Debolina, whatever points you have mentioned here are indeed very true, and inspite of being a die-hard Kolkata fan, have to grudgingly admit that there is a huge attitude problem of the people that have hindered the growth of the city. In fact, its ironical, that the people who have left Kolkata and settled elsewhere have done exceedingly well in life in most cases, whereas the lackadaisical attitude of the Kolkatans coupled with the current political imbroglio of the State have only brought bad luck and hanmpered the development of the city. But still, Kolkata is way ahead of any other city for its inherent warmth and cultural richness. Being a resident of Bangalore for the past ten years, I feel this city is too cryptic and devoid of that cultural potpourri.

Culture is something that should be flexible to adapt itself with time. Tradition and culture should never be mixed. I feel that tradition comes from culture and that depends on the immediate time and place. What is culture today will be tradition tomorrow and may not be practical to continue given that time. In Kolkata it is more of tradition and in Bangalore it is more of culture, don’t you think?

But who will bring about the change? You????? (by staying at bangalore and posting such articles?) It is very easy to write but very difficult to change the society for good....This was not the condition of Kolkata even a few years back. There was a saying ”What Kolkata thinks today India thinks tomorrow!!”....Why then do u think our city is declining? It is because of us, we educated people! WE EAT, WE STAY, WE TAKE EVERY HELP FROM THE CITY (no where in India will u find a city where food, clothing n transport costs are so less) AND YET WHEN OUR JOB IS DONE WE R READY TO BLAME THE CITY AND RUN OFF TO MUMBAI OR BANGALORE and forget our roots literally! We have some social responsibility which we can’t deny...we have to stay here and dedicate our lives for the betterment of the city instead of sitting in an AC room and posting such articles....sorry debi, no offence...i think i made myself clear about that!

As always, you don’t see the point, do you? You think people should stay back in Kolkata and do something. Like what? Bandhs? The point is, it is the people ruining the city, not the government, not the society. It is people like you who believe that it is perfect are stopping it from improving itself. Open that little blind ribbon from eyes and look around, you will see the truth. People don’t stay somewhere for the sake of love for a place, but for other practical reasons like lifestyle and career growth prospects. It is very easy to comment on critical articles sitting in the comfort of ur home with your mother cooking dinner for you and father paying the bills. Live on your own and handle everything on your own, you will know which city you want to live in.

No offence, but I think I had made my point clear in the article itself.

As always, you don’t see the point, do you? You think people should stay back in Kolkata and do something. Like what? Bandhs? The point is, it is the people ruining the city, not the government, not the society. It is people like you who believe that it is perfect are stopping it from improving itself. Open that little blind ribbon from eyes and look around, you will see the truth. People don’t stay somewhere for the sake of love for a place, but for other practical reasons like lifestyle and career growth prospects. It is very easy to comment on critical articles sitting in the comfort of ur home with your mother cooking dinner for you and father paying the bills. Live on your own and handle everything on your own, you will know which city you want to live in.

No offence, but I think I had made my point clear in the article itself.

You have written a lot about the negative aspects of the ppl of kolkata so let me comment on each of these points:

a)Firstly, u r from Kolkata urself, Ur parents and friends are mostly from here. You have studied in schools and colleges of Kolkata. Kolkata has nourished u with food and education and now u have grown big and strong enough to post such articles. At least pay some respect to the city which has done so much for u(esp. when u call it wretched)!

b) ”You think people should stay back in Kolkata and do something. Like what? Bandhs?”—-I never thought u were such a fool as to think that common people call for bandhs. They r compelled to stay in their houses in fear of political hooligans who attack pedestrians on the day of the strike. They are just a few in number but can cause serious problems for the common people. For the daily wagers, a bandh is almost equal to a death warrant as they cannot earn their living for the whole day. As for the IT professionals, they have to attend their offices no matter what happens in the state so they risk their lives and go out. How can they ever support a bandh?

c) ”The point is, it is the people ruining the city, not the government, not the society.”—which people do u mean? Common people or people associated with politics? Common people have far more important works to do than ruining the city. They r busy in earning their living. If u meant the latter then i agree with u to some extent. Again, u excluded the term ”society” but u know very well that people forms the society so people and society are almost equivalent.

d)”It is people like you who believe that it is perfect are stopping it from improving itself.”— Now i m sure that i have hit the right target which made u so angry that u tried to hit me personally. Anyway, I m feeling extremely delighted to know the fact that i m the one who is stopping the whole city from improving! God! I have so much power!!!

U have already made a remark contrary to this point ”You think people should stay back in Kolkata and do something.” and again u r saying that ”It is people like you who believe that it is perfect are stopping it from improving itself.” Strange!! u decide which of these u actually meant.

Firstly, i have never in my life said that the city is perfect. No city on the earth is PERFECT! Not even Bangalore. Definitely, Kolkata needs improvement. But who can help the city in this mission? Definitely, WE, the young, educated people. Instead of fleeing away from the city for all its negative aspects, we should try to bring back the lost glory of Kolkata. How? I will tell u if u r really interested to know.

e)”Open that little blind ribbon from eyes and look around, you will see the truth.”— i think it is u who is wearing the black ribbon otherwise u could at least see the positive sides of the city too! But u r unfortunately seeing only the negative sides. I guess it is a negative filter ribbon that u r wearing which is making u see only the negative things.

f)”People don’t stay somewhere for the sake of love for a place, but for other practical reasons like lifestyle and career growth prospects.”—-dont think every people is like u. I can give u names of thousands of people who have sacrificed their career for the love for their city and it includes me and my brother too. For u, we are fools but we know there are things which money can’t buy. Moreover, Kolkata doesn’t face unemployment problem anymore. If a person doesn’t get a job in kolkata then he/she is least likely to get a job anywhere else in India. As far as lifestyle is concerned, I m happy that calcuttans do not crave for luxurious lifestyle, it gives me great relief to think that at least in this part of India people are not running for money only.

g)”It is very easy to comment on critical articles sitting in the comfort of ur home with your mother cooking dinner for you and father paying the bills.”— neither my mother cooks the dinner nor does my father pay the bills. We stay in a joint family where everyone contributes. When i shall get the job i shall also contribute to my family.

h)”Live on your own and handle everything on your own, you will know which city you want to live in.”—- After getting a job, no matter where i m posted, i m very sure that i wud prefer to stay in my state only....where i can speak my mother tongue and eat bengali food and chat in bengali.

If u seriously interested to do something good for the city then tell me because i have already started working on this mission and i m sure it will improve the city, may be slowly, but surely.

Let me tell u something, try and understand it logically. Financially, Kolkata can’t grow because the government subsidises everything. Yes, possibly they are thinking of poor people, but shouldn’t they rather be improving earning capabilities of these people rather than trying to control prices? If you would have studied even a little economics, you would know that a little inflation (price-rise) is a healthy sign of economic growth. If the government keeps paying half of everything everyone buys (while half of the population keep trying to evade taxes), how will it have any money to improve anything (infrastructure, roads, etc)? If they let the prices rise, there are bandhs again. Yes, even I crib when prices go up, but when I think about it, it is pretty necessary for the government to save some money so that it can be invested in improving things. West Bengal doesn’t even have any thriving industry. No economy can prosper without one. But the people would rather not have any, as was shown by what happened in Singur. Where does the government get money to do anything?

For that matter, even the government itself forces people inside on a bandh. Remember the scooter accident I had, it was on a bandh day and the cops refused to help, rather they questioned me why I was outside home when a Bandh is in effect. It is not a curfew for heaven’s sake!! How can a government run, with so many holidays plus bandhs (so little working days?)

Honestly, CPI(M) has no fear of losing. 30 years in power has given them the faith that they are invincible. I am not questioning their ability, and I absolutely don’t trust Mamata Bannerjee, but the government should make Kolkata more competitive considering that the youth are fleeing the city. (Check migration statistics on census of india . org)

And, you might stay back in your city for the love of it, but trust me, there are millions who whole heartedly love Kolkata and want to stay there too, but won’t for the lack of opportunities. Check for tickets from anywhere to Kolkata on yatra.com (train, flight, hotels) during pujas and new years, you will find out how people flock back for a week or two.

How come people in Kolkata don’t succeed in their field in the city, but get glorified in other cities? Do you know that there are hundreds of film stars and technicians in the south and bollywood from Kolkata? You wont get it, but other than Rituporno, no one really makes ”good” movies, if you understand what I mean by ”good”.

And the article was about people in liberal arts not having a space in their own ”culturally rich” Kolkata, but getting accepted, nationally and even internationally as they shift base. Doctors and engineers are zuper successful in the city, but there is nothing for people who would rather follow their dreams than the herd.

What needs to be ensured is that there is a steady change occurring in Kolkata, because unless things change, there can’t be improvement. Anything that doesn’t improve DIES with time, even the rich culture and the city we love.

Again i m quoting out a few lines from ur comment n explaining:

a)”Financially, Kolkata can’t grow because the government subsidises everything.”—– very true...but did u ever think why our state govt. does so? What will the govt. gain by running state-sponsored schools and colleges? It is only for the hope that by teaching these pupils, one day they will also contribute to the state through their income tax and other ways. Unfortunately, people nowadays have become so greedy that they would rather go abroad or to other cities in order to earn more and raise their standard of living instead of bothering about his own state and the ppl. Indeed this is the only reason why our state is now poor. Then there r ppl who never pay their income tax properly...such ppl exists in every state and west bengal is also no exception.

b)”If they let the prices rise, there are bandhs again.”—-very true.....but this is again the result of politics in wb...nothing about the ppl.

c)”West Bengal doesn’t even have any thriving industry. No economy can prosper without one. But the people would rather not have any, as was shown by what happened in Singur.”—- U know very well, how the opposing parties led by mamata banerjee and other naxalites had brainwashed the poor n illiterate ppl of singur and nandigram. Politics again.

d)”How can a government run, with so many holidays plus bandhs (so little working days?)”—with TMC on the verge of becoming the ruling party in wb, i guess every day will be a ”Bandh Day” for all of us.

e)”there are millions who whole heartedly love Kolkata and want to stay there too, but won’t for the lack of opportunities. ”—- i simply cannot agree in this point....if they have very high ambitions then it’s different but there are so many employment opportunities now in Kolkata that if a person remains unemployed then that will be surprising!

f)”How come people in Kolkata don’t succeed in their field in the city, but get glorified in other cities?”—i can give u a big list of non-bengali ppl who were not successful in their own state/country but have become famous in this city...to name a few- Mother Teresa, Pt. V.Balsara,Usha Utthup, Baichung Bhutia,manoj murali nair, manisha murali nair, jeet, lakshmi ratan shukla, manoj tiwari, rohan gavaskar, celina jaitley and the list is endless.

g) ”Do you know that there are hundreds of film stars and technicians in the south and bollywood from Kolkata?”—This is a problem (Read this letter:
Sir — Whenever Calcutta’s Bengalis demand their cultural rights, liberals term them zealots and oppose their claim on the ground that this cosmopolitan city is home to a large number of non-Bengalis. But when any kind of ill plagues the city, the sword inevitably dangles over Bengalis. The credit for all that is good in Calcutta is given to the migrant non-Bengalis, while the native Bengalis are made to bear the burden of the city’s liabilities. The editorial, “Not for all”, employs the same twisted philosophy to lambaste Bengalis for Calcutta’s communal mindset. But does The Telegraph know how many Bengalis are still left in this city? Thanks to the numerical and economic strengths of non-Bengalis, the original inhabitants have almost ceased to exist. Calcutta has become communal because of the take-over of the city by outsiders, who have brought along with them the communal culture of the places of their origin. Consequently, the liberal culture of this city has perished. Many housing societies populated by non-Bengalis who are vegetarian see to it that fish-eating Bengalis do not purchase apartments there. Bengalis interested in buying property are asked to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet. In spite of having full knowledge of this, individuals, political parties or the media have not come forward to highlight the atrocities perpetrated on Bengalis for the fear of being called ‘parochial’.

Yours faithfully,
Kajal Chatterjee, Sodepur) visit this link (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090128/jsp/opinion/story_10445007.jsp)

h)”What needs to be ensured is that there is a steady change occurring in Kolkata, because unless things change, there can’t be improvement.”—–change is occurring. The young generation as well as the ”buddhijibis” are supporting TMC for bringing a ”change”....change will definitely come...be it for the good or for the bad!

If Bengalies go on evading their own city and rich non-bengali migrants conquer the city, i guess bengali culture will perish totally. It might not bother u but it bothers me a lot and many other ppl who chose to stay here for the love for Kolkata. Kolkata is like our mother, and we are her children....will u not save ur mother from destruction?

What i feel that ppl of Kolkata needs to change are the following:

a) Stop acting like slaves with the non-bengalis. They are no GOD, they r human beings with huge money. Stop patronizing their culture bcoz they will never patronize urs.

b) Stop being so liberal to the non-bengalis that ur own existence is at stake.

c) Protest against people if they r doing something wrong.

d) Young educated ppl should make a mass movement to open the eyes of the ppl....they should be made to realize that bengali songs are not restricted to rabindrasangeet only and bengali movies should not be restricted to those ”Good movies(?)” only.

e) Stop this greed for money and fame....bcoz greed never stops.Stand beside fellow bengalis who need help. Read books about the rich culture we had and try to preserve it and at the same time try to make necessary changes so as to attract the young educated bengalis towards this state.

f) Stop voting for political parties which can cause hindrance in the path progress for Kolkata.

g) Serve your city in whatever little way possible....there is no greater happiness in this world than to make others happy”

I never knew an educated person like you could speak and believe in Thackeray policies. And I also thought Indians have the right to live and work anywhere in the country and if Bengalis don’t want to work ”under” non-Bengalis they should start businesses of their own. Most will rather cry that they don’t have a job than start a small shop. Even you worked in Intrigue under a non-Bengali.

Ask my mother about our istiriwala. She will tell you exactly what I mean.

Thackeray policies said ”Do not help ppl who do not speak marathi”.....i never said that. I m telling ”Respect every culture” but i hope u r educated enough to understand the meaning of the word ”PATRONIZE”. In case u dont know, it means ”voluntary descent from one’s rank or dignity in intercourse with a person”. I have studied in a marwari school and i have seen bengalis who r eager to embrace the culture and language of marwaris in order to please them. I m only asking them to maintain their dignity. non-bengalis have not descended from a different planet. They r also ordinary human beings like us. Do not hate them and also do not treat them as if they r superior to u. Treat them as u wud treat any other ordinary person.

Do not try to bring out another controversial issue out of my comment. I too have non-bengali friends and i treat them like my other bengali friends.

Also to tell u....if u make a statistical data of the non-bengalis who do not love the bengalis u will find that almost 90% will say they ”dont love bengali ppl”. I have been a victim of racial discrimination myself and i know very well how the non-bengalis would treat the bengalis in case the population of the former exceeds the latter. And no matter whether u call me Thackerey or watever, if the existence of my culture is at stake i will b the first one to protest.

There r bengalis who say ”I dont love Kolkata but i m proud to b an indian”. This can never be true. If one doesnt love his parents, his culture, his city and village he can never pay respect to a bigger dimension, i.e. country. Satyajit Ray (whom the rest of India never realized before he got the Oscar except the bengalis)once said ”I m first a bengali and then an Indian because without loving ur own mother u can never love someone else’s mother”. For me Kolkata is my mother and rest of the states r like aunts and uncles. Without loving my own mother i can never love my uncles and aunts. Bengali ppl will b my brothers n sisters while ppl from other states will b my cousins.

Also to speak of Thackray, did u ever thought why he is recieving huge support from the marathi ppl? It is bcoz their culture is at stake. Even ten years ago marathi theatres were very famous but now there r so few marathis in mumbai itself. The rich non-marathis have bought their land. Mumbai has attended a culture which is definitely ”non-marathi”. When one’s own culture is at stake there is perhaps no other way but to protest. However, i definitely do not support the way Thackray attacked non-marathi ppl. Bengalis have been too liberal always. They should at least stop taking measures which will extinguish the whole bengali population from kolkata.

Also in my article i have pasted a letter where the following lines r quoted ”Many housing societies populated by non-Bengalis who are vegetarian see to it that fish-eating Bengalis do not purchase apartments there. Bengalis interested in buying property are asked to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet. In spite of having full knowledge of this, individuals, political parties or the media have not come forward to highlight the atrocities perpetrated on Bengalis for the fear of being called ‘parochial’.” So, u r blaming me when i try to defend the bengalis. U didnt even write a word about this letter. This also reveals a communal aspect in u debi. If the non-bengalis behave badly with bengalis, deny them property bcoz they r non-vegetarian that is absolutely okay with u but when i say not to embrace others’ culture, u r comparing me with Thackray. I only told my fellow citizens to maintain their dignity and u term me as parochial and when the non-bengalis deny land to the bengalis in their own city they r ”good ppl”....Debi, i just dont know wat to say. ur disrespect for ur roots and culture r simply amazing....i just pray that u do not meet with the same fate as Michael Madhusudan Dutta when he tried to become an Englishman and renounced India, his motherland.

This is my last comment. My cousin has gone to Chennai and she had to face huge problem for getting a room to stay as a paying guest. The reason is that she is non-vegetarian and Chennai ppl r mostly vegetarians. Although she has no problem with a vegetarian meal, ppl there are still suspicious that she might bring cooked non-veg food from outside n eat it in their house. With extreme difficulty she managed to get a room where the landlord is a muslim woman who has no problem with non-veg meals. Also, in South India, ppl hardly speaks in Hindi. So, ppl from other parts of India have to adjust themselves to the place instead of making the original inhabitants adjust as per their needs. Perhaps that is the reason that South India has been able to restore their rich culture and heritage. Nobody has ever pointed fingers on the South Indian ppl for this attitude. Bengal has been too liberal in this respect, but what for? When our culture is at stake I think bengalis shud also do the same.

No further comments....i know u will never agree with me...we r poles apart in every aspect yet we r best friends. But my comments r for the viewers. I have no enthusiasm to argue with u anymore bcoz u r too stubborn to agree with me and u r intending to raise another controversial topic from my comments as usual.

Sorry for commenting again....i just forgot to say onething. u said ”if Bengalis don’t want to work ”under” non-Bengalis they should start businesses of their own. Most will rather cry that they don’t have a job than start a small shop. Even you worked in Intrigue under a non-Bengali.”—why r u telling all this to me? i never said that it is wrong to work ”under” non-bengalis. I guess u took this phrase ”ACTING AS SLAVES” to be ”WORKING UNDER THE NON-BENGALIS”. The two phrases r totally different....while the former means ”presenting oneself as an inferior being in front of another person” (it is the attitude, i m referring to) , the latter means ”simple employer-worker relationship btwn bengalis n non-bengalis”. First, understand the phrase and then comment. And who told u that a calcuttan wud cry for unemployment rather than give a small shop? If that had been the case then they shud not have stayed here but had gone to bangalore like u, where anyone will get a good job (as per ur statements). In which world r u living? When the stomach aches for food, a person can do any work....gone r the days when some works were considered inferior to others. Even we have worked together as content writers which is a completely new field. How many of ur friends r doctors n engineers in Kolkata? What about ur mom? She is no doctor? What about my family? None r doctors or engineers. I wonder from where u have got these wrong informations about kolkata....may be its ur imagination. good luck.

Culture as a whole doesn’t have a definition. If ”culture” has to be followed then change is inevitable, because so is culture. I don’t believe in region based politics. For me, I am an Indian first and then a Bengali, and if we are talking about bengalis and non-bengalis, we are not the real bengalis either. We have all moved in from Bangladesh when the partition happened, removing the adivasis from their land. Nothing is ours either here.

For me, India is my mother and West Bengal is a part of my mother. If I cant respect my mother, I can’t respect my state. And I think I have recognised why our thoughts differ. Because I am looking at India globally and you are looking at it from a national point of view.

It is similar in Bangalore. We have been refused housing here because I am a non-vegetarian. It is about how the owner personally looks at it. For that matter, we were even refused housing by a hindu family because Amit is a sikh and they only wanted hindu people in their house. I have had friends in JU, who had problems finding houses because they were christians and they were denied houses by bengalis because they eat beef. But they found houses nevertheless in Kolkata. I have found a house in Bangalore. Your friend in Chennai has found a place. Even recently Emraan Hashmi was denied a house because he is a muslim. These are not communal or regionistic issues, these are personal restrictions. I remember my parents’ restrictions when they were looking for a tenant for our Garcha Road house. They were not communal, they were their personal choices of giving out their personal property to someone.

South India comprises of Tamilians, Kannadigas and Malayalis and they al don’t speak each other’s languages. How do you think they communicate? Hindi or English. Yes, even with us. And I think if someone is moving to another place, it is evident that he/she needs to adjust to the place and people and the people need to accept them too. It’s a two-way thing. Trust me Jhiku, without these marwaris coming into our state, West Bengal wouldn’t have had a single industry. My dad is working closely with the government in industrialising the state. Even he tells me of the reluctance of bengalis to start their own business. They always prefer a monthly income. Again, it’s not bad, it’s just the way it is. Even I would rather have an income than a business, then again Amit believes a business is a more viable option for career and money. It’s just the way we are.

Content writing is not a new field. You never knew about it because you were not in the line educationally either. I am proud that my mom is a teacher and now after seeing me walking out on science, she also explains to her students that there is a life beyond it. I remember when I took up humanities, my parents didn’t know what I will do. Then I walked out on their only hope, economics, then again they didn’t know what to do. I guess, I have answered quite enough too. And by the way, when you are working under someone and that person is paying your salary, you have to work according to their targets.

Hello, we are not big celebrities blogging here that controversy will rise. And I am happy to be stubborn, and why the heck should I try to ”agree with you” when you are talking about stuff I completely hate? Get the facts right.

u had to agree with me at each and every point and yet u r not ready to admit it....as has been ur ”stubborn” nature always....i dont even expect it from u...u argue only for the sake of arguing without any basis. u agree that ur mom is a teacher and not some doctor or engineer....even my mom was a teacher n my dad was a central govt. employee....there is such a tough competition for medical entrance exams in west bengal....if ur statements were correct then in wb there wud have been a doctor n engineer in every household. U urself know that it is not true.

Thanks for letting me know that i was ignorant about the kpo industry already present in kolkata. It further proves that kolkata has been accepting varieties of career since a long time. Thanks for the information. It further strengthened my point.

And for the sake of arguing u r even justifying the communal nature of ppl who do not allow paying guests on the basis of religion, caste, creed and language. This is a secular state...how can u justify these acts? Just for the sake of arguing? I m amazed!

And even i hate the topics that u r posting which i shud say is a demonstration of ur disrespect for ur roots.