts, we continued to suffer from intolerable humid heat and unusually high temperatures hovering around 35 degree C.; rains have been there in fits and starts, but not with the heart in its right place.

 

Around mid-August we came to the north-eastern state of Assam on family issues and a home visit that had been pending since the outbreak of the pandemic. Assam has been a state where the rain Gods always showered mercy upon. Here, we all have been growing up with the notion that following a day of sultry heat a thundershower invariably comes in the evening or late night thus giving immediate relief. However, during the first ten days of our stay in Guwahati we’ve not seen a single drop of rain or high wind; forget about the nostalgic sound of the thunder and the sight of black rain-bearing clouds. One obvious factor is that the near-full monsoon quota was delivered just in days in the month of late May and early June, leading to unprecedented floods and rainwater logging. And now, only humid heat prevails with temperatures around 35 which are extremely unusual with no relief in weeks.

 

Then, we traveled eastward to Nagaon, a city in central Assam. The scenario gets even worse. We’ve immediately encountered a 2-degree hike in temperature than in Guwahati, that is say around 37 degree C, in these areas with the roasting humidity adding fuel to the heat-fire. And yes, no relief in terms of thundershowers or high wind or anything. The halfhearted clouds that gather almost on a daily basis make it a more insufferable experience. The farmers are put into a contrasting situation—they first had a rain deluge in their fields thus delaying the cropping season and now their fields with growing plants are cracking up due to the total absence of rain. This is not just our tale; it is the tale of a huge chunk of humanity spread across the planet. Only recently, we heard about the unprecedented heat wave in England where the temperatures crossed the 40-degree mark with scary ease.

 

Those lucky ones who can afford the ACs are having some relief sitting at home, but all those ACs humming around every corner—let it be Kolkata or Guwahati or Nagaon—are spreading more hot airs out and making the environment warmer still. In my lifetime I’ve never experienced such fury of unabated heat in my own home state of Assam. Yes, Mother Nature has never been as angry as in the last few years, including this year as perhaps the most watershed one. Nowadays She never bothers about human weather forecasts and ignores those regularly. Humankind must find ways of placating Mother Nature fast, as fast as they’re capable of. All global energy must be concentrated on this battle instead of indulging in ones against each other and endangering the global warming further by pandering to Third World War sentiments. Mind you, it’s basically the weather and the environment that shape human progress and peace. Extreme conditions lead to intolerance among humans, racism and so many other social evils as have been rampant in many nations of the world. It’s Now or Never!

And of Adopting a New Approach to Write Truncated Pieces!

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 sign of the monsoon in any mood to expedite its proceedings. The seemingly blackening sky along with false thunder eventually pierced though the merciless sun, countess times!

 

At a time when we’d have loved a few days of genuine rains and cooling weather we were instead forced to have a literal rain of hard cash thanks to the equally hot episode of one minister of the Bangla state government and a stalwart of the ruling regional party getting arrested along with his lady associate, supposedly. About half a billion of rupees have so far been recovered from the lady’s flats along with other properties in hiding and a few missing foreign cars. The veteran minister after being distanced and rebuffed by his own party started crying ‘conspiracy’ saying the money was not his and the lady clamoring out haplessly that she was not aware of the money being hidden in her flat. Well, her connections with ruling state party had been somewhat exposed by the media and therefore, it’s come as a huge setback for the party with its Chief Minister projecting her national ambitions since her landslide assembly election victory in 2021, making the strong ruling national party a poor second.

 

The people of Kolkata are like the people of Mumbai as far as the ‘spirit’ is concerned. While the Mumbaikars always show their indomitable spirit in terms of continuing the hard work and making more and more money come what may, the Kolkattansalways show their spirit in continuing to enjoy life in terms moderate living but high eating come what may. The mouthwatering array of chops, rolls, cutlets, samosas, fish fries, fish and meat curries and so on at cheapest-in-the-world prices anywhere, from the street side open joints to the limited posh restaurants notwithstanding, I think, the Bongs should start worrying now, because the Met office has reportedly made a forecast of less rain in August and in September too which means that Bengal’s main festival of Durga Puja, starting this time right from the start of October, is in some real danger of getting washed away. Therefore, they should give less attention to the ‘heat neutralizing heat’ experiment and should not let themselves be swayed too much by the huge corruption in the education sector, the arrested minister being the former education minister, and should focus on chanting some prayers in advance to God and Mother Nature so that Durga Puja does not come under any threat.

 

The local media is not giving enough attention either to Nature’s heat let loose on most parts of the state and in Kolkata or on the farmers staring at a Kharif crop season crisis; no wonder, the way they’ve been consumed up by the hard-cash thunder showers. They’d better started rolling back the focus fully on the ‘monsoon crisis’ so that the lip-smacking people turned their attention to some prayers as we just said so that their thakur dekha (Puja pandal hopping) did not get hampered too.

 

Finally, as to why this writer has suddenly decided to adopt this ‘truncated’ approach to combine several well-planned pieces into a single piece, enough be said that he’s no longer game for the miserable 10 or so hits to the pieces on a rich variety of subjects that he’s devoted a lot to time and energy upon to make those interesting. Often he’s accidentally or even deliberately made mistakes hoping for some discerning readers to point those out. But no! Pointless expectations! So yes! He’s not interested any more in dishing out free matter that nobody cares about, with apologies, of course, to the handful of genuine readers he still has. The writer thinks that it’s better to redirect his energy to writing more books, because even if nobody, again, reads the books, the books would always remain on record as his works. Besides, if the Indian cricket team can go on experimenting with international matches (stopping those only during the IPL for the sheer force of the money power) without bothering about winning or losing why not this humble writer! This writer does possess the power, even though it’s useless, to show his disdain for Indian cricket and stop writing anything about it in future which he’s already and actually started doing, to be honest!

Ukiyoto Literary Awards-2022: Proud Moments for This Writer!

The India division of the Canada-based Ukiyoto Publishing, a traditional publisher always committed to quality content and finding talented new authors across the globe, has given away the Literary Awards-Q2 of 2022 in various categories of fiction and non-fiction in Kolkata on 24^th July. As per Ukiyoto India announcement at the event around 1500 applications were received from various parts and various regional languages of India out of which around 100 were selected for the different awards, based on the parameters of selection adopted by their panel of judges.

 

This writer is very proud of finding himself among the awardees. His book of humorous short stories titled ‘The Cheerless Chauffeur and Other Tales’ has earned him the prestigious ‘Emerging Author of the Year—Fiction’ in the Literary Awards-2022 event which was organized as a part of Ukiyoto’s Kolkata Chapter at Vivanta by Taj. Solstice, the marketing wing of Ukiyoto India, has displayed all the books of the awardee authors at the venue during the full-day highly attended event. The vibrant presence of several authors of the young generation has, in a way, vindicated the commitment of Ukiyoto to find new and newer talented writers across India, apart from its quest in various other countries of the world too. The major awards include ‘The Author of the Year in Fiction and non-Fiction’, ‘The Best 30 books to look out for in 2022’, ‘The Poet of the Year’ and many other categories.

 

Earlier on the evening of 23^rd of July 2022, as a part of its Solstice and the Kolkata Chapter, Ukiyoto had launched its book ‘Philo’s Prodigy Season 1’ at the city’s iconic College Street Coffee House. This anthology containing 11 stories of mystery/suspense that is specially meant to be pitched for films/web series/OTT productions is the first of its kind to be undertaken by the publishers. Symbolically, the event was held at the Boi Chitra Art Gallery (Photography and book museum-store) at the Coffee House. Most of the contributing writers for the anthology including this writer were present there and enthusiastically took part in the book-reading sessions. A few other authors had also released their books published by Ukiyoto.

You can order copies of this unique anthology 'Philo's Prodigy Season 1' from the following:

Ukiyoto  

Amazon 

(Photo Courtesy: Ukiyoto Publishing) 

Since 1947 when Albert Hall was named Coffee House
writers/authors/artistes/intellectuals always have their 
meets/addas at this venue, particularly
on Saturday evenings.