CALLING THE DIASPORA

Footloose in motherland - Football in otherland (obviously enjoying the kick); the globe trotting Bengali is never successful in erasing the nostalgic past of the Aatpoure homeland, town, village, para; not to mention akash batas, dhulo kada, kashphul durgapujo, michhil poster ---- bla bla bla. PAKI, Asian, brown, black:- Identity is in the eyes of a hostile beholder(host). Never sure what future has in store, never mastering the courage to get back; a few swings of the pendulam slowing down with time ends the effort. Bothersome dual identity, No community skill to forge and build up separate cultural group, there is hardly any choice. It is time to think afresh. Think for a link. A handle to the past and the future. Get involved in BANGODARSHAN. Refresh the FEEL: generate the BOND: PHIRE AAY - PHIRE AAY.         A lot of our cultural assets are with the British and some with other western countries. Substantial part of the research in language and literature has been carried out in American and British universities. Japan also has a chunk. Bengali people settled abroad and those working in western countries are in a better position to provide the technical know-how and where- withal for the large scale activities of digitizing conserving and protecting the cultural resources. The people in the fields of education, research or arts related to sangeet or sahityo would have further advantage. Please come forward.

BANGLASPHERE

Having or even thinking of your own spherical entity in the age of globalization is not a bad idea. But banglasphere is no creation of any imaginative fertile brain. It evolved that way, weathered the onslaughts of Turks Pathans and gradually disintegrated to what it is today, courtesy spineless Belgali Politicking and intellectual bankruptcy. The map below shows the geographical Banglasphere and the footnotes explain the connection and the lack of it.This area still forms the linguistic hinterland and the broad resource base.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH

The Bengali is Known for Deceit.
 
No Bengali Boy can Remain Faithfull to His Religion Once Introduced to English Education.
 
The Bangali Fails to Recognize Himself.
 
What Bengal Thinks Today, the whole of India Will Think Tomorrow.
 

Sixty Plus : JUST RIGHT

The winter periods of a sixty plus life is now more appropriately called autumn days or even more suitably termed swarnil GODHULI. There is no denying the fact, that life after sixty spans about two decades of futile or even useless existence mainly as a consumer of goods and services and in many cases as a drain to the exchequer. The days of the dominating patriarch or the benevolent parar dada or the omnipresent socialite are all gone. If the specis is at all found anywhere, the gathering fondly finds KABAB ME HADDI in the aging homo sapiens. ----- FACTS OF LIFE ------. one or two phone calls to children who prefer it short; some routine altercation with the support workers; eat, sit, TV, Bank, nap, sunset snooze, late morning yawn :- days go on; years roll by. We exist. The only purpose is to tell others that you can not write us off so easily.                 Here is a worthwhile alternative. Do something for Bangodarshan. Utilise your time for a 'CAUSE'. Get involved and feel the satisfying goodness. May be start casually and let your instincts lead you to the way ahead. Digitizing something, collecting a few more, organising small groups; start anywhere you like. Do it with a Zeal; regain the spirit of youth; feel the satisfaction of creation. No bindings - No schedule - do it at will; do it for a while. Tell others. Golden days of golden autumn twilight. E N J O Y.

DAUNTING? IT CAN BE DONE

The usual first reaction is of panic.AAA------LLLL the cultural assets? You really mean AAA-----LLL? Cool. or better cool down. Try to be reasonable and if faculties permit, be calculative. For want of reliable survey data the volume is difficult to assess. Lets agree to a basic assumption that the volume of literature including dailies and periodicals available for archiving would be around half of the total collection of the National Library Calcutta (24 - 25 Lakh). So the requirement of digitising about 12 Lakh titles each with an average of 300 pages.
A slow coach would effortlessly enter 300 pages in a whole year. So it boils down to 12 lakh man-years. A twenty year time frame calls for sixty thousand volunteers/workers. Actual work will be even half of this, as ready material is expected from many sister organizations. This number is only one twentieth of the computer literate work-force. Bengali people love to find excuses for not doing it. Let's leave it behind. The arithmatics for music is far more lighter calling for one third effort but perhaps more of 'NATURAL' talent. YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT. WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT. Nanya Pantha Bidyate(There is no other alternative).JOIN FIRST: THINK LATER. Its easy. Relax. You have crossed CAT/MAT/GAT/PSC/TOEFL and the likes. Managed everything. Take it up. Habei habe.

PAST RECORDS: SHAMEFUL.

The National library calcutta, has been microfilming rare books for many years now and the number of titles covered is below 10,000. The recent efforts of digitizing books have been started after tendering stage. The statistics is not available and is unlikely to be enviable. At this rate they will fall far behind every year as the new collections are many times more than those covered. Asiatic society is even worse. Bangiya Sahitya Parishad simply could not come out of the nineteenth century make over. Bangla academy enjoys the pride of position i.e. address. It ends there. Kolakata and Jadavpur university does not have anybody with breadth of mind. most other libraries have entered side business: Marriage hall, Multi-Gym, and often Temporary Bazars selling Garments and accessories. Most school and college libraries have sold out old books to make room for the elevated status of the glorified teachers catapulted by the wind-fall pay hike and sharp rise in private tuition rates to match the new heights.
 
The story is un-ending but not without parallel in history. It is precisely what we had been doing for centuries. Swami Vivekananda wanted only a dozen spirited youths to implement what he considered supreme. He was disappointed. It is imperative that we plug the hole beforehand. Its nobody's baby. Its the baby of the society, meaning S A M A J. Take Heart.

IDENTITY: SUITS NO ONE

Should I? Forget about flaunting the racial identity, the average Bengali is often apologetic about expressing naturally:- 'pachhe lokey kichhu bale'. Examples galore. All signs of inferiority complex and the usual Bengali slave syndrome. The upper class and upwardly mobile upper middle class are beyond racial identity, linguistic heritage and prefer seemingly 'FLEXIBLE' position, when it comes to owning the 'baggage', i.e. Bengali Traditions. The lesser mortals find it gratifying to follow the 'BAROLOK'; at least in one area they can equal the RICH. Get rid of every thing native or indigenous: Do it in a tearing hurry. Boys seem to lack the IQ to differentiate between the logical and the superficial. The youth parlance shows it all. They wear whatever the ostagars mass produce, oblivious of the main factor 'comfort and presentation'.
They had been doing it for more than two generation now. The root has been cut. The social position taken over by others. Physically they have been relocated in the surrounding marsh. Their institutions are defunct. Their politics is bankrupt. Every body knows that the high moral-walla has a price tag. Other things are similar. Only signs of decay. Solution: BACK TO ROOTS. CONNECT TO THE VILLAGES. CONNECT TO THE BYGONE YEARS. TAKE HELP OF GREATS OF THE PAST. REVIVE YOURSELF. TRY TO SURVIVE IN HOMELAND.

HOUSEWIFE: NEW FULFILMENT

Housewives, mothers or the mayer jaat to be precise. Home makers of the recent times of disintegrating homes:- the nucleus of the family which in turn is the main element of the society. Found in varying hues, packaged in wrappers of the time, the wonder of the mothers, to-be mothers and would be/could be mothers within the periphery of home is only second to GOD. All pervasive origin of all mortal feelings. SWARGADAPI GARIYASI.
 
Leaving the motherly qualities, housewives possess earthly expertise in almost every field. There are phds, m-phils, post graduates, graduates, exponents in fine arts, performing arts and so many other skills who are forced to cool their heels and sacrifice their creative emotions to make time for nurturing HOME/FAMILY/CHILD(REN). Still leisure time appear in varying ways in widely different periods of life and under happy circumstances or lonely hollowness. The housewife would enjoy a pastime that restores her importance, self esteem and revives her creative skills and emotions. That's where the suggested involvement in BANGODARSHAN can lead to. JOIN NOW. JAYANTE MANGOLA DEBI.

EYE TEA: WHY NOT DO IT?

The much hyped I.T. revolution has one undoubted achievement. It has sucked in all the talent in the country in that huge black hole. It is for the insiders to feel the immense increase in gravity density mass etc. Those outside the closely guarded haloed brotherhood look at the reflecting glass houses and the related thaat-baat with awe and reverence. Meanwhile, everybody within the community enjoys the time and those without keep nourishing the indomitable desire to get in.
 
The diverse IT sector, naturally, underutilizes most of the talent employed by the corporate bigwigs. Thus these techies are likely to have spare time to engage in what the mind likes. Fortunately, Bengalis constitute a major chunk of the IT talent pool. And many of them still wear the earthly bengali smell of their childhood and student life. This man power of right quality and in healthy numbers cover almost all areas of the technical requirement of all the initiatives of BANGODARSHAN. We invite all of them to participate in whatever capacity that suits them. Its your call. SUSWAGATAM.