REFLECTIONS ON 31 DECEMBER 2015 (DOUBLES AS A NEWSLETTER)

Yet another year has come and gone, and I am older by one year. Seventy, going on seventy-one. When we were young we used to think, my God, seventy! This guy could drop dead any time now! But I still feel okay, touch wood -- BP absolutely normal, blood sugar under control with a little bit of help from 50 mg of sitagliptine, uric acid ditto with 40 mg of Febuxostat, cholesterol & tryglyceride ditto with 10 mg of statin and acid reflux with 20 mg of delayed-release rabiprazole. Those are the only medications i take regularly. On the family front, by the grace of God, it’s been mostly good. My daughters are very happily married, the elder has given me two very bright grandchildren, and my world lights up when I’m in their company, Pity is, all of them are far away in the land said to be flowing with milk and honey -- US of A, that is. Still, one can't have everything.

But in a lot of ways it has been an extremely momentous year. I have been repositioned by fate (acting, in the premises, through the President of India), relocated and forced to thoroughly recast my life. Here's how. 

Sometime around the middle of May I had made one of my usual trips to Delhi for one or more of the several arbitration cases that I had in hand over there, and had, as usual, put up with my Didibhai (cousin sister), Mrs. Chirasree Chakraborty (Mahua) and her husband Sudhangshu Chakraborty at their house in Saket. Their daughter Simantini (Babi) who lives in the Greater Washington area in USA was visiting and had taken us to dinner at the Chinese Restaurant at Hotel Imperial. And suddenly, bang in the middle of my Kung Pao chicken, I am informed over telephone that i have been made the Governor of the state of Tripura! The spate of telephone calls that followed, together with the shaking that the good (?) news gave me, completely spoilt a very delectable dinner.

The spate of calls congratulating me followed, and I was frankly at a loss to decide whether to be happy or sad. Happy, for obvious reasons; and sad, because it would put a stop to my political activities, and would seriously curtail my independence that I value so much. It would also cause me a considerable loss of income – I was making very good money as an arbitrator and was in great demand.

I realized that I couldn't possibly refuse to accept the assignment. So like an automaton I came to Agartala, got sworn in, and took up residence at Raj Bhavan Agartala in what used to be called Pushpabanta Palace and had been occupied by Tagore more than once. It felt like a gilded cage.

First I had to do the unpleasant task of resigning from all my arbitrations. Unpleasant, principally because I realised what a huge inconvenience it should be for the parties. Then I began to go through the rituals. I had already seen Rajnath Singh while I was in Delhi. Now in Delhi again after having been sworn in, I met President Pranab Mukherjee and presented him with a copy of my book ‘The Life and Times of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’.Then I met my idol Narendra Modi. Then Arun Jaitley.

As happens with all things in life I gradually began to settle down in my gubernatorial duties. I saw in this post an opportunity to read and write – in fact unless I kept myself occupied with something other than ribbon-cutting I’d go crazy. So I took up writing the Bengali version of my own book ‘My People Uprooted’ which was lying neglected all this time because of pressure of politics and arbitrations. Simultaneously, I resumed my autobiography, which was progressing very lackadaisically. I am now well set into both and am keeping myself occupied. And happy – to that extent.

Governorship of Tripura is a very cushy job in the sense that the state government is very firmly in the saddle and the governor has little to do by way of running administration. It is also an eventless life. Just one event occurred in the course of my last seven months – and that arose from a tweet of mine. Tweeting is a habit I had picked up sometime in 2010, mainly to comment on the writing of my most favourite journalist, Tavleen Singh. I did not realize at the time how addictive it can be. And a bit dangerous too.

Now, after the terrorist Yakub Memon was hanged there were the usual controversies on twitter in which I joined. No trouble so far. However, it irked me that some 15,000 people had joined in his Janaza or funeral procession. Fifteen thousand people to follow the corpse of a convicted and hanged terrorist! A bit thick, won’t you say? So I idly tweeted, while sitting at breakfast, that intelligence ought to keep a tab on all those followers, because many among them could be potential terrorists.

Frankly, I was not ready for the outburst that followed – praise, endorsements, retweets, vituperation and plain abuse. I made one or two replies then thought better of it and let the storm rage. And rage it did, for three or four days. But the attack was on two fronts: first, how could someone say this – he’s an islamophobe, etc.etc.; and second, how can a Governor say this.

The first is a factual question in which I feel I was vindicated by a statement by Mumbai Police two days later to the effect that D Company had ordered and/or financed the mourners. The second is a legal question, and I challenged my detractors to show me the law which prevents me from saying something that concerns the security of our Indian state. No answer.

The other disappointment I had as Governor was with my annual autumn holiday. Since 2005 we have been visiting our daughters in USA every autumn, usually October-November. But this year I was asked (very politely, of course) to cut down on my holiday and I’m a little sore about it.

Most other things about being a Governor are great. My wife had had a total knee replacement operation this November, and the thing went incredibly smoothly, no doubt because of my being Governor. Of course I miss my anonymity. Now a motorcade must follow me, part of it of commandoes with AK-47s, even when I am going for a haircut in Kolkata (in Agartala haircuts are in-house). I can’t go shopping in South City Mall, something I used to enjoy doing. But one place I can go to, and I will go to, is Calcutta Club.

This year in December I paid a visit to Bangladesh and had a tete-a-tete with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, no less. This is my third visit this year – in January I went to Dhaka and in March, to Khulna. I must confess I love to go to Bangladesh – my roots pulling me, I suppose. Which is why being driven out of that country makes me so sore. In January the former President Ershad had called on me – why, even our High Commissioner was surprised when I told him later about this. Both in January and December I visited our ancestral village Satgaon, district Brahmanbaria. The first time my eyes watered and my voice choked. In January I also visited my mother’s village Kalikachchha, in the same district. I was impressed by the way they have preserved old relics associated with non-Muslim poets of yore – Tagore’s kuthibari in Shilaidaha and his wife’s place in Dakshindihi, Jessore.

That’s it, more or less. See you next year, on 31st December 2016.

TAGORE, CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI AND THE BHAGVA DHVAJ

     Tagore's memorable poem 'Pratinidhi' ought to be better known throughout India in that it describes in lyric, that he alone was capable of, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's adoption of the Bhagva Dhvaj as his Royal Standard..The poem is to be found in the book 'Katha o Kahini', in which the exploits of many Rajput and Sikh heroes have also been described in inimitable poetry.

     'Pratinidhi' begins with a scene in which one morning at Satara Fort, Shivaji finds his Guru Ramdas begging from door to door. Shivaji wonders, what can satisfy this unlikely mendicant who has the king among his disciples! So he sends his courtier Balaji with a slip of paper to Ramdas. Ramdas receives the slip and sees that in it Shivaji has given away to him his entire kingdom. 

     The next day Ramdas goes to Shivaji and says, "Now that you have given away your kingdom, of what use will you be"? Shivaji replies, Ï shall happily sacrifice my life for you in your service". Ramdas then asks Shivaji to come with him begging and Shivaji does so.

     They then go from door to door together, with a begging bowl in hand. Ramdas then tells him that he should continue to act as king, but as the 'Pratinidhi' (representative) of the mendicant who is Ramdas. Thus the kingdom will be ruled by someone who has no kingdom. In order to symbolise that, Ramdas gives his bhagwa cloth to Shivaji with his blessings, and says, from now on this will be your Royal Standard, the cloth of someone who has no interest in worldly things.

     Then Ramdas sings to the almighty, tears flowing from his eyes, "O Lord, it is you who have made me king in this world. I shall be at your feet always, please come and take over your kingdom from me". 

     The topical few lines in Bengali are reproduced below in Roman. Because the language is highly Sanskritised, even people who do not speak Bengali should be able to catch the meaning and the music of the lines.

Tomare korilo vidhi       Bhikshuker pratinidhi

Rajyeshwar deen udaseen

Palibe je rajdharma     Jeno taha mor karma

Rajya loye rabe rajyaheen

Vatsa, tobe ei laho     mor ashirvad saho

Amar gerua gatravas

Bairagir uttariya     pataka koriya niyo

Kahilen Guru Ramdas''

BENGALI MUSLIMS

I have often found it quite paradoxical that Bengal had such a large Muslim population, if one considers the geographical distribution of followers of the two religions in the South Asian subcontinent. If one travelled from West to East along the vast land mass known as Indo-Gangetic plain (Aryavarta) in those pre-partition days, when there were some Hindus and some Muslims in every part of the plain, one would have observed that the proportion of Muslims in the population would go on steadily reducing as one went from West to East. Thus, the North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan and Sind were overwhelmingly Muslim ; Punjab was balanced, with a Muslim majority tapering off as one went from Attock to Ambala, west to east within the province ; and the United Provinces and Bihar were overwhelmingly Hindu. Then how is it that suddenly the pattern reversed itself in East and North Bengal, and then again fell into place in the easternmost province of British India, namely Assam?

The answer to this PROBABLY lies in that the bulk,or at least a substantial part of Bengali Muslims are converts from Buddhists, not so-called lower-caste Hindus (SCLCH), as is very often believed. This is my finding, of course arguable. Had the latter been true, so many Namahshudras, Kaibartas, Rajbongshis and others would not have remained in both West Bengal and Bangladesh. In fact huge swaths of West Bengal in the North 24-Parganas and Nadia districts (both border districts) are populated by SCLCH, mainly Namahshudras, who left everything in erstwhile East Pakistan and came away, but refused to convert to Islam. Even in present day Bangladesh there are more than a crore of Hindus (about 9% of the population), the bulk of them SCLCH. They are a majority, or nearly so, in Gopalgonj district of Bangladesh. They have a thriving religious life -- last March I visited a hugely attended and financed 'Oshtoprohor Radhakrishna Naam Yagna' near Khulna. This was in keeping with Shri Chaitanya's Bhakti cult. So it is quite difficult to accept that they constituted the bulk of Muslim converts. Some Namahshudras, of course, did convert. The rest of the minorities in that country are a few Brahmin-Kayastha-Baidya city dwellers, Saha businessmen and a handful of Buddhists and Christians. The once-powerful hold of Buddhism in present-day Bangladesh is evidenced by the extensive ruins of Mahasthangarh in Bogra district, Mainamati ruins in Comilla district and Somapura Mahavihara in Naogaon district. One more evidence is the derisive word that Bengali Hindus use for Bengali Muslims 'Neray' (the corresponding Muslim word for Hindus is 'Malaun'). Neray is a diminutive of 'Nara' which means tonsured or shaven-headed. Bengali Muslims used to shave their heads (some still do) but grow beards, a hangover from their Buddhist days. Muslims from no other part of South Asia tonsure their heads.

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM CONTROVERSY

A controversy has been generated by Shri Kalyan Singh, Hon'ble Governor of Rajasthan's statement that the 'Adhinayaka' in the National Anthem refers to the British king. In truth 'ADHINAYAKA' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Superior Leader'. It is NOT the name of any British King or Viceroy. There cannot, therefore, arise any question of comparing it to the removal of King George V statue from India Gate. Tagore himself, incensed by this controversy which arose during his lifetime, wrote to his acolyte Pulinbehari Sen on November 20, 1937, “ In the song I have announced the victory (Jaya) of that Bharata-Bhagya-Vidhata (the Being who determines the fate of India) who is the eternal charioteer of the Indian masses through the ages, through ups and downs, who is their all-seeing, all knowing guide. (Clearly he could not be) any George, whether fifth or sixth”. In another letter dated March 29, 1939, he wrote to Sudharani Devi, “I consider it beneath my dignity to answer those who impute to me the unimaginable stupidity of singing paeans to fourth or fifth George as the ….eternal charioteer (of Indians)”. [Rabindra-Jeevani, official biography of Rabindranath Tagore, by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, p. 524, by courtesy of noted Tagore scholar Dr. Chirasree Chakraborty, D.Litt., formerly of LSR College, New Delhi].

Jana-Gana-Mana-Adhinayaka….Bharat-bhagya-vidhata thus clearly refers to a divine being and not to any human, least of all to some British king. A National Anthem or National Flag of a country are sacred objects, adopted by the Constituent Assembly after mature deliberation by its founding fathers. No self-respecting nation tinkers with them unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ও মমতা : পরিস্থিতি ও পরিণাম 

মমতা কী চান? তার রাজনীতির আসল স্বরূপ কি? তার সাফল্যের পিছনে রহস্য কি ? সাফল্য সম্বন্ধে তিনি যেখানে নিশ্চিত সেখানে এত মারপিট করাচ্ছেন কেন? এই গুটিকতক প্রশ্নের উত্তর দেবার চেষ্টায় এই পোস্ট |

মমতার রাজনীতি মূলতঃ খুব সরল | মমতার চাহিদা দুটি | প্রথম, যেন তেন প্রকারেণ ক্ষমতায় টিকে থাকা | দ্বিতীয়, দলের রাশটি একশ শতাংশ নিজের হাতে রাখা | দুটির মধ্যে কোনটি ওঁর কাছে বেশি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ তা আমি বলতে পারব না | কিন্তু এ দুটি ছাড়া মমতার আর কোনো চাহিদা নেই – অতএব বালাইও নেই | বাজার অর্থনীতি ভাল না রাষ্ট্রায়ত্ত্ব শিল্প ভাল, পশ্চিমবঙ্গে শিল্প আসবে কি আসবে না, না এলে ক্রমবর্ধমান বেকারী কি করে ঘোচানো যাবে, নেতাজী সুভাষচন্দ্রের শেষ পর্যন্ত কি হয়েছিল – এ সব নিয়ে ওঁর বিন্দুমাত্র মাথাব্যথা নেই | ক্ষমতায় থাকা ওঁর কাছে কোনো means to an end নয়, পাকাপাকিই end | ক্ষমতায় থেকে উনি জেলায় জেলায় শুধু শুধু ঘুরবেন, আর মাঝে মাঝে ফিল্মস্টার নিয়ে নাচনকোন্দন করবেন – এগুলো সম্ভবত ওঁর ছোটবেলার অবদমিত আকাঙ্ক্ষার প্রকাশ |

তা হলে ওঁর সাফল্যের পিছনে রহস্য কি? এটাও খুব সরল – এক কথায় ঘুষ | পশ্চিমবঙ্গের ২৭% মুসলিম জোট বেঁধে ভোট দেন – অতএব এদের সোজাসুজি ঘুষ দিতে হবে | এই মুসলিমদের একটা বড় অংশ অর্ধসাক্ষর বা নিরক্ষর, মসজিদের ইমামদের কথায় চলেন -- অতএব ইমামদের আরো বড় ঘুষ দিতে হবে | সঙ্গে সঙ্গে যাতে এঁরা ইমামদের খপ্পরে থাকেন, নিজেরা স্বাধীন চিন্তাভাবনা করবার সুযোগ না পান, সেইজন্য এঁদের সাধারণ স্কুলে না পড়িয়ে মাদ্রাসায় পড়ার উপর জোর দিতে হবে | পাড়ার ক্লাবগুলোতে বেশির ভাগ সাধারণ ঘরের বেকার ছেলেরা আড্ডা মারে, এদের আর কোথাও যাবার নেই, কিছু করবারও নেই -- তাই ক্লাবগুলোকে ঘুষ দিতে হবে |

এই সঙ্গে মমতা এও উপলব্ধি করেছেন, যে খানিকটা মারধর, খুনজখম না করলে, এবং পুলিশ-প্রশাসনকে অপব্যবহার না করলে, বিরোধী দলগুলো তাঁর এই ঘুষতত্ত্ব  নিয়ে এত চেঁচামেচি করবে যে ব্যাপারটা সাধারণ মানুষ বুঝেও ফেলতে পারেন | তাই এগুলো করতে হবে, সঙ্গে পুলিশকে দিয়ে কেস খাওয়াতে হবে | যাতে বিরোধীদের চুপ করিয়ে রাখা যায় | তাছাড়া, কিছু খুনখারাপি না করলে সিপিএম থেকে আসা লুম্পেন গুলো করবে কি? ওদেরকে ব্যস্ত রাখতে হবে তো!তা না হলে তো এরা নিজেদের মধ্যেই মারামারি আরম্ভ করে দেবে – ১৬ ই এপ্রিল কাশীপুরে যা করেছিল!

এই সব করতে গিয়ে রাজ্যে জনকল্যানের জন্য নির্দিষ্ট টাকা ঘুষ খাতে খরচ হয়ে গেল কি না, মুসলিম সম্প্রদায়ের একটা অংশ মৌলবাদী বা দেশবিরোধীদের খপ্পরে পড়ছেন কি না, ক্লাবের ছেলেগুলোর সারাটা জীবন কি এইভাবেই কাটবে, এরা বিয়ে-সাদী করবে না, সংসার করবে না -- এই সব বিষয়ে মমতা চরম উদাসীন | ক্ষমতায় টিকে থাকতে হবে, ক্ষমতায় টিকে থাকতে হবে, আর কিচ্ছুতে কিচ্ছু এসে যায় না |

এর সঙ্গে দলের রাশটি একশ শতাংশ, এক হাজার শতাংশ, নিজের হাতে রাখতেই হবে | সেটা করার জন্য মমতার ফর্মুলা -- substandard লোককে কাছাকাছি রাখতে হবে, উঁচু পদ দিতে হবে | মমতার চেয়ে একচুলও বেশি পদার্থ যাঁর মধ্যে আছে তাকে নির্মমভাবে ছেঁটে ফেলতে হবে, নিদেনপক্ষে ক্ষমতার থেকে দূরে রাখতে হবে | এই নীতির (যদি একে নীতি বলা যায়) চরমতম প্রকাশ দেখা গিয়েছিল ২০০৫ সালে সুব্রত মুখার্জির বিতাড়নে | সুব্রতর অপরাধ, তিনি মেয়র হিসেবে ভাল কাজ করেছিলেন, কলকাতা পুরসভাকে অর্থনৈতিকভাবে স্বনির্ভর করেছিলেন | সুব্রত বিতাড়িত হবার পর বলেছিলেন, মমতার প্রধান দোষ হচ্ছে প্রচন্ড পরশ্রীকাতরতা | আর এই একই নীতির প্রকাশ দেখা যাচ্ছে পার্থ চ্যাটার্জি আর ফিরাদ হাকিমের উঠে আসার মধ্যে – এই দুই substandard নেতা আজকে মমতার মন্ত্রীসভায় সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ মন্ত্রী|

মুসলিম ভোটের লোভে ঘুষ দেবার ব্যাপারে উল্লেখ্য, এই দোষে সিপিএম ও কংগ্রেস ও অল্পবিস্তর দোষী | কিন্তু তারা এতটা চোখের চামড়াহীন হতে পারে নি | মারধর, খুনজখম এবং পুলিশ-প্রশাসনকে অপব্যবহার মমতা সিপিএমের কাছ থেকে ভালই শিখেছেন | আগে বলতাম মেধাবী ছাত্রী, এখন গুরুমারা চেলা বলতেও আপত্তি নেই | কারণ সিপিএম-ও গোড়ার দিকে সাইবাড়ি আনন্দমার্গী করলেও শেষের দিকে খানিকটা রাশ টেনে রেখেছিল – যদিও একেবারে শেষ লগ্নে নেতাইকান্ড করেছে |  কিন্তু মমতার ওই বালাই নেই | এর নাম extreme cynicism | এই জিনিষটা লালু যাদবের আছে, কিন্তু মমতা বোধ হয় তাঁকেও ছাড়িয়ে গিয়েছেন |

বাঙালির অভিশাপের আর একটি চেহারা ছিল সিপিএম বা বামফ্রন্ট | এদের ৩৪ বছরের অত্যাচারের হাত থেকে বাঙালিকে উদ্ধার করে নিজের খপ্পরে এনে মমতা মানুষের কাছ থেকে খানিকটা সম্ভ্রম আদায় করে নিয়েছেন | এখন যদি ধরে নেওয়া যায় পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মানুষ  মমতায়ই  মজে থাকবেন তা হলে আগামী দিনে পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মানুষের জন্য কি ভবিষ্যত অপেক্ষা করছে? সংক্ষেপে জবাব হতে পারে এই :

১) সমস্ত শিল্পসম্ভাবনা জলাঞ্জলি দিয়ে পশ্চিমবঙ্গ আবার একটি প্রায়-পুরোপুরি কৃষিনির্ভর অবস্থায় ফিরে যাবে |

২) যেহেতু শুধু কৃষি এই রাজ্যের সমস্ত মানুষকে কর্মসংস্থান দিতে পারবে না, সেইজন্য বেকারী ভয়াবহ আকার ধারণ করবে |

৩) এই ক্রমবর্ধমান বেকারদের একটা উল্লেখযোগ্য অংশ অপরাধের অন্ধকার জগতে চলে যাবে| তোলাবাজি ডাকাতি ও ধর্ষণ বাড়বে |

৪) রাজ্যে ইসলামীকরণ বাড়বে | কিছু কিছু জায়গায় হিন্দুদের থাকা দুঃসহ হয়ে উঠবে |

৫) পুলিশ-প্রশাসনের রাজনীতিকরণ সম্পূর্ণ হবে | অরাজনৈতিক মানুষের কোনো আশ্রয় থাকবে না | সাধারণভাবে একটি সম্পূর্ণ অরাজক অবস্থা তৈরী হবে | 

সৃষ্টিকর্তা পশ্চিমবঙ্গের বাঙালির কপালে কেন এমন দুটি  পদার্থ – যাদের নাম সিপিএম ও মমতা -- লিখে দিয়েছিলেন তিনিই জানেন | সম্ভবত বাঙালিকে পরীক্ষা করার জন্য – বাঙালি এই রাজনীতিতে বশীভূত না হয়ে এর স্বরূপ চিনতে পারে কি না | পারবে মনে হয়?

BENGALI HINDUS IN WEST BENGAL: A GONE CASE

Mamata's Trinamool govt has engineered 3 major communal pogroms (not riots) in the recent past and is unarguably the most communal govt this state has ever seen. About two weeks ago I pointed to these pogroms, namely Deganga (Distt. North 24-Parganas, September 2010), (Naliakhali, PS Canning, Distt South 24-Parganas, February 2013) and Usthi (Distt South 24-Parganas, February 2015). On Twitter I threw a challenge to Trinamoolis to deny these. NOT A SINGLE Trinamooli (there are at least a dozen on Twitter these days, some believed to be Derek's creations) came forward to challenge them. I have PERSONALLY visited the scenes in the first two cases and have satisfied myself that they are genuine anti-Hindu pogroms -- not riots, as there was no Hindu retaliation. Of these Deganga was engineered by Haji Nurul Islam, Trinamool MP from Basirhat. This was such a serious case that the ARMY had to be brought out. There was CPI(M) government then, but no action was taken against Nurul, because the CPI(M) sucks up to Muslims for their vote as much as Trinamool. Naliakhali was engineered by Ahmed Hasan Imran, Mamata's Rajya Sabha MP and founder-president of the now-outlawed SIMI. The Usthi pogrom is too recent, and I don't have all details yet, but it was engineered by Giasuddin Mollah, Minister of State in the Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education in the Govt of West Bengal. 

Certain things are common among all three and stand out. In all three there were (a) Widespread destruction of Hindu property (b) Desecration of Hindu temples and (c) Terrorization of Hindus, but NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO THE PERSON OF ANY HINDU (i.e. NO MURDER, GRIEVOUS INJURY OR RAPE). This is nothing to be happy about, because it proves that the pogroms were well orchestrated, carefully measured. The police, of course, idly stood by during the conflagration. In the Naliakhali case the Hindus were so terrorized that I could not persuade anyone of them to file even a police complaint.
The question might arise as to why nobody knows about these. The answer is that the media in West Bengal collectively refuses to cover it. Their ostensible excuse is that this might create more riots -- but I don't believe that, there must be some kind of unwritten understanding among the govt (doesn't matter whether Trinamool or CPI(M)) and the media barons. For what reason, don't ask me, ask the media.
To my mind the Muslim fundamentalists in this state are testing the waters. As soon as they have dominated an area their design is to make it unlivable for Hindus. Mamata's encouragement to this, with her tongue hanging out for Muslim votes, is helping matters. The foreign money element, mostly Saudi, which is channelled through mosques, is adding its bit. 30-40 years from now Bengali Hindus will have to start packing their bags from this state-just their great-grandfathers had to, from erstwhile East Pakistan and Bangladesh. I seriously hope there won't be widespread rapes and murders as there were in 1950 or 1971 in erstwhile East Pakistan, and the Hindus will leave quietly, their tails between their legs. For, I believe, no race in this world is so oblivious of dangers to itself than Bengali Hindus, no race is more capable of such collective suicide.
I'm damned lucky I won't be around 30-40 years from now.

REFLECTIONS ON 31 DECEMBER 2014 (DOUBLES AS A NEWSLETTER)

Another year has come and gone, showering us with experiences good and bad. By the grace of God, it’s been mostly good. My daughters are happily married, the elder has given me two very bright grandchildren, and my world lights up when I’m in their company, as I try to be at least for a month each year. I’m carrying on with my twin occupations of politics (which keeps me busy) and arbitration in engineering contracts (which gives me money). And in between I try to do some writing, both in English and Bengali. Both my full-size books, namely My People, Uprooted and The Life and Times of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, are doing well. I am trying to write an abridged Bengali translation of the former – don’t know how long it’ll take.  Politically my party is doing well, and the ground is slipping from beneath the feet of the disgusting Trinamool.

The next book I have in mind would be directed at disabusing the Bengali Hindu mind of what I call BengaLeftism. BengaLeftism is an attitude, a concoction of (a) defiance of authority without reason, (b) phaankibaazi (cheating on work) (c) getting party politics into everything, from poultry farming to teaching to ironmongery. (d) mob behaviour, and (e) a general attitude of rebelliousness and disorderly conduct, all of it made respectable by wrapping it up in a package of Marxist dialectic, whereby all the above can be passed off as instruments of class struggle. This attitude has been the undoing of the race I belong to, namely Bengali Hindu. The race which had given birth to luminaries like Rabindranath Tagore, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and count les others stands in danger of dying out. I am lucky I won’t be alive to see that; but while I am alive, I must do what I can to stop it.

I’m getting on in years – I’ll be 70 on my next birthday, i.e. 14^th September 2015. By the grace of God, knock on wood, and everything, I’m physically OK. Of course I’m overweight bordering on obese (BMI 33.5), and all my attempts over the last 15 years to shed the extra belly fat have failed. This has been the source of some frustration, and I think I’ll carry this fat with me when I go to meet my maker. But all this pales away when I consider what I don’t have! No hypertension (120/85), no serious blood-sugar problem (HbA₁C 6.3), no knee problem, no spinal problem, no stiff joints. A bit of sugar, a bit of cervical spondylosis, allergy resulting in a running nose through the year – these I can comfortably live with.

Politically we must work harder. Our President Rahul Sinha, whom I have supported and backed to the hilt, is working like a demon, criss-crossing the state, both making speeches and looking to the organization. I am not into organizing, but intellectual exercises, like writing party literature, drafting policy, etc. I have just completed the latest edition of a booklet titled “BJP Ki o Keno” (What  and Wherefore of BJP).

On the family front Anuradha and I made our annual trip to see our daughters in the US in September-October 2014, and before that went on a cruise of the Western Mediterranean. Last year we travelled in Scotland and the year before that, Alaska (Anuradha stayed behind at Boston with the family on this trip). We began from Civitavechhia, a port near Rome, then on to Naples, then to Barcelona, Marseilles, Villefranche (near Nice, the port serving the famed French Riviera), La Spezia (port serving Florence and Pisa) and back to Civitavechhia. On the way, between Naples and Barcelona, we passed through the Straits of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia. Thence we travelled to Rome, Milan and on to New York. I missed the chance of seeing Florence, because it involved quite some uphill walking which Anuradha was not up to. I visited Pisa – the leaning tower was a disappointment, but was surprised to hear Bengali being spoken there, and found a whole lot of Bangladeshis. From Naples we had a look at the Vesuvius. But the real treat was Villefranche from where we visited the Principality of Monaco, saw the Casino at Monte Carlo (from the outside), visited a picturesque village called Eze, and had an unforgettable view of the Mediterranean from the mountaintop. A fantastic trip, all in all.