Bongs over the world, let us unite!

'twas in 2005, that Benegal's "Bose- The Forgotten Hero" hit the theatres. Whilst the movie was far from a box-office hit, it managed to reevoke nationalist sentiments in a select audience. Having the skeleton of that of a documentary, BTFH narrated the story of Bose the way we have all been fed: it concluded with the oft quoted Taipei crash.
There was, quite expectedly, no mention of Babajan Gouffra, member Politburo Soviet Union. There was no mention of the lackadaiscal, or worse still nefarious attitude of Indian governements (post indpendence) in unraveling the mystery.

Benegal, though, had hit the nail on its head-the forgotten hero!
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As a kid, I used to be intrigued by the glaring, in your face, uniqueness of my Hero :
His portratit is underlined by 23January 1897-? as opposed to 2October 1869-30January 1948 and 14November 1889-27May 1964 of mere mortals.
The "?" alone raises respect for the spirit, courage and philosophy that embodied (embodies ?) him- an epitome of interminability.

The aim of this writing is not to compare Netaji with others, who did precisely nothing but further aided the path to slavery under the British.
What this article sets out to achieve is to appeal to Bengalis around the globe to erase "forgotten" from Benegal's phrase.
A can you believe it fact to prove Benegal was justified. :more than 3/4 of the country that is now India, is unaware of the significance of 23 January!

Gandhism has become a fashion statement for the new generation given the inexplicable popularity of a mindless Bollywood flick .Nehru is viewed as being the farsighted architect of modern India.
And how has this nation treated Netaji?
Well, India indeed knows how to royally honour her leaders: Subhash Bose is not even a Bharat Ratna!

For a man, who sacrificed his life for the freedom of this country, and - this will rub it in- IS the only Indian to have scored a 'victory' over Gandhi, shouldn't he have been given slightly better treatment?
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It is biologically improbable that Bose would still be physically alive. And since, independent India, has done absolutely Nothing to honour the Real father of the nation, it is our responsibilty- as Ultras-to posthumously honour our Hero:

23 January, within the realms of the rule book, take a day off from work.
Treat it just like 2 October!
Only an absolute 'in your face' movement, where a race voluntarily declares itself unavailable will serve to exterminate the "forgotten" tag.
Once and for all.
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For a man, who gave his life for Independent INDIA (and not Independent Bengal) and was FAR from being parochial, I urge all non bengalis- and pro nationalists- to pay their homage to the Greatest Leader this country has ever seen (and will ever see).
I am not entirely sure if Subhash Bose will strike a chord in you in the manner he does for us.
But in case, he does- and I am dead sure he will- re read the Marxesque title of this writing as,
Indians over the world, let us unite!

The Bong Connection..myths and reality

Everytime I have come across someone who hails from a part of India, different to the one I belong to,my introduction has conjured a raised eyebrow, a sly grin, a near perfect failure to comprehend my name,an almost universal case of my surname being misspelt,..... the comedy of errors goes on!! It ends only when I to " okay..so you are from K-aayl-kaa-taa..proper K-aayl-kaa-taa?", answer in a diminutive voice, "yes, Proper Calcutta.."
To 'Indians', we Bengalis seem some creature from outer space, a touch shy, very defensive, not apolitical and born experts in chain smoking and procrastination.
According to 'them', We lack the aggro of the Jaaths, the business sense of the Gujjus and the Maroos, the strength of the Paajis,the agility of the Marathis,the courage of the Rajputs and the rationale of the Southeners.
The treatment is as if, We actually hail either from erstwhile Soviet Russia or from Communist China and have set up some sort of a habitat in an isolated portion of India.
Time to address certain questions...
One, the national animal is a Banagali FYI :) Indians do not portray the Gujju lion or the rajput peacock or the assamese rhino or even for that matter the kerelite tusker as the one worthy of national acclaim..the BENGAL Tiger is right on top of the podium..1-0!
Two, any Indian who knows the national anthem (don't smirk , the Brazilian squad for World Cup'94 were trained 'cause they did not know their anthem) knows Bangla-"..dravid utkal BONGO.." 2-0..
Three, the identification of Bengalis with Left politics is not unjustified, I concede- especially when a certain coalition has ruled a state for over 30 years now. It would be helpful to note, however, that one Shyamaprasad Mukherjee was the godfather of strictly Anti-Left politics..am not justifying either this way or that, point is We are , and can be ambivalent..points shared..2-0
Four,defensive,lack of aggro?? After all, in the history of Indian politics,it is only a Bengali who has the credit of snatching a victory from the jaws of the Mohandas-Jawaharlal nexus.Imagine, someone who could plan an attack from lands as distant as Deutschland, undertake a horrendous journey under sea in the face of incessant torpedo attacks and then set up an entire army to take on the British..3-4-...5-0!!
Five, okay.. I give you one...MOST bengalis enjoy a dual citizenship..while the Brazil-India and the Argentina-India combo are among the more common ones, the glory of the EPL (read Man Utd) has ushered in Portugal-India and England-India combos.
I, a member of the rarer breed, got my German citizenship in 1990 at Rome, and will continue to enjoy it for the rest of my life..yes , it is Deutschland Uber Alles BEFORE Saare Jahaan Se Aachha!! 5-1..
Six,shy? Indeed, when one of the favourite sons of our race and stand bare chested on the Lord's balcony and hurl expletives all beginning with a mighty F !! 6-1..Game Set Match..

Thus, the DADA is not entirely a non-Indian. Okay, he : cannot speak Hindi- probably,the national language -properly,really gives a damn about it;trusts Kharagpur and Calcutta to be better than Kanpur ,Bombay,Madras,Ahmedabad,Bangalore and the likes; believes Sourav Ganguly to be slightly better than Sir Don-doesn't compare the former with 'Shochin' though;embraces football as the game of life;worships Amartya Sen and organises protests when any of the ministers even one who had won by a landslide majority speaks anything untoward about Dr Sen;trusts Uttam Kumar to beat Big B hands down and recommends rice and fish to be the best diet on earth!
Bengal is a land which has produced and will continue to produce greats.Geographically, a part of India, the erstwhile Calcutta-now, KOLKATA (watch the spelling-ONE T) is a fine city to live in if you are one who believes in leading a comfortable lifestyle according to your means.The stretch of green right in the heart of the city -the Maidan- presents an idyllic milieu;College Street would, on any day hold thrice over the number of books in the rest of India combined; the sweets of course are deadly and yes, there are colonies of Paajis, Tamils,Gujjus and Maroos in the best areas of Cal..habitually trouble averse,bengalis live to eat rather than the other way round, and in doing that they consider a life well lived.

The above are entirely my views and no conscious efforts have been made to offend any community. Inspite of this if any one reading this wants to bare his fangs, a fitting riposte will be served in the form of spits of venom..ACHTUNG

Germany will either be a world power or will not be at all.

"There must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word 'council' must be restored to its original meaning. Surely every man will have advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man..."

"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live...."

"Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggle, and only in eternal peace does it perish...."

"Nature . . . puts living creatures on this globe and watches the free play of forces. She then confers the master's right on her favourite child, the strongest in courage and industry . . . The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness. Only the born weakling can view this as cruel....."

"Armies for the preservation of peace do not exist; they exist only for the triumphant exertion of war...."

"What we have to fight for is the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may be enabled to fulfil the mission assigned to it by the creator..."

All quotes taken from Mein Kampf penned by the greatest leader that ever walked this planet...

Tombstone

CRICKET
20 June 1996 - 10 November 2008
R.I.P.

[watch this space]

Commandment #XI : Never doubt the KING

Genibus Nitito Canus (Latin for "On your knees dog")

I am a self-confessed cynical (and heavily biased) sports freak. I doubt the ability of teams/individuals even when they are on the top of their game , even going to the extent of scoffing at their success, dismissing them as "fluke".
But on the flipside, in spite of my humongous polarity, I am in the habit of doubting teams/individuals I root for.
Welcome to MY world.
I was an avid cricket fan from 1996-2005. After a gap of more than a year , I have restarted to follow the game -tho' not with the same vigour-from December 2006..........
1996-I was 13 then. In the Indian context, it is pretty late in your cricketing fan "career".Cricket seemed a preety complicated game to me and I didn't really understand why a 100/0 was worse off than a 255 all out in a 50 over game. After all you hadn't lost wickets and hence you should deserve credit for your tight defence. A 1-0 win fetches you 3 points in football , so does a 5-2. In the former you are rewarded for your defensive credibility, in the latter for your attacking forays.Simple.Cricket wasn't so simple I felt.....
So it was, the summer of '96 and a lad who was an alumnus of my school -and had even captained our football team to its last glory in school football- had made the Indian test side.Yeah, that bloke made a century on His debut at Lord's and followed it up with another at Trentbridge.Returning from England, He even visited our school. And for the first time, I saw Sourav Ganguly LIVE....
Sourav Ganguly is the reason I watched cricket. Sourav Ganguly is the reason I shunned cricket. Sourav Ganguly is the reason why I have restarted to follow cricket.
But I am selfish. And I will not tell you tales WHY I have such unflinching support for the special one , -who in MY world is the GREATEST Indian cricketer of ALL TIME-lest you derive inspiration of monstrous measures from them.
What I will share tho', is that I doubted my Hero too!!! And I have been proved wrong. I have enjoyed every moment of it.
I doubted whether He would at all return to the side. I doubted whether all the effort He was putting in by playing in the vacant stadiums at Cuttack, Guwahati and Dhanbad would ultimately bear fruit. Why wasn't He retiring with self esteem intact? In my book, in the Dravid-Chappell era, Sourav Ganguly was history...Yet, He returned .
Green tops and short pitched stuff awaited the prince of Indian cricket in South Africa.I doubted whether He would at all retain His place in the side after the series.Was it a master plan to finish off His career once and for all, I mused....Yet, He emerged strongest: the team's highest scorer.
Back to back ODI series in India. Ganguly was included. I hoped that that He made a couple of those flashy 30s, which had become His trademark in the latter part of His captaincy stint and thus hang on to His place.....He scored 98 in the first match itself and emerged the most consistent performer. And going in to the World Cup, He was the Man of the Series vs Lanka.
Sourav has since been a regular in the side, often cracking memorable knocks.It has been a treat to watch our Bengal Tiger regain His territory in the cricketing jungle..... I salute the Prince.
But a couple of niggles still remained....
I saw Sourav Ganguly's career ending sans a century at the Mecca of Indian cricket- His Eden...And, He proved me wrong. On the first day of the last month of a year that marked His cricketing rebirth, Sourav Ganguly registered a century at the Eden.
He confessed that it was a burden off His shoulder and watching Wasim Jaffer score a double from the other end, confessed His desire to break the 200 barrier...
Sourav Ganguly, one of my friends had casually remarked, would never be able to score big in Test cricket 'cause His concentration lasts for 90 minutes :-) . I believed in the same too.....
As I write this, barely a couple of hours ago, Mr Ganguly has registered His first double hundred of His glittering career.....I salute the King.

I will remain a cynic. I will remain a biased sports fan. But, as of today, I vow never to doubt the credibility of the man who has been something more than an inspiration for me.....I have knelt, Your majesty.

World beaters or CRY BABIES???

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2007/oct/05dhoni.htm

It seems rather astonishing that the team which-barely a fortnight ago- was being considered as the toughest outfit in the country has no other option but to succumb to the 'foot in the mouth' syndrome.
With a dashing(?) leader at the helm ably supported by the master blaster(?) and the wall(?) these sort of statements signify nothing but FEAR.
The Aussies have well and truly succeeded in instilling fear in the New India and not the least in the captain.That the seniors, the board and the captain have tried to put an end to the antics of Sreesanth have not helped the cause either. Punter sums up Bhajji's defect very well:
"I really don't care, to tell the truth. He has got plenty to say on the field and whenever someone says something back to him he is the first one to run away from it.
"They are the ones who have come out and made all the statements since we've been here; this new India and the new aggressive outlook, the way they are going to play," Ponting had said on Thursday.
Only Yuvi has had the gutso and the spine to deal with teh marauding world champs.
Should have been a Maharaj-Yuvraj combo at the top...