Thursday, October 26, 2006

Research work Ornithology Dept,JU





A very well documented research work from the Ornithology department of my alma-mater. Hope avid bird-watchers like me will enjoy it as much I did.

Only two points of criticism to satisfy the Taran Adarsh in me :
1. Wouldn't a Bengali number been more suitable in the background ?
2. Why the Satyam-Sivam-Sundarm bit at the end ?
Reminds only of the DD logo . Or was it a subtle reference to the RK banner movie of the same name that was overflowing with the OOOMPH factor. Huh!!

ps: In case the embedded video-player doesn't open, try clicking
the link instead.Worth a dekho.

Update: The link is not working. Possible speculated reason could be the video might have been removed as it was filmed without the consent of the girls. Gimme some more time...will try to find something else to entertain my dear readers.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Diary of Anurag Kashyap


If you are a movie fanatic who eat-drink-sleep movies then leave aside whatever you are doing and click on this photo to your left .


It's Anurag Kashyap , the angry young man of movie-making writing his experiences of making his next movie "NO SMOKING".

Go and find out what the Bollywood looks from inside out and what a director goes through in making of a movie.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Bye bye Pundit-Moshai.

A part of my daily routine, checking for newer blogs with newer topics have been centered around DesiPundit, the one-stop-shop for desi blogs. Day in, Day out Patrix, Kaps,Vulturo, Ash, Neha and others had been bringing us links to the latest and maybe the greatest of the desi blog activities of the day across the globe. Just like an old Bong habit of reading Anandabazar for better secretion of digestive juices, DP had also become a routine, missing which meant something hasn't been done today.

But now I have to discard that and need to look for alternatives. Because Patrix and company have decided to pull the plug on DP. It's very always sad to see someone go, but just like all others aspects of life we will learn to live with it. A BIG THANK YOU to all the DP editors for taking time out of your busy schedules to entertain us for so long. Desi Blogosphere will miss you and so will I.

Wish you guys all the best.

ps: Now that bloglines will be clogged with subscriptions from desi blogger does anyone know of any other alternatives ?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Singur : Early Symptoms of the Disesase

The early symptoms of the uneven growth have started at Singur. It's like snatching the box of chocolates from the child and give it to the bully. To compensate the child do get a lollipop to suck at. What happens next, child keeps on sucking the lollipop till it finishes and then starts crying while looking for another box of chocolates. Knowing the chocolate-boxes don't come free, the child learns to steals them. Mr. Bully keeps on bullying as usual....nothing changes except for the fact that we taught the child to steal.

Long long time ago there used to be fisheries across the vast expanse of land, what now is known as Salt Lake, the most coveted piece in Kolkata's real estate map. All the lands were accquired by displacing the fisherman and other related professionals in that area. They were pushed back to nearby villages like Bantala, Chingrighata and likes.

In due course of time these villages became the one of the most crime-prone areas nearby Kolkata when the displaced villagers took up to petty crimes and then went onto bigger things. Does the name of Anita Dewan, a health worker raped and murdered in broad daylight on the streets of Bantala ring a bell ? Such was the crime rate in those areas, that I remember a friend of mine who happened to an US citizen staying in Kolkata got a letter from US embassy advising him to avoid going to those places.


And what happened to the female folks who had excelled in handicrafts like knitting the fishing nets and such-alike? Left with no other option, they became the major source of constant supply to the domestic help required in the Salt Lake's posh colonies. But so long as the real estate prices in Salt Lake kept on shooting up, we placed garlands after garlands on the statue of Dr. B.C.Roy.

As they correctly say
all that glitters is not gold!!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

How Green Was My...Err Their(?) Valley

The guy masterminds an attack on the Parliament. The guy is tried and is sentenced to death. The public life is brought to a standstill by protests demanding mercy for the sentenced. If this all sounds familiar, no I am not talking about Mohammed Afzal Guru but Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. The irony of the similarity between the two situations makes us once again stand in front of the mirror to have a second thought.

Personally I have little reason to believe that the same court that had dismissed charges against S A R Geelani, another suspect in the attack, had some jaati-dushmani with Md. Afzal Guru to award him life sentence. The charges and evidences were strong enough for the Judge saab to pronounce such a sentence. But leaving aside the merits-demerits of the case the greater question is why the major part Kashmiris are all rallying behind the cause of Guru's pardon?

The act of attacking the parliament which happens to be the central institution of Indian democracy can be broadly equated to an attack on the democracy itself. So why do the people of Kashmir that happens to be an integral part of India is protesting against the sentence of someone who tried to smash the foremost institution of democracy ? The CM of Kashmir, not be overdone by his opposition's grand show of support for Afzal, joins the bandwagon. The man who had takem the oath to upheld the Indian constitutional democracy and the country's sovereignity goes on to pleads clemency for someone who tried to attack the very symbol of Indian democracy. This is happening only and only because this issue is closer to the hearts of the Kashmiri people. To sway aside this sentiment of the Kasmiri common public as a part of cheap political gimmick will be the bluntest argument.

On the other hand pardoning Afzal Guru's death sentence might have dire consequences. We might see a deja-vu of the compelling situation that led to Masood Azhar's liberation and subsequent creation of JeM and then loss of further lives. To let this guy remain in prison will bring nothing more than further attempts from his jihadi comrades, who need his planning capability for their own cause of destruction. And who knows already plans are being chalked out for the next AI plane hijack.


To show mercy to the killer of the guards at the parliament who died fighting would be an insult to their brave sacrifices. Knowing the Catch 22 situation Congress is facing from UPA partners and oppostion in this issue they might do something very very silly. Whatever they do, they cannot evade the greater task at hand, that is to bring back the majority of Kashmiris to Indian mainstream. The terrorists don't constitute the entire population of Kashmir. They are as we are to believe only a small fraction of people funded by hostile foreign power(s). We truly need to find out why the other sections of people in Kashmir, the ones not supporting terrorism, are displaying in this un-patriotic(!) behaviour?

The valley that the poetic Mughal emperor once described as the Heaven on Earth has been painted with blood with bullets from terrorists, Indian army, Pakistan army all having nearly equal share. It’s high time for the netas at Delhi Durbar to put on their thinking caps and rethink on Kashmir policies. If and only if we succeed in cultivating the strong nationality feeling among Kashmiris in contrast to allienating them with our high-handedness, then only we can claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Otherwise what has started with the movement for pardoning Md. Azfal Guru's sentence will grow on onto something greater and graver that might threaten to redraw the border-lines of India. Need to act now and need to act fast.