Prithweesh Bhattacharjee

The annual bomb blast festival of the anti-India terrorists have started off again for the 2008 season with Jaipur as the epicentre. The pink city is all pink and red with the blood of the victims.

The government of India too on its part has extended full support and cooperation to this by doing the following routine activities:

1. Blame Pakistan and Bangladesh. No action will be taken. Jingoistic statements will be made and at times totally irresponsible threats will be issued to these countries in front of the members of the print and electronic media.

2. Post blast investigation which will not lead to anything. Be rest assured that after about a month some individual will arrested from a distant corner of the country and will be blamed to be one of the master minds of the attacks who for some odd reason could not escape to either Pakistan or Bangladesh. The goverment will not overhaul the intelligence agencies, will not create separate organisations to deal with terrorism and naxals on a war footing.

3. Visits to the blast locations by leaders and thereby cause inconvenience to all and sundry. This is essential now because otherwise our home minister has no other way of showing that he exists. These leaders will not take any concrete steps to eradicate this problem of terrorism, will create regional economic imbalances so that terrorists can recruit the aliented people and will talk about “ZERO TOLERANCE”. Just ask our home minister what does he mean by that and I am sure his answers will be:

1. Repeal POTA: This is because it is very harsh on those terrorists and politicians who work for us during the election campaigns.

2. Stall the death sentence of terrorists belonging to “religious minorities” (A term coined by his party) so that my party can get sympathy votes during the elections next year.

This page in You Tube has a great collection of songs and videos of Mohiner Ghoraguli. Check them out.

If you have not heard about this group before given below is a brief introduction I found in Wikipedia.

Moheener Ghoraguli or Mohiner Ghoraguli (Bengali:translation: Moheen’s Horses) was a Bengali music group from Kolkata. It is difficult to classify them into a musical genre, as their music was a mixture of a wide variety of influences, including the Baul and folk traditions of Bangla and rock.

Established in the 1970s during a period of stagnation in Bangla music, when commercial film songs were the dominant market force, the lyrics (and to some extent the compositions) of leader Gautam Chattopadhyay were radically new. They were of a very personal or social nature, similar to the urban folk movement lead by Bob Dylan in the 60s. Though they were almost unknown in their time, in recent years they have undergone a critical re-evaluation much like the Velvet Underground. This can not be understood without a little background on the Jibonmukhi movement.

They are sometimes also credited as the pioneers of the flourishing of Bangla bands in the new millenium. However this is debatable as their songwriting was strongly rooted in Bangla folk and also American urban folk, while modern Bangla bands like Fossils are mostly influenced by the angst of grunge.

Their signature song is Prithibita Naki, a reflection on how television creates urban alienation. It has been covered by many artists.

Style

Moheener Ghoraguli (or Mohiner Ghoraguli) was formed by a group of Kolkata musicians led by Gautam Chattopadhyay towards the end of 1974. Initially, they called themselves ‘Saptarshi’, and after dilly-dallying with various names including ‘Teerandaz’, ‘Nogor Shongkeerton’ finally settled on the name ‘Moheener Ghoraguli’ proposed by Ranjon Ghoshal. The name was borrowed from a poem ‘Ghora’ by Jibanananda Das. Around the same time, other Bengali bands such as Souls and Feedback were forming across the border in Bangladesh.

The 1970s were not a propitious time for an experimental group like Moheener Ghoraguli. It was the heyday of classic Bengali singers such as Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Shyamal Mitra, etc - soloists who were responsible for creating the canon of adhunik gaan or ‘modern Bengali songs’. These were songs that updated the tradition of Tagore and Nazrul. They were traditional in their instruments and arrangements, and traditional in their themes and lyrics. They often appeared for the first time in the soundtrack of Bengali movies before getting wider release. Indeed, composers like Salil Chowdhury maintained a bank of their compositions, to use when they were requested to score a film. These were usually typical romantic songs, fluffy and unmemorable in their lyrical content. The situation has been compared to the mellow, commercial Tin Pan Alley music in USA that led to the rebellious rock’n'roll movement.

In such a conservative climate, Moheener Ghoraguli, with its unorthodox musical compositions and strange choice of song themes, failed to gain much of a fan base. Its songs dealt with everyday topics -politics, poverty, injustice, revolution, love, loneliness, even begging and prostitution. Gautam Chattopadhyay had strong political beliefs; in common with many intelligent and idealistic young men of his generation, he was involved in socialist/communist politics during the 1960s and 1970s. (According to former bandmate Abraham Mazumdar, Gautam may have been involved in the Naxalite movement as well.^{[citation needed]}) This political outlook was reflected in the musical output of the band.

The type of music that Moheener Ghoraguli pioneered, though debatably, had the seeds of now very popular Jibonmukhi gaan or ‘Songs of ordinary life’. Two decades after Moheen, singers like Kabir Suman, Nochiketa and Anjan Dutta took Jibonmukhi gaan to a new level of popularity, but the origins of the genre can be found in the songs of Moheener Ghoraguli.

The band recorded with Western instruments and also experimented in a variety of musical styles, some of which must have jarred with the sensibilities of its audience. Today, these compositions sound quite contemporary, leading many to conclude that Moheener Ghoraguli was indeed ahead of its time. The band freely borrowed elements from baul shongeet, the folk music of rural Bengal . It can therefore lay claim to be the original Bengali folk-rock band. Many bands since Moheen have adopted similar innovations, among them Feedback, Dolchhut and Bangla.

The group played together till 1981 and was then dissolved. Its music too was largely forgotten. Then in the mid-1990s, a decade and a half after its dissolution, Gautam Chattopadhyay decided to revive Moheener Ghoraguli. The original members all had professional commitments now, so Gautam decided to put together a new lineup, composed mainly of young musicians.

The first album issued by the new-look Moheener Ghoraguli was a compilation called Abar Bochhor Kuri Porey (”Again, After Twenty Years”, a qutation from Jibonanondo Das), released at the Kolkata Book Fair. It included a number of original classics from the 1970s, as well as songs recorded by the new lineup. Although listeners were initially slow to catch on, the album proved to be a hit, and it introduced the band to a new generation of music-lovers. Gautam Chattopadhyay finally saw his music gain the popularity and critical recognition that had eluded his band in the 1970s. Several other successful compilations have followed since the first one. Both in their native West Bengal and in Bangladesh, Moheener Ghoraguli is now a much-admired band.

Gautam’s death in 1999 was sudden. After returning from a location shooting of his last film Rong Bin, which was never completed, the next day he went to the Indropuri studio to meet his longtime cinematographer friend and colleague, Vivek Banerjee and there he collapsed and died of a heart attack. An entire generation of budding musicians who had been popularized by Gautam in Kolkata mourned his untimely death and a tribute album “Moni chara shunno laage” (We feel empty without Moni) was released; it should be noted here that Moni was Gautam’s nickname.

Band members

Original lineup:

• Gautam Chattopadhyay (Manik a.k.a. Moni-da to his younger siblings) - voice, lead guitar, saxophone, lyrics
• Abraham Mazumdar - piano, violin
• Pradip “Bula” Chattopadhyay - bass guitar, flute
• Ranjon Ghoshal - lyrics, emcee, visuals, media relations
• Biswanath “Bishu” Chattopadhyay - drums, bass violin
• Tapas “Bapi” Das - voice, guitar
• Tapesh “Bhanu” Bandopadhyay - voice, guitar (till 197

Later Members:

• Raja Banerjee - Guitar (1978 onwards)

After Tapesh Bandopadhyay left the band in 1978, he was replaced by Raja Banerjee. Raja went on to record the third Moheen album Drishyomaan Moheener Ghoraguli with the band and performed in numerous concerts till the band was disbanded.

The Supreme Court of India has helped the Congress(I) to heave a sigh of relief by clearing the way to implement the bill related to caste based reservation in higher educational institutions. However how beneficial is reservation for the country is a question which is still a topic of debate.

I strongly disagree with the idea of reservation in professional educational courses and in research. I strongly feel that reservation should be limited to school education, general college education and general stream university courses. Moreover the whole process of reservation should have a fixed shelf life. We cannot go on with reservation for another 100 years. One generation should get the benefit.

Professional Courses like Medicine,Engineering,Law and Management should be outside the ambit of reservation. These courses produce professionals whose activities determine the fate of the nation and the safety and security of general populace depends on their calibre. These people should be the very best India has. For the very same reason I feel the admission to research institutions like IISC should also be solely on merit.

The polictical parties are bartering the future of our nation for their narrow political gains. The silent majority like us should start protesting against these moves and should use whatever avenues we have to ensure that the political parties get the message.

I only have one question for all the people who are votaries of reservation. Will you be comfortable in taking your children to a doctor knowing fully well that he/she gained admission to a medical school based on reservation and not on merit? (A majority of these students do not pass their courses in a single sitting.) [I am aware of many backward class students who do gain admission to IITs and IIMs based on merit and are some of the best professionals in their area of work.]

It is funny to see media going gaga over the win of Mayawati in the assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh. The process of deifying her started off the moment people started getting a whiff of the win.

I do not understand why media is pouring accolades on her. She is as guilty for the poor condition of UP as is any other politician. She has been the CM of UP thrice till date and is best remembered for hardening caste based divisions and rivalry as well as for corruption.

I believe people voted for her because she appeared to be the best rotten apple available. Given the quality of Indian polity I do not think people have much choice.

I am sure her rule will be peppered with development of her own village, revenge over Samajwadi party leaders, more corruption and criminalisation of politics. The criminalisation has already started with DP Yadav who will replace Raju Bhaiyya of Samajwadi party as the leading criminal in politics in UP.

Reforms in Indian politics is the need of the hour. The general population in India is losing its confidence in the “democratic” governments we have and is slowly trying to rally around the Supreme Court, The President or any other institution which can challenge the corrupt politicians who are the essential elements of “democratic” governments we have. It will be really sad if people start rallying around the army and start thinking that martial rule is the only alternative available.

I only hope that this time around since Mayawati does not have to depend on coalition partners she will concentrate on the following:

1. Good governance. 2. Development of Infrastructure. 3. Electricity 4. Water 5. Agriculture 6. Industry 7. Education

If she does not as everyone expects…then all we can do is harp on the same refrain ..Sab Maya Hai…….

I thought it was a  joke when I read that the Karnataka Legislature was thinking about passing a law banning the employment of women in night shifts….but then in a country where people get hauled up by courts for kissing….anything can happen..

The reason being pompomed by the labour minister and people of his ilk is security of women. Simply because the government and corporates do not want to take the responsiblity of protecting the women employees who work in the night shift the easy way out is simply to ban them….

This is a democratic country..every citizen has the freedom to choose his/her hours of work and vocation as long as it is not unlawful……

This is a retrogade step…instead the governemnt and corporates should come up with a series of measures which will ensure the safety of women employees working in graveyard shift….a control infrastructure too should be put in place to ensure compliance…..

It was amusing to see how a kiss raised a storm in India this week. Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty in full public view.

“Blashphemy!!!!”, “Indians should not kiss in public!!!” and ” Our younglings will learn the dirty art of kissing…the future of India is doomed!!!” were the hysterical screams coming out from crowds belonging to the “Pabitra India Samaj” (Moral Brigade). These bunch of people who have nothing much to do in life started burning effigies.

If you ask them that whether they burn effigies against killing of girl child, practice of dowry, sati or eveteasing the answer will most certainly be a “NO”. These are our pabitra Indian traditions….How can they raise a voice against these practices???

In the meantime Shilpa must be thinking…what a hunk!!! gimme another kiss man!!!! Carry on people…. we are not ruled by Taliban…not yet….

India has lost the bid for the 2014 Asian games. The reason that is doing the rounds is that we were a divided lot. Suresh Kalmadi starts cribbing that Mani Shankar Iyer has won!!

I am not an avid sports lover but I am convinced that if sports in India has to progress the only way forward is to remove the politicians from our sports associations.

Right from Hockey to Athletics these politicians are ruling the roost. All they want is to make some money out of sports. The experienced professionals are pushed to the periphery.

We need people who played the game to be a part of relevant sports body so that proper decisions can be taken.

Look at cricket!!! Former world champs do not even make it to the super eights!!! The CEO of BCCI is tring to juggle between agriculture and cricket…what better results can we expect!!!

Agriculture and Industry both are very important for any country. More so for a country like India with a population of over a billion out of which around a fourth are under the poverty line.

Unfortunately in India the two sectors are engaged in a dog fight due to the ineptitutde of our bureaucrats and politicians.

The latest example is Nandigram. The victims as usual are the innocent village folks. The politicians involved did not even have a single scar on their bodies.

It is stupidity to take over fertile lands for Industrial development when there are acres of land available which are not fit for agricultural use. This will not help India. Agriculture is India’s lifeline. We must work towards strengthening it.

We should not come to a conclusion that it cannot provide gainful employment to people. It has been the source of income for millions of people and it will continue to be so for years to come. Rather than having a negative attitude towards this sector the government should plan for the second green revolution. It should aim at 5% year to year growth in agricultural production.

I strongly agree that industrial development is important and that SEZs can help in this cause. However we should plan the SEZ movement meticulously to avoid logjam of any sort. Geographical locations which are not fit for agriculture and are economically under-developed should be chosen for SEZs to achieve the twin objective of good usage of such lands as well economic development of the population of that area. Enterprises who use SEZs should be given a social development target and should be rewarded with good incentives like tax related SOPs when they achieve it. That is the only way for inclusive economic growth and development.

Terrorism is a part of daily life today in India. This is the reason people have learnt to live with it. Our government terms this as “courage of people” to return to normal life inspite of imminent threat to their life and property. Wah!!! Wah!!!

The recent blasts on the Samjhauta Express is one of such incidents. Once again it is because of serious security lapses. Rather than trying to gauge the consequences of this blasts on the ‘bilateral’ relations with Pakistan, the media and government, would do a favour by highlighting the impact such incidents have on the life of general public and on how such serious security lapses can be avoided in the future.

Rather than tryting to blame some obscure terrorist group in Pakistan why doesn’t the government publish a white paper on the steps it plans to take to prevent such incidents in the future and commit dates by when the plans will be implemented.

A group of sadists just walked in to a train and later blew it up and walked away and our government is talking about relations with Pakistan and sabotage. Media too is playing its part to divert public opinion by concentrating on items which will be ’sensational’ rather than trying to pin down the government and build public opinion which will ensure that our governement stop regarding deaths in such incidents as statistics to calculate the amout of money they have pay out as compensation.

I was stunned by some of the calls that were being played out on Times Now a few days back. They were reactions to the lynching of the Nithari killers by members of the public.

Most of the people were happy about the incident and thought that this is the way to go. I just wanted to shout NO!!!!!! this is not right.

This is a democracy. The essence of democracy is freedom, however that does not mean non-existence of law. They are criminals and deserve the harshest punishment. However the right to punish them lies with the Court of Justice. The general public have no right to beat them up. This sort of lawlessness is shameful and should not happen at a time when we are saying to the world that we have finally arrived.

Given the fact that UP police could not arrest the people named in FIR even after a week has passed I believe that the case should be heard outside UP.