The Ferry Service Across The River Ganga

Points: The traffic problem on the Howrah Bridge — Alternate transport system across the river — Its advantages.

             Howrah and Sealdah are situated on the opposite banks of the river Ganga. They are the two most crowded railway stations and two most important entry points to the city of Calcutta. As a result, there is constant flow of people who have to cross the Ganga daily through the over-congested Howrah Bridge.
             Seeing that the problem of traffic was ever increasing and roads and bridges were getting choked, the Government decided to explore alternative systems of transport. The idea of a ferry service as an alternative to the Howrah Bridge was easily accepted. Swift1 short and direct steamer trips every ten or fifteen minutes between the two banks of the river have since come as a boon to a large number of people, especially commuters.
             The success of the ferry service has encouraged its further extension. Now the ferry services include trips from Howrah and Chandpalghat to Ahiritola, Baghbazar, Baranagore and Dakshincswar, and also to Shibpur, Budge-Budge and so on. One great plus point of the ferry service is that it minimizes the air pollution of the city. The passengers enjoy in the bargain the beautiful scene of the Ganga and breathe fresh air.

My Favorite Poet

Points: The poet — A short life sketch of the poet — Some of the excellent lines of his poetry.

             The poet I love, the poet I admire, the poet whose lines I quote and repeat, the poet who gives me courage to tight against injustice, the poet whom I know to be a great friend of the poor is Sukanta Bhattacharya. He is my favorite poet.
             Sukanta is a dear name in Bengali literature. He was only 21 when he died. But already he became a household name in Bengal. He was born in 1926 In Kalighat in a family of traditional Sanskrit Pundits. But his boyhood and early youth were spent in Narkeldanga during the turbulent days of the Second World War. He saw war, famine, peasants’ movement and riot. He was attracted to the communist movement’ and organised Kishore Sabha’. His poetry was anti-imperlalist’ and full of patriotic fervour and social protest’. He suffered from Tuberculosis, and when he died in 1947, his loss was regarded almost as the loss of a national poet.
             I love Sukanta because he was a spirited poet. Like Nazrul he inspired the youths to rise against exploitation and inequality. “To the last breathe of my life.” he wrote “I will remove the wreckage of this earth, and leave this world livable for this newborn child, this is my firm declaration to him”. He paid in his poem one of the finest homage’s to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. He gave voice to the frustrated millions when he wrote in an aggrieved tone: “Poetry. I grant you leave to go away; in the kingdom of hunger the earth is full of prose: the full-moon today looks like a half-baked loaf”.

The Circular Rail

Points: A novel project — Partial operation — Future extension.

             The two most exciting things in Calcutta today arc the two new Rails—the Metro and the Circular. Both have started operating, but both are incomplete. Calcutta has several Circular Roads, such as the Upper and the Lower Circular Roads (now renamed as Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Road respectively), Ballygunge Circular Road and Tollygunge Circular Road. But the idea of encircling the entire city with a circular railway is a recent one, and it was partially translated into a reality only in 1984. The debate on ‘Metro Rail versus Circular Rail’ went on for years. It was a useless debate’ since Calcutta needed both.
             The Circular Rail has been operating only in a small part of the city. But what has been most wonderful is that it has suddenly opened the river Ganga to the view of the city itself. Nobody knew before August 16, 1984 that Calcutta still had a long strand from Baghbazar to Prinsep Ghat. The Circular Rail carries hundreds of commuters1 daily along the bank and offers to the passengers a grand riverine view’.
             A portion of the Circular Rail runs from Dum-Dum to Baghbazar via Belgachia and Tab Park. This part remains disrupted midway because of some squatters. Another extension of the Circular Rail is likely to join Dum-Dum with Majherhat via Kankurgachi and Park Circus bypassing the Sealdah Station. Let us wait and see.
             Calcutta needs the fullest extension of the Circular Rail, The projected circle should be completed and the whole city engirdled East to East via North, West and South.

An Experience in a Film Show

Points: The film (Sadgati) — Its execution — Personal appreciation  and assessment.

             I was spell-bound all the time. When the film-show was over, the cruel ending stung my conscience. For a while I could not distinguish between the real world and the film world. I was simply dazed. The film ‘Sadgati’ of ‘Satyajit Ray’ left indeed a very deep impression upon my mind.
             The story is by Munshi Premchand, the greatest Hindi writer of all time. It is full of realism and social criticism. Satyajit Ray, as Director of the film, has faithfully translated the pathos and suffering of the rural poor into the language of his camera. The problem of caste and untouchability has been portrayed vividly from beginning to end. The exploiter and his exploitation of the poor under the cover of religion have been mercilessly exposed in this film. Dukhi, the poor worker desperately striking against the old tree-stump, became a symbol of both protest and helplessness. His dead body hangs all the time on our feudal society. Smita Patil, Om Puri and Mohan Agashe played their roles marvelously well, and the camera and Satyajit’s own music in the background all blended into one splendid effect.
             Both as a piece of art and as a piece of social document ‘Sadgati’ is an extraordinary film. It is great.

Karl Marx

Points: A champion of the have-nots — Life-story of Marx — His Philosophy — His follower, Lenin.

             Karl Marx is a name to conjure with. He is one of the very few men who have changed the course of history by their thoughts and writings. A man of great intellect he will be ever remembered as the champion of the have-nots and a great leader of the working class.

             Karl Marx was born in 1818 in a Jewish family in Germany. He was a very meritorious student and studied in the universities of Bonn and Berlin. Later on, be became a Doctorate in Philosophy. A great scholar, he was also a great fighter against social injustice. He opposed the anti-peasant law passed by the German Government and consequently was banished from his fatherland. He came to Paris where he met his Life-Long friend and associate Engels. Because of his revolutionary activities he had to flee from Paris and come to Brussels, and banished from Brussels he came at last to stay in London.

             For years Marx studied like a devoted student in the British Museum. In 1848 he, in collaboration with Engels, published the famous pamphlet Communist Manifesto in which he said, “The workers have nothing to lose but chains”, and gave a call to the workers of the world to “unite”. He founded the First International Association of Workers and wrote his immortal book Das Kapital. He propounded a new philosophy known as Dialectical Materialism as opposed to Dialectical Idealism of Hegel According to this philosophy, economic relations determine history. The history of mankind, he said, is the history of its class struggle. He predicted that the state will wither away when the division of classes will cease and full socialism will be established. Marx also wrote on India struggling under the British rule.

             V. I. Lenin of Russia was a follower of Marx. Lenin and the other Marxists of Russia, known as Bolsheviks, led the socialist revolution in  Russia and established the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). This was in 1919. But Lenin’s Guru, Karl Marx, the prophet of Communist State, had died long ago on March 14, 1883.

The Problems of War and Peace

Points: International Peace Year: 1986 — The world in a precarious position — The need of the hour.

             The UNO declared 1986 as the International Peace year. The same year the nuclear blast in Chernybol in Soviet Russia and the crashing of the manned space ship in USA made man aware of the dangerous situation mankind is really in. The programme of ‘Star Wars’ of USA still continues and the Nato and the Warsaw pact countries confront each other with all kinds of ballistic missiles.
             ‘Peace’ is a very tame and innocent word.  But in today’s world it is the most urgent topic. Many years ago Tagore commented on the world mad with violence. But today violence has become lam more menacing. Disarmament talks are going on between the two superpowers but they are no more than mere rituals. Nations do not trust one another, underground nuclear testing is not abated, and limited wars between Iran and Iraq, or Israel and Lebanon have been eye-openers. Then there is South Africa and the Apartheid. In fact, the whole work is sitting on a simmering volcano.
             It is an irony that when two crore people were dying in Africa of starvation, five hundred sixty billion dollars were being spent on military annually in the whole world. The question is: Can’t we buy peace and save life with the huge amount of money we spend to buy war and weapons of war?

May Day: Its Centenary Celebrations

Points: May Day 1986 — History of the May Day — May Day celebrations.

             The first of May, popularly called May Day, is observed throughout the world as the working-class every year. But in l986 the May Day had a Special significant this year was the centenary of the May Day which was first observed in 1886 in the city of Chicago in America just one hundred years ago.
             The American Federation of Labor had decided that from the first of May 1886 the workers in all factories and offices would go on a general strike demanding eight hours work a days. The centre of the working class movement was Chicago in Illinois. The police fired upon the striking workers of Chicago and killed six of them. The leaders of the movement were arrested and after a mock trial they were condemned to death. The May Day killing, arrest and death-sentence in 1886 roused loud protests from all corners of the world.
             The May Day came to be observed since then as the international Day of the working class in all countries. The May Day is celebrated on a very large scale in Communist and Socialist countries like Soviet Russia, China, etc. and also in the Third World countries friendly to Socialism1 like India, Yugoslavia and Cuba. The slogan of the May Day everywhere is “Workers of the world unite”.

Winter in West Bengal

Points: Winter not celebrated by poets — Tropical winter in West Bengal — The charms of the season.

             It is easy to wax eloquent on the spring or the rainy season of West Bengal, Our poets have always been partial to them. But winter? No honey-bees buzz in the air at that time and no clouds into downpours. We hear of winter sports held in other countries and sec live telecasts on TV of thrilling ice skating. But West Bengal’s climate, in the main, is tropical. We don’t see snowfall or snowflakes even in Darjeeling, not to speak of Snow bound roads as in Europe or America in the Winter.
             Does it mean that our winter is devoid of all charms? Not exactly. Winter is the cleanest season of all in West Bengal. It is comparatively tree from epidemics and floods. For those who can afford sufficient warm clothes, it is surely a very comfortable time.
             The winter is also the season of book fairs, seminars, conferences and important sports, games and cultural events. Christmas and Saraswati Puja are celebrated during the winter. Winter is our season of green vegetables and Nabanna or new rice ceremony. Winter in West Bengal is the season when we feel cold outside but cozy and warm within.