Chobi

jei chobi-take parini akte - purono akar school-e

sei chobi chilo monete lukono - dekhini moner bhule;

sei chobi jure ekla akash, onto-bihin poth;

sei chobi jure harano otit, ochena bhobishhot -

din chole geche onek onek, din chole geche dure;

sritir shohor matalo se din - jibon gaaner sure.

A Request

If anyone is reading this blog and has any idea how to get rid of the obnoxious links containing the advertisements (these have started to appear very recently in the blogger), please let me know. I will be forever grateful.

Independence Day

I spent the first twenty one years of my life in Kolkata. I had a decent education, primarily because I was born in a well to do family. At present I am pursuing higher studies in the US.

I have many friends - all of them belong to the same social category. Some are software engineers in India, some did their MBAs from reputed institutes, some will settle in the US for the rest of their lives, and some will stay back in their home country, joining the same herd of software engineers, bankers and university professors.

For the purpose of this blog post, I will refer to these people as "We". To put it briefly, "We" denotes the urban middle class. Of course, I belong to this set of people. Every statement about "We" also applies to me.

We are Indians, and we love our country. Typically, our patriotism takes one of the following forms: 1) Cheering for India during cricket matches. 2) Appreciating movies like Rang De Basanti. 3) Admiring the Indian Army. 4) An intense disdain for corrupt politicians, as if these politicians are the only people who are ruining the country. 5) Adulation for "apolitical" activists like Kiran Bedi and Anna Hazare. 6) Anti-reservation views. Specifically, the claim that we have advanced in our careers because of "merit", and the accident of birth had no role to play in our lives.

I could go on adding more items to the above list. However, one item will remain conspicuously absent, namely, the item concerning the majority of Indians - the people living in the villages, the farmers, the dalits, the village women, the landless laborers and millions of others who had never been to Mcdonalds or the university classrooms - those 836 million Indians who live on less than 50 cents per day.

For people like us, it is common practice to cherish the Independence Day by watching movies like "Lagaan" or "Rang De Basanti". For a change, this time why don't we watch a documentary called "Nero's Guests"?



If you are an Indian and reading this blog (the people belonging to the second category have become an endangered species on the verge of extinction), please check out this one hour documentary. Unlike Lagaan or Rang De Basanti, probably you have never heard of this movie, let alone watching it. I guarantee that you will not be wasting your time.

We are the Nero's guests. Today I wish all of us a very happy Independence Day.

Kolkata

Ekanto apon Kolkata -

Ogunti manusher bhir,

Kobekar bhule jaoa kotha,

Okaron mon osthir.

Jan-jote jome thaka rasta,

Tip-tip brishtir jol,

Miss kora CTC-r bus-ta --

Dai ni to kono missed call.

Fele asha jontrona gulo,

Nesha dhora jiboner gho(o)r -

Hariyeche colleg-er dhulo,

Harai-nee amar shohor.

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.