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Believer
05 August 2013, 10:04 AM
Namaste,

These are all unverified, biased observations and conclusions. You are warned not to accept any of it and do your own research if you feel so inclined to learn about Bengal’s unbiased recent history.

The establishment and growth of the East India Company in Bengal created the need for ever increasing number of clerks and lower level administrators. More and more Bengali Indians learned English to qualify for these positions. Christian clergy, ever ready to ‘harvest and save the souls’, was very active there at the time and influenced people’s thinking through teaching English. The intellectuals of the day with a spiritual bend, the likes of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, were able to go beyond the traditional Hindu scriptures and get exposed to the Christian theology, and Western concepts such as secular humanism and critical thinking. As giants among men endowed with superior intellect, and as pioneer English learners, they translated many of the Hindu scriptures and gave discourses on what has come to be known as ‘Hinduism with a Universalism flavor’.

There were many other learned sages and spiritual giants in India at the time, but the ‘Bengali babus’ came to be known as cream of the crop because of their ability to articulate themselves in English. And they catered to the Westerners with a dash of Xitian theology thrown into the mix. This made them magnets for westerners who were attracted towards Hinduism, and also the darling of the Indian English educated class. Anyone bringing religion to our doorstep and introducing us to a coherent theology becomes very endearing to us, and with time attains god-like status in our thinking. That is perfectly human as all of us cannot get educated in Sanaskrit and then spend a lifetime reading and understanding the scriptures. The teachers adept in English provided some of us with translations, which are like Cliff Notes to spirituality. Hindu scriptural knowledge and Hindu philosophy did not start with the ‘Bengali babus’, but they contributed towards spreading it beyond the traditional boundaries through mixing it with the Xitian mindset.

Fast forward by some decades – the East India Company had been replaced by direct British rule. As more and more land mass came under British occupation, use of English language became more prevalent among educated people from all areas, many common people were getting their college degrees and getting employment in the British Govt. bureaucracy; the movie industry based in Kolkatta created many jobs. Things were good and life was easy. Then everything began to unravel. The seat of the Govt. was moved to Delhi and the movie industry based in Mumbai started to eclipse the one in Kolkatta. After a long stretch of relative affluence, jobs evaporated and economy shrank. By and large the Bengalis were easy going people who had made a living by holding jobs, and there was very little in terms of entrepreneurship. So, in the vacuum created by a sudden loss of jobs in the traditional fields and a lack of any entrepreneurial activity to compensate for the loss, the empty promises and slogans of communists sounded like an enticing alternative. The Bengalis embraced communism full on and strong trade unions came into existence. Industrialists went elsewhere for investing in new factories. With no new economic activity, things became stagnant and the infrastructure deteriorated. All that was left was the ‘Bengali pride’.

After decades of socialist policies enforced by the Bengal state govt. in independent India, the decay is noticeable. The old buildings, total lack of any economic activity, not many international airlines routing to or passing through Kolkatta has been bad for its unfortunate citizens. Whereas rest of the big cities are booming with engineering software parks and call centers, new shopping malls and people buying new appliances/cars, Kolkatta residents have to contend with low paying jobs. Hope some day things will change as the brains of Kolkatta, who are second to none, deserve better.

I warned you about my observations being biased. If you are not happy with my take on Bengal's recent history, feel free to write your own. :)

Pranam.

Jetavan
05 August 2013, 06:56 PM
The Bengalis embraced communism full on and strong trade unions came into existence.

Greetings,

Why did the Bengalis embrace communism?

Believer
06 August 2013, 12:07 PM
Namaste,

Why did the Bengalis embrace communism?

The normal trickery of promising jobs, galvanizing the labor by branding the 'greedy industrialists' and the management as the source of their woes, the never ending talk of equality of different classes of labor. It was them who invented a new tool to harass the managers at various companies by conducting what was termed as 'gherao' - imprison the managers by surrounding their offices with workers, thereby blocking their exit, for days on end. It was psychological warfare that our simpletons bought into and stayed loyal to, for decades. What amazed me was that a large cross-section of educated people were also duped into this charade.

Pranam.

realdemigod
06 August 2013, 10:09 PM
I lived in Bengal and have many friends and Kolkata is the intellectual capital of India to me. It has rich heritage which can be shared with one or two other places in India. The artistic talent shown by almost majority of the population is mainly due to the fact that they value intellectualism more than making money and exploiting people.

I personally know a person whose brother is a grammy award winner and his grandfather is a very reputed artist whose paintings are quite famous. Because of many intellectual giants from Kolkata India made her name in her heyday.

Believer
07 August 2013, 10:21 AM
Namaste,

India has many, many ethnic and linguistic groups. Each one of them has made a contribution towards its advancement and each one tries to project its contribution to the pie as the biggest. There is no doubt that Bengal has produced many intellectual giants and world class artists. But it would be unfair and insulting to other groups to claim that India gained all its prominence due to the accomplishments of just one group. Each piece of mosaic helped to make the picture complete.

And this talk of 'exploiting people' is the typical old, tired commie slogan. When a businessman puts his money down, he takes a risk. He might lose everything he puts down, if he can't sell the product from his investment because of lack of demand or the price structure. Investment by an individual, weather it be in the stock market, or in private equity or in a new business is always with a desire to make some profit, and it always involves an inherent risk. Whereas I concede that sometimes the workers are taken advantage of and are treated as bonded labor, but to paint every business venture with a broad stroke of 'exploiting people' is naivety. What happens when you drive the capital out? It results in poverty which is not the desired results of it all. There is a deep seated mis-programming of some Indian minds that all business is bad and all businessmen are greedy, exploitative overlords. What happens when the state takes over the running of industry? Everything that they touch loses money and bankrupts the state/federal treasury. Looking at the big picture of economics gives one a different perspective than sloganeering. What one city in the whole world still has a statue of Lenin in a public square and is under a 24 hour guard - Kolkatta. This termite is eating away at the core of a rich culture by holding them back economically.

Pranam.

Viraja
07 August 2013, 04:18 PM
I love those rich, beautiful Bengal cotton saris! (And this is my second love of Bengal after Sri Dakshineshwar Kali).

Hail to those Banerjees and Chatterjees! :)

Abhishek Born Again
16 June 2014, 11:52 PM
I love those rich, beautiful Bengal cotton saris! (And this is my second love of Bengal after Sri Dakshineshwar Kali).

Hail to those Banerjees and Chatterjees! :)

And The Mukherjees Too :D

Abhishek Born Again
17 June 2014, 12:59 AM
Namaskar,
Bengal has been one of the great region of India to give birth to a lot of great souls who have done a lot for its Motherland.I would say Bengalis are some of the most intellectual people.Rabindranath Tagore was the first India to receive Nobel Prize for Literature and he was a Bengali.However,he was a great literary scholar and also a patriot.He fought against the Britishers not with Arms but with his Literary Creations and that is one of the reasons why he surrendered the Nobel Prize given to him by the British Government.

This was one of the examples .I have many more a young kid called Khudiram Bose who was the First Martyr of Indian Revolution and hew as a Bengali.He was just growing up and was only 18 years old but before he could experience life,he was hanged by the Britishers.

Another Leader called Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose,who was a rebelious leader and believed that in order to take away the Britishers we also have to opt for violence.Then only the British Rule can be taken off from India.He had created the "Azad Hind Fauz" also known as Indian National Army in Japan and from there he used to execute his activities to free India from the British Rule.The Britishers were so annoyed by him that even after accepting to leave India they made an agreement with the Leaders like Nehru and Gandhi that even after the Independence Netaji is found he would have to be handed to the British Governement but he was never found.Some say he died in a plane crash but no one knows what actually happened there is a popular thought that he was alive even after the crash and that he was not in that plane and lived rest of his life in Japan so that he could never be caught and handed to the Britishers.This was the treatment given to a Great Leader by our government.

There are so many examples and if I try to tell about everything it would take the entire page and more.Examples like Swami Vivekanand,Aurobindo Ghosh,Sharatchandra Chattopadhayay and more.

Bengalis have done a lot towards the Motherland and still are contributing towards the development but still some people ignore it.

Believer
21 June 2014, 09:30 AM
Namaste,

No one is denying their intellect or their contribution to the fabric of the Indian culture over the centuries. However what is sad is their whole hearted support to communism for decades and now to Mamata. During the communist rule the state was in a state of decay. Now it is being islamized. Hoardes of Bengladeshis come in every day. Every mullah in the state gets a stipend of Rs. 5000 per month, which is not available to the clergy of any other faith. Her power base comes from these muslims and the gullible Hindus. The anti development policies being followed by Mamta to stay in power are keeping the industrialists out. No major international airline touches the Kolkatta airport as there is no business to conduct. It is pathetic how Bengalis are being duped into becoming the next muslim majority and remain a poverty stricken state. Just having pride over the past accomplishments does not do Bengal or the rest of India any good. Installing Robindra sangeet piped music systems at every corner, instead of fixing the potholes in the city does not do anyone good. I wish they would wake up and reclaim their glorious past but I am not holding my breath for that as intellect without common sense is disastrous. Unfortunately for all of us, the Bengali intellectuals and the masses of the day are in a deep slumber mode. When and if they wake up, they could impact the current fabric of India in a major way and even run the whole country. But the way things are now, they are happy with their past with no desire to rise and be glorious in the present or in the future.

Pranam.

ShivaFan
21 June 2014, 03:49 PM
Namaste Believer

I have received shocking accounts (over the phone) of hordes of Islamic Bangladeshi illegal aliens causing havoc now on certain key roads in central City, some areas you do not want to park a car or it will be stolen right away and taken into Bangladesh. I have also seen them with my own eyes, and trouble.

The last time I was in Kalighat, my driver had to go after a pack of four with a bamboo beating rod.

The CPI(M) wasn't as horrible as some imagine, but I have had red flag column just out my window off Chowringhee, and had a bit of a problem with some communist dalits.

But overall, Kolkata is a wonderful place and I would recommend to come and have vacations. I hear there are some recent improvements also. I use to like to take some stupid friends near where they chop up live chickens to show them Islam and to scare them to death. But with the Bangladeshi issue becoming serious, this is not a joke and you might not want to go into some areas. But other areas have improved as far as stores and stuff, but I haven't been in 4 years I think now and pinning to go back. It is a marvelous place.

Om Namah Sivaya

Abhishek Born Again
21 June 2014, 11:35 PM
Namaste,

No one is denying their intellect or their contribution to the fabric of the Indian culture over the centuries. However what is sad is their whole hearted support to communism for decades and now to Mamata. During the communist rule the state was in a state of decay. Now it is being islamized. Hoardes of Bengladeshis come in every day. Every mullah in the state gets a stipend of Rs. 5000 per month, which is not available to the clergy of any other faith. Her power base comes from these muslims and the gullible Hindus. The anti development policies being followed by Mamta to stay in power are keeping the industrialists out. No major international airline touches the Kolkatta airport as there is no business to conduct. It is pathetic how Bengalis are being duped into becoming the next muslim majority and remain a poverty stricken state. Just having pride over the past accomplishments does not do Bengal or the rest of India any good. Installing Robindra sangeet piped music systems at every corner, instead of fixing the potholes in the city does not do anyone good. I wish they would wake up and reclaim their glorious past but I am not holding my breath for that as intellect without common sense is disastrous. Unfortunately for all of us, the Bengali intellectuals and the masses of the day are in a deep slumber mode. When and if they wake up, they could impact the current fabric of India in a major way and even run the whole country. But the way things are now, they are happy with their past with no desire to rise and be glorious in the present or in the future.

Pranam.

Namaskar,
I have to say that in this point I agree with you Big Time.I live and study there and some times the atmosphere to me is very weird.Why?I will explain,well one day there was going to be a rally called "Brigade" organised by Mamta Banerjee and I was coming from my coaching and what I saw was very astonishing.There were huge number of vehicles with a lot of people one after the other and then ohter going towards Maidan (A Place In Kolkata) and in the Metros my friend told me hat there were people who wanted to reach Howrah or Sealdah by Metro (But there are no Metros to these places) and then an announcement had to be made by the officials to get them out of the station.The people in Bengal are very politically sound as they voted more than 80% in the Lok Sabha Elections.But the political thing is WAY too ffar ahead in Bengal as I have felt because even in colleges the young people have UNIONS and it is of the party in rule in Bengal.

Also as Shiva Fan Ji said that if you are not aware in Bengal then you yourself can be bought and sold by the people there as they are very shrewd.And while buying things if you don't bargain then you would be in a huge loss as they sale things 3 times of the original price and even after selling the things at a bargained price the seller incurrs profit.

One big issue that Believer Ji said the Potholes.I would say it is one of the big issues there and if you are not aware you will end up in the Ganga (Hugly) river and I am not joking.Those are connected to the Ganga (Hugly) river and during rainy seasons you have to be very careful while walking as there is water everywhere.And the industrial thing is also correct,as Mamta when she wasn't even Chief Minister didn't allow Tata to manufacture "NANO" Car in Singur and they Tata had to find shelter for its Car in Gujarat.

What I think about Bengal is that people the problem is just like rest of India,there is huge poverty and illiteracy.And they do whatever he political goons tell them to do that includes going in the rallies,supporting "Didi",voting etc.

Dhanyavad

Believer
22 June 2014, 11:14 AM
Namaste,

ShivaFan, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings or those of anyone else. That was not the intent of my posts in this thread.

I have many Bengali friends and I love them all. I recognize that Netaji Subhash Chander Bose was a leader of all of India and not just Bengal and I worship him for his sacrifices in fighting both the Britishers and Gandhi to bring freedom to India. I adore Rabindra Nath Thakkur (not Tagore :)) for his literary and humanitarian contributions. I am thankful to Swami Vivekanand for bringing Hinduism to the West. And there are many, many others Benagalis of the past whom I cherish and idolize.

Having said that, my problem is with the current day population and their leaders. They have been and continue to take the state backwards, which is harmful to themselves as well as to the whole country. Everybody loves and praises the place they are emotionally attached to and I can understand that. But we must keep our eyes open and not let it deteriorate. Liking and loving some place means protecting it and making it go in the positive direction. Masking the ills just means more trouble downstream. I wish for the intellectual giants of Kolkata to awaken and take us to the glory days of Benagal.

I am not advocating a boycott of Kolkata. By all means people should go and visit it as they would visit any other city in Bharat. But by pointing out the downward spiral, I am merely trying to show the obvious - Rs. 5000 stipend for every muslim mullah, not promoting a business culture which keeps the people poor (major international airlines not finding a reason to go there), and general islamization of the state by letting hoards of Bengladeshis come to the city and then ceding parts of the city to them where we are afraid to go even during broad daylight. When any part of India suffers, I suffer and you suffer and we all suffer. So, not looking at the negatives because we are attached to a place only takes it further down. And that is bad for me, for you, and for the whole of India. This is no way being said to disparage Kolkata, but to attempt to make the lovers of Kolkata be pragmatic and not hide from the obvious.

Jai Kolkata, Jai Bengal, Jai Kali Ma.

Pranam.

ShivaFan
23 June 2014, 09:01 AM
Namaste Believer

Not at all! As you can see, I am agreeing to the problems that do exist. If pan masala and gutka spitting on the Howrah doesn't stop soon, the bridge is going to fall down because it is eating through the metal and weakening the structure.

Om Namah Sivaya

aupmanyav
28 June 2014, 07:12 AM
If pan masala and gutka spitting on the Howrah doesn't stop soon, the bridge is going to fall down because it is eating through the metal and weakening the structure.Let us see when Modi takes up Kolkata (I do not mean that BJP wins the state elections. Even without that Government has a responsibility to care for Kolkata).

Believer
30 June 2014, 12:44 PM
Namaste,


Let us see when Modi takes up Kolkata (I do not mean that BJP wins the state elections. Even without that Government has a responsibility to care for Kolkata).

If my street sweeper does not do a proper job, I am definitely going to go after Modi. Incredible! :)

Why is the damn Govt. responsible for the stupidity of its citizens? Why don't people get off the internet wasting their lives by making stupid posts and do something constructive with their lives, like cleaning the gutka spit from Howrah bridge? OR should Modi come with a mop and do it for them? The Indian mentality of 'Govt. should do it all for me while I sit on my rear end' is, unfortunately, alive and well.

Pranam.