Cyber-forensics does a bummer - againI went on the Internet a week after it was launched in India on August 15, 1995—probably the among the first 100 in India to have taken to cyberspace in this tight-arsed, and then entirely unregulated, nation. The first week I spent, 10 hours a day, bleary-eyed like a perv, trawling all the ‘blue’ sites that the Net had to offer—and the pornucopia was overly pulchritudinous, in the sense that it eventually deadened all my senses, killed off my synaesthesia (an ‘infirmity’ which makes me see colours where sound is heard, and vice-versa, and makes me touch paintings and ‘feel’ the colours by their heat signatures) and put me completely off properties of flashing white flesh till my attention was Shanghaied, barely two weeks into my cyberspace peregrinations, by the two major denominations of US-designated ‘terrorists’: those true to their ideologies and those true to their impulses.Howrah boy bags goldThis boy is on the road to success. After securing second position in medicine in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination, Subhrashis Guha Niyogi of Howrah has added yet another feather to his cap by winning gold at the 19th International Biology Helping hand for needyNinety students from three faculties of Jadavpur University (JU) joined hands to supply clothes and other items of daily use to pavement dwellers. The project that took off on July 5, was the initiative of the varsity’s National Service Scheme unitAt the city centre of the mall revolutionIf there’s one thing I’m tired of after living in Delhi for 10 years, it’s the mall culture. Malls became THE big thing in New Delhi about 10 years back – we watched the first malls come up, witnessed the mass hysteria that accompanied each ‘launching’, gave in to the inevitable curiosity and checked a few out. It didn’t take us long to realise, though, that there was very little to choose between them – simply put, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I remember catching a movie at a Gurgaon mall soon after the mall strip had opened up and pondering over the redundancy of it all – there were about three of those tall, gleaming, glass and chrome buildings, complete with flashing lights, glitzy shop fronts, gleaming Skodas and Toyotas rolling up and then jostling for the few parking spots; two stood side by side, while a third glowered from across the street – why, I thought, would someone choose to build three identical places, each boasting of the same shops and eateries, cheek by jowl? The builder clearly had the right idea, though – each attracted shopaholic, brand-conscious Delhiites like honey does the bee. Fizzy pop and ethicsI was recently sitting in a popular dive with an American guy, analysing the differences between Pepsi and Coke. Our mundane conversation was proving enjoyable - a rare snatch of pointless but jovial discussion in the Kolkatan pressure cooker. And so it came as a surprise, when moments later the same man embarked upon a lengthy discussion about life and death, battering me with the moral high ground through mouthfuls of Big Mac. The fellow (a self confessed Lapierre junkie, it transpired), had been working with a charity for two weeks, which as far as I could conclude, was morphing him into a bit of a depressant and somewhat of a philosopher. Unsurprisingly, my rather sedate line of work didn’t interest him that much in comparison. He did however, wonder how it felt to be employed amongst the bourgeoisie of a city steeped in wretchedness. Needless to say, I politely continued with my veg pakora, whilst contemplating poking my eye out with a nearby fork.All in the name of 'Jana Sadharon'Kolkata will not become clean only by trying to keep it clean through agencies like Municipal Corporation. Cleanliness is part of one's culture. Over the years our political bosses have created a culture in West Bengal where by no clear understanding or respect for cleanliness has grown in our society. We have learned to accept everything that is thrown on us. You look at every action that we take in the name of poor 'Jana sadharon'(public). We have made it a right for us to create anarchy and get away by saying that it is for the 'Jana Sadharon'! Consider these -
- Putting posters on walls/Graffiti is our right
- Uncontrolled auto emission/ unlimited auto on the street is our right
- Filling up of water bodies - we have made it a skill on how to by pass law
- Sound pollution during political meetings are allowed because it is for the 'Jana sadharon'
- You can block roads and have gatherings on the street with high decibels because it is for the right of the poor.
- You can have auto/rickshaw stand any where by putting up a jhanda because it is their livelihood.
In this situation the concept of cleaner Kolkata is difficult. There must be a political will to achieve this important social milestone.
Our political leaders in West Bengal owe an explanation to the citizen. When will we grow up and start asking questions to our political leaders?Wisdom can be contagiousNobel Laureate Economist-Philosopher Amartya Sen’s latest book The Idea of Justice takes on the conventional notion of justice, or more distinctively, the intrinsic idea and aspirations for a ‘just state with just institutions’. The 3rState of the NationLet us wait and pause for a second,
And give a thought as to where we as a Nation are heading.Five minutes of heaven"For me to talk about the man I have become, you need to know about the man I was," says Alistair Little in the very opening of Oliver Hirschbiegel's Five Minutes of Heaven (2009). Indeed, the past is never dead and the volatile future is but a reflection of what happened in the past.