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If you have read today's newspapers, then you will have read about the coronation of Buddha..er. the oath-taking ceremony of the WB CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Both he and GK Gandhi the governor are looking trim and healthy.
Having spent a good part of my formative years in WB, I have a certain affinity for the state; you can say I have an opinion regarding most things related to Bengal and Bangalis.
I used to curse the Left Front government for the state of affairs in Kolkata, and though I was part of SFI during my college days, this was more by default than by choice. Not that it made a big difference; I always believed that the reds in India, and specifically in WB were big humbugs. At the best, they are posers, and at worst they are hypocrites. In today's world of open market economies, corporate cultures, consumerism, and capitalism, I don't think there is any role for communism; they have been well and truly defeated. I empathise with Marx, but I disagree with the communist ideology.
The question is: is there space in the world anymore for any ideology? In the years leading up to WWII, during the heyday of Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and when George Orwell was still writing, there were hot debates on the various isms; people were obsessed with them. There were equal supporters for every variety, and people generally believed that one or the other ideology would ultimately win the war.
To me, recent words attributed to Buddhadeb seem to echo my sentiments: he said, it seems, that WB is one among 28 other states, so it cannot be a socialistic island; it is as much capitalist as the rest of the world. I can try and give you a link to the quote in India today if people post comments on this issue. But I agree totally with Buddha: No man is an island, and this applies to a state as well.
This brings me to the eternal point. Bangalis are more talkers than doers; and Buddha is an antithesis of a Bangali. He is a man of action; he believes that his deeds speak louder than his words, and because of this he is a boon to the state. I would like to see all Bangalis rise to the occasion. Stop debating endlessly on non-issues like communism. Or, if you must, do it only in your spare time (or like in the ad on Morning Dew, don't DO here, DO there!!!). And eschew the gun culture, and make WB more investor-and trader-friendly. I know, a large part of our population are WORKERS, so we have to be worker-friendly, but the days of workers' unions and their strong-arm tactics are drawing to an end; this has happened in the rest of the world, is happening even in Mumbai, which was never a RED bastion but still always had strong unions. Even in Mumbai, the unions are no longer allowed to hijack the essentially WORLD BANK dictated policy of open market economy. That WB has to finally open the doors of this WB so that the beleagured people of Kolkata-nay, the whole state-finally see some developement and infrastuctural changes.And as Buddha toils to bring in stronger in-flow of FDI into WB, I say: more power to his elbow, and HAIL COMRADE!
