The Ticket-Counter at a Railway Station

Points: The location — The queue at the counter — The nerve-centre.

             Every railway station has a ticket-counter. It is a window with a small opening. It Is meant for receiving money and issue tickets. Inside the window is a booking clerk. He counts money, calculates the balance and presses out the proper ticket or tickets. For minor children he has to issue half-tickets.
             Outside the ticket-counter there is always a queue. There is always a last-minute rush for buying tickets. There is one window reserved for ladies. But even there, the rush is heavy, particularly on holidays. Some rough people try to elbow their way up to the window. They do not care for standing in a queue. Then follow exchanges of hot words. Challenges and counter-challenges are thrown. Appeals are made to supposed eye-witnesses. Luckily a third person may arrive just then to mediate and restore peace. This is a common scene at any big railway station.
             If anybody asks me, ‘Where is the nerve-centre of a railway station?’ I would at once point my finger to the ticket-window. They say, all roads lead to Rome. But at any railway station, we can say, all roads lead to the ticket-counter.

India's Unity in Diversity

Points: India one nation but there are forces of disintegration — The Indian tradition of unity in diversity — We have our national integration.

             In spite of diverse Languages and religions, India is one nation. But sadly enough. what is happening today in different parts of the country is alarming. Religious fanaticism of a section of people led to the assassination  of our great Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The trend is dangerous for the nation. It may lead to national disintegration if we fail to stop it in time.
             From time immemorial a sense of common history and destiny has bound us together. India has many languages religions and nationalities. Yet through centuries the people of India have lived together as a family The British introduced the policy of ‘Divide and Rules’. But the great Indians like Rabindnath Tagore and Swami Vivekanand made us aware of our great national heritage.
             The real unity is the unity of feeling, the unity of common brotherhood, unity of saving a common aspiration for the whole country. In fact, without a sense of common destiny and purpose, a natioion cannot thrive. People would travel from Kashmir to GangaSagar or from Assam to Ajmer, never feeling that they are strangers. Some kind of ‘Bharat Mela’ or India Fair may be organise1 in several parts of the country every year. More inter-mixing and interliving between the different communities in India should be encouraged. Learning more than one language is also necessary for a polyglot country like ours. Not by passing laws only, but by social mixing and mutual understanding may we ensure out national integration. 

Assassinations of Public Men

Points: The assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi — Other recent assassinations of public men in other countries — Heinous acts universally condemned.

             Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead in Delhi on 30 January 1948. The whole world was shocked and the people of India felt ashamed. Everyone hoped that the martyrdom of Gandhi would be the last assassination of public man in India. But on October 31, 1948 our beloved leader Shrimati Indira Gandhi fell to the bullets of assassins, her own personal guards.
             Sheikh Mujibar Rabman of Bangladesh had likewise been assassinated. The memory of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, President of USA, is still fresh in the minds of many men. The killing of Martin Luther King, the black American Humanist is also unforgettable. The assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister, Olaf Palme who was a great friend of India and the Third World, is a more recent tragedy. More than two thousand years ago Julius Caesar was publicly assassinated in Rome. It is our shame that even today a person like Sant Longowall was murdered near a holy place.
             Politics is concerned with state power. But in a democracy, there is no place for violence. It is unfortunate that in a democratic country like India public men are becoming targets of assassination. The people of India condemn violence, specially assassinations of public men, most unequivocally.  They denounce such acts as savage and senseless.

Tripura’s Language and Literature

Points: Local language ‘Kakberak’ — Place of Bengali — Future of literature.

             At the very outset it must be stated that Tripura’s own language ‘Kakbarak’ has been receiving attention only recently. It has still neither any alphabet nor any literature worth mentioning except some folk songs sung at the time of sowing and reaping. Of course, only lately, this language has got recognition as the second state language and is being taught up to Class II in primary schools. Some enthusiasts have been publishing a periodical, and some have written a grammar of the Language and also a dictionary.
             Bengali language and Bengali writers have been receiving state patronisation by the rulers of the state since the middle of the 17th  century. Poet Mahiuddin wrote a book of verse and a book of tales named “Champakvijay”. The linguistic charm of these books at that nascent stage of Bengali language deserves special mention. This patronization has been a continuous process with a variety of interest ranging from biography, social details and geography of this beautiful hilly state.
             Vaishnava songs like “Geeta Chandrodaya”, “Geeta Kalpataru” composed at the beginning of the 19th century as well as the devotional songs composed by Maharaj Birchandra may be considered to be at par with the Vaishnava songs composed on the main land of Bengal. It was Birchandra Manikya who deèlared Bengali as the atate language. The late Dinesh Sen’s “History of Bengali literature and language” and the famous “Sri Hari Bhakti Bilash” were published under the patronization of Birchandra. Princess Ananga Mohini also deserves mention for her poetry which was appreciated even by Rabindranath.
             Tripura’s devotion Co Bengali language and literature flows on through the writings of Samarendra Chandra, Mahim Chandra, and Mohit Bandyopadhya with ever increasing volume and excellence and have assured a permanent niche for itself in the store-house of Bengali literature. As a matter of fact, Tripura’s language and literature are based on Bengali and it seems it will ever remain so. It will he excellent if the writers of Tripura enrich Bengali literature by using more local colour of Tripura in their stories, novels and poetry, just as Tarasankar did in his novels by adding the local flavor of Birbhum.

Youth Force

Points: 1985 dedicated to Youths — Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachov are young leaders — Role  Youth in different countries — Tasks before Indian Youths.

             The three traditional forces are the army, the navy and the air force. But the fourth and most important force in the world today in any country is the youth force. The UNO recognized this when the year 1985 was declared by the UNO as the International Youth Year. In India, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, also on the very birthday of Swami Vivekananda, dedicated the year 1985 to Indian youths. Nothing could be more appropriate.
             It is a happy coincidence that the year 1985 also saw the two great nations of the world, India and USSR, installing two rather young leaders at the helm of their governments—Shri Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachov. Both of them are eager to introduce a new outlook and a new style of work for a better nation and a better world. Our Prime Minister has already given a call to Indian youths to get ready for a take-off to the 21st century.
             The International Youth Year saw many youth delegations to and from India. These strengthened the bonds between peoples, specially the neighboring countries. The future of the world, we know, depends on the youths living in the different parts of the world.
India is overpopulated. The poverty of her people can never he solved without reducing the growth rate of her population to zero. The youths should carry on an effective campaign for population check. Another sore point, a great social evil and national shame, is the dowry system. Lives of many young women every year are being sacrificed over the wrangles on dowry. Youths must come forward and stop this. They should also keep their neighborhoods clean. The youths should refuse to become mere puppets of die-hard politicians and should assert themselves for a better campus-life.

Seasons in Tripura

Points: Nature’s bounty in Tripura — Local seasons — Conclusion. 

             Nature seem to bestow Tripura with varied beauty in her successive seasons. This land of forests, rivers and scanty plains appears in different garbs in different seasons.
             The summer in Tripura, is comparatively dry and hot as against the adjacent plain lands of Bangladesh and Assam. The rivers big and small which run through it become mostly dry and fordable at places. Forests which looked gaunt begin, with the approach of winter, to sprout new leaves of quickly changing colour. Very soon her slim rivers become full to the brim, and rush forward with tremendous speed, carrying big trees and whatever else the flood water meets on the way. The ferocity of downpour in the rainy season causes woes but it also helps to cool the heat of summer and usher in the season of cultivation. It is also the season of jack-fruits and excellent pine-apples for which Tripura is so famous. Autumn comes after the rains and the clouds vanish and the spotless dome of blue sky appears over the blossoms of many colors. The season prepares the country for the many colourful festivals, and gladdens the heart of Tripuris with the prospects of new crops. Autumn is followed by winter which though short-lived is severe in its intensity. The damsels then dance and sing to add to the joy of all. ‘The spring soon follows with ‘keshia’ and ‘krishnachura’ fully clad in blood-red petals.
             Thus the various seasons adorn Tripura throughout the year and make this small hilly state so lovely and so dear to its people.

Science Fiction

Points: Fact and fiction in SF  — Subjects of SF — Some famous SF writers — The appeal of SF.

             Long ago, Jules Verne and H. G. Wells wrote fictions about man’s possible speedy trips around the world. Today their fictions have become facts. Some facts have even surprised old fictions. Thus what is science fiction today may prove to be science fact tomorrow. Both are the contributions of the inventive man.
Science fiction is called in abbreviation simply SF. The SF writers anticipate the future and also provide entertainment. Their fictions are fantastic. They touch upon the most improbable’ and even seemingly the most imponderable. Yet they also indirectly deal with the earthly problems of war and peace, and ecological, social and moral questions.
             Isaac Asimov of USA, Alexander Belyaev of USSR, Arthur Clarke of Sri Lanka, Thomas Block of UK are some of the most famous names in Science Fiction writing. Asimov’s fictions on robots form a complete series. Belyaev’s The Amphibious Man is about a young man who had gills from a fish transplanted on his body and who could swim and live under water. Thomas Block bases his fiction Orbit on the actualities of the NASA space centre of USA. Arthur Clarke loves to weave his fantasy into the Buddhist and Hindu puranic legends as we find in his The Fountains of Paradise. Satyajit Ray, the famous film maker, is also a writer of SF in Bengali. ‘Professor Shanku’ is a typical SF character created by Satyajit Ray.
             The marvels of science and technology today are vying with the strangest miracles. All science-loving young men, therefore, love science fiction.

The Antarctic Expedition

Points: Description of Antarctica — explorations by nations — Indian teams.

             Arctica and Antarctica are the North Polar and the South Polar regions of the earth respectively. The Antarctic region has the lowest temperature on the earth and is held under a vast ice-sheet. It is a vast continent double the size of Australia. The sea-water there is full of floating ice-bergs tossed by sea-storms. There is no rain, as neither water nor any liquid’ can remain unfrozen’ in that cold. Antarctica is always semi-dark and it has practically one season- the winter. It is the land of birds like penguins, skuas, rock hoppers and south polar petrels. The marine mammals in the region include whales, dolphins and seals.
             The Antarctic continent remained unexplored for a long time. For centuries it remained literally a no-man’s land. Special navigational skill and equipment were needed to reach and survive there. Only in recent years nations have been interested in the area. It is believed that under its ice there is a vast reservoir of minerals, oil and food, Russia. Britain, United States, and now India and China, are sending regular research teams to explore Antarctica.
             In l92 India conducted her first successful expedition in Antarctica. Now India has set up a permanent research station there. It is our pride that a Bengali lady was included in the team of explorers who went to Antarctica in 1984. And since then every year new successes are being achieved by our scientists in the Antarctica.

Computer in Every Life

Points: The new age of computer  —  Its different uses — Developing fields application.

             If the first half of the 20th century is the age of electricity, the second halt is surely the age of computer. Computer is the new miracle of science. It can make thousands of calculations in a moment. It can store in its memory millions of pieces of information. It can also recall facts and figures from its ‘memory’ at ease. Computer will no doubt dominate the 21st Century. Like the typewriter, computer will be a common feature of all offices in near future. Already in many institutions the typewriter machine is being replaced by the computerized word processor. It is good that in our country even in school courses computer math’s is being introduced. The benefits of computer should reach the rural masses also.
             In India the use of computer is growing rapidly. In developed countries, computers are used in banks, shops, airlines, offices, laboratories, Libraries, everywhere. In near future, eve house will have a computer with a display board. It will call us up in time, pump water, borrow books for us from the library, pay our electric hills, and receive telephone messages. India is eager to import advanced computer technology from the west.
             Scientists are talking now of ‘artificial intelligence”. This becoming possible, thanks to the use of computer. A robot is nothing but a computerized automatic machine. A robot will perform the work of many men put together. It seems that computer is going to take charge of the future civilization of man.

An Injury is Much Sooner Forgotten than an Insult

Points: Injury, its effect — Insult, its effect — Comparison.

             An injury means a damage to the body or its limbs. When a person is hurt physically, he is injured, and every injury is painful. If the injury is heavy, it takes a long time to recover from, and may entail heavy expenditure, too.
             While quarrelling, people often come to clashes or blows. These may cause bleeding injuries, fractures etc. Family feuds, vendetta or riots between rival groups often lead to bloodshed and bodily damages. Punishment for misdeeds also takes the form of inflicting physical torture or pain. It is supposed that the heavier the injury the longer its effect.
             An insult, on the other hand, is an onslaught on the mind. It seeks to damage the opponent’s reputation. Insult is a public humiliation in the form of taunts, abuses and defamations. When Othello felt humiliated, he cried out, “My reputation, Iago, my reputation.” He believed that when a man’s reputation is gone, everything is gone.
             As soon as physical pain is gone its memory, tool begins to evaporate. But when insult is inflicted upon a person, he begins to think of retaliation. The thought of retaliation never allows the memory of insult to die. It nurses the bad thought and keeps the burning sensation of shame alive. Bodily pain subsides hut the prick of insult accelerates itself”.