This article has been in the pipeline for a long while now. Dates back to my summer internship days in Kolkata. Few bengalis, proud "Kolkata baashis " ( Calcutta residents) may get offended too, so I request them not to read anymore.
13th May, 2011, history is made in West Bengal. After 33 years of colonial Left rule, Ms. Bannerjee's TMC comes to the power. Strong, heart felt promises are made. One of the most outrageous ones being transforming Kolkata into London in the near future. Really?
15th July,2011 : Its been almost 2 months or 61 days or 87840 mins since Ms.Bannerjee's party have made inroads in the Writer's Building. As i make my way back from office, nothing has changed, absolutely nothing. A lot of hue and cry is made about Singur in the last few days and one can find the new sports minister giving close-ups in every channel. But the common man suffers the same harassment, same torment!
Being based out of Delhi for the last year or so, I feel sad when I come back to Kol and realize how much the city promises and what it actually delivers. Nothing increases my agony more than the pathetic condition prevalent in Kol metros. Agreed infrastructure will take considerable time, but the people in charge, they can change, or at least try to change.
Stuck in a long ticket counter queue for almost an hour, I make my way to the counter to find the attendant's seat empty. The attendant has apparently gone inside to bring ticket roll ( those days paper tickets were still in existence) and hasn't been back for the last 50 mins. Furious i decide to lodge a complain to the station master. As i enter the station master's room, I see a middle-aged man badmouthing a young boy and girl in filthy road side language. I am taken aback and soon realize its the station master himself. His shirt buttons are almost all open and only at times does he replace the *beep beep* with nouns and pronouns. I inform him of the condition outside and is blessed with few *beep beep* myself. He threatens to stop giving tickets to any1, if i dont get out of his room in next 5 mins. I tell him that at least consider bout those 100 people who are suffering in the heat outside ( Kol metros dont have AC, some have what looks like AC but wish they worked ), to be reprimanded again that everyone has to suffer as the CITY has no savior. His name is "S.DAS," a name i will never forget, i face i wish to.
I dont know whether the city will be London or not, but i will be happy if only humans treat others as humans. The people in power should talk to the common man, understand his problems. The name of the state is not an issue, the administrative people in charge are.
"A Bengali who wants to be proud again!"
15th July,2011 : Its been almost 2 months or 61 days or 87840 mins since Ms.Bannerjee's party have made inroads in the Writer's Building. As i make my way back from office, nothing has changed, absolutely nothing. A lot of hue and cry is made about Singur in the last few days and one can find the new sports minister giving close-ups in every channel. But the common man suffers the same harassment, same torment!
Being based out of Delhi for the last year or so, I feel sad when I come back to Kol and realize how much the city promises and what it actually delivers. Nothing increases my agony more than the pathetic condition prevalent in Kol metros. Agreed infrastructure will take considerable time, but the people in charge, they can change, or at least try to change.
Stuck in a long ticket counter queue for almost an hour, I make my way to the counter to find the attendant's seat empty. The attendant has apparently gone inside to bring ticket roll ( those days paper tickets were still in existence) and hasn't been back for the last 50 mins. Furious i decide to lodge a complain to the station master. As i enter the station master's room, I see a middle-aged man badmouthing a young boy and girl in filthy road side language. I am taken aback and soon realize its the station master himself. His shirt buttons are almost all open and only at times does he replace the *beep beep* with nouns and pronouns. I inform him of the condition outside and is blessed with few *beep beep* myself. He threatens to stop giving tickets to any1, if i dont get out of his room in next 5 mins. I tell him that at least consider bout those 100 people who are suffering in the heat outside ( Kol metros dont have AC, some have what looks like AC but wish they worked ), to be reprimanded again that everyone has to suffer as the CITY has no savior. His name is "S.DAS," a name i will never forget, i face i wish to.
I dont know whether the city will be London or not, but i will be happy if only humans treat others as humans. The people in power should talk to the common man, understand his problems. The name of the state is not an issue, the administrative people in charge are.
"A Bengali who wants to be proud again!"
1. Evidently, your writing skills far exceed my expectations!:p So this automatically makes you the obvious choice to sit inside the hall during convention, whilst I shuttle in and out- looking oh-so-important carrying a walkie-talkie!
ReplyDelete2. I can emphatise and understand that you would have wanted to thump the guy- I would have.
But to be fair to Ms. Banerjee- it's been 2 months only. Trust me buds, it's gonna take a lot more than that to change the status quo in the state. And from what I have been reading in the papers, she's been inflicting surprise checks on unsuspecting officers- so hopefully, one of them will be for our very own Mr. Das, and then it'll be party-time! :D
Lolz...
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