Ami

onek khujeo painee nijer kore -

amar ami hariye gache ajke prothom bhore.

koyek bochor ageo chilo, ache sara-khhon -

ekti mon noyto e je, e to onek mon.

somoy ashe, somoy jai, somoy nirobota,

moner bhetor bujhte pari moner gopon kotha.

amar ami hariye fele pelam sobar gaan,

abeg-ghono praner khelai pelam notun pran.

Tumi

amar porar table, pore thaka boee,

pen, pencil, khata - se to ami noee.

amar janlar fake ek chilte rode

mishe thaka kanna, hotasha -

tai niye beche thake bach-bar asha,

amar moner majhe joto bhalo-basha

tomakei ghire thake poloke poloke,

amar lukano batha hashir jholoke.


jokhon pelam ami -- tomai du-chokh bhore,

pelam bachar mane -- nijer moton kore,

pelam hariye jaoa nirob shopno koto,

pelam jibon-take -- obiram, obiroto.


amari hater lekha kobitar soee

ar bolbena jani - " e to ami noee".

Kobita

tomar chokher kone ekante nirjone

khoniker hashi,

udashi bikel-bela sonali roder mela

ajo bhalo-bashi.

jirno garir chaka koto poth aka-baka

korlo je par-

paoa na paoar sheshe tomakei bhalo-beshe

jibon amar.

doinik protidin, office-er canteen,

doinik mukh,

doinik bastota, kolahol-mukhorota,

doinik shukh-

shob-kichu bhule giye keboli tomai niye

chole jete chaee,

tobuo jibon-khani okaron hoyrani-

bachar loraee.

Chora

pukur jole sobuj pana,

kukur poshe biral chana,

tapur tupur brishti pora,

chonno chara chinno chora,

dupur-belar olosh ghum,

ratri nama nijhum jhum,

bhorer alo mon bholalo -

sharata din katbe bhalo -

traffic jam-e golok dhadha,

borsha-kale rasta kada,

bhirer majhe thamlo gari -

poddo bojhai bolihari.

Kolkata

basto-bagish amar shohor, purono sriti harano prem,

amar school, amar college, bikel-belar local train,

bus-er bhire badam-ola, pother more bhikhari,

olosh sheet-e roder choa, notun alor dishari,

nostalgic adda kichu, prothom tintin,

tomai niye shopno dekha - abchaya sei din,

chokher kone hashir jhilik, moner koner obhiman,

hariye jaoa kanna kichu, cha-er stall-e hindi gan-

jani sobai akash chire, amar kache asbe fire;

jibon mane chaoa-paoa dukhho - shukher kolotan.

Somoy

Ekti gach dariye ache jano sobuj chata -

Notun haowai uriye diye itihasher pata;

Sokal bikel obiroto

Somoy chole somoy moto,

Diner sheshe purno hobe karur jibon-khata.



Ekti chele korto khela hajar bochor age -

Office niye firche bari gobhir onurage;

Bhobishhoter sritigulo -

Neiko tader chal-chulo,

Badhon-bihin okarone ajke mone lage.

Random thoughts on the West Bengal election: Confessions of a Social-Democrat

It is extremely unhealthy for a democracy if it is ruled by the same political party for more than three decades. I am happy to see the Left-front getting voted out of power.

I don't buy the perception, however, that West Bengal was ruined by 30 years of left-front rule. Contrary to the urban middle-class world view, the Left-front had some spectacular achievements in the early eighties, especially with regard to land reform; and some of the states that are touted as success-stories by neo-liberal propaganda have witnessed mass suicides by farmers. If we are to judge the progress of a state by the improvement in living standards of the overall population, rather than the number of shopping malls and high rise buildings in some urban pockets, CPM rule has by no means been pathetic. It is not a coincidence that the residents of Kolkata and non-resident Bengalis are traditionally opposed to CPM, whereas the party's main bastion used to be rural Bengal.

At the same time, I don't believe that the Left-front has done anything substantial in the past decade. If we rank the Indian states according to social indicators such as literacy rate and access to basic health-care, West Bengal falls somewhere in the middle of the list. There is one word that precisely defines today's Left-front - mediocre.

I resent the way the Left-front compromised the state's education system. All the appointments in the state universities, ranging from the administrative stuff and faculty members to the Vice-Chancellor, were influenced by CPM. The schools and colleges also came under the control of one omnipotent Party.

It is unfortunate that Mamata Banerjee is not a better alternative. Admittedly, she is an honest person who worked hard (and alone, for quite a while) to end CPM's dominance of West Bengal politics. But apart from her anti-left rhetorics, she doesn't have any constructive policies - economic, educational or otherwise. And to put it mildly, I don't respect the people around her - her inner circle of advisers who helped her stop the CPM juggernaut.

I consider myself to be a social-democrat. Yet I feel it was time for the CPM to go. To conclude, it is a pity that the only thing Mamata Banerjee has to offer is the end of CPM's hegemony.