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Kolkata is currently in the throes of the infamous Indian Summer when day temperatures reach around 42oC in the shade and evenings are just as well stifling and sultry. People really do not know what to do and what not in this most stifling heat and humidity that sap them of any available energy and the willingness to do any physical or even intellectual work.

The fortunate few have air conditioned offices, houses and cars but the suffering majority toil on almost silently, equipped with the knowledge base that Kolkata cannot have any other climate pattern during April (the so-called cruelest month following poet and banker TS Eliot) and May (when they happen to crown the May Queen in London).

The state polls are continuing on top of everything. This time around West Bengal has had its state legislative assembly elections in as many as five phases, an unprecedented state of affairs in this country that habitually boasts itself as the largest functioning democracy of the world that is also characterized by its ethos of functioning anarchy (following John Kenneth Galbraith).

The elections took place only recently in Kolkata when people queued up in this most scorching heat to cast their vote. The Opposition did not have any opportunity this time to raise their voices of dissent against electoral irregularities and political violence, as paramilitary forces such as the CISF, CRPF and the ITBP were on duty during the polls.

Even VVIPs such as the Chief Minister, the former Chief Minister and the Mayor etc. were not allowed no enter the polling booths with their bodyguards. The Mayor even had to face challenge from the election personnel as he was not carrying his voter identity card despite the fact that he happens to own such a card himself. A state minister was not allowed to enter the booth by a security force guard. This led to a lot of brouhaha that was eventually managed by all and sundry.

The communists are most likely to return to power in the state, and it must be added that they have been able to achieve considerably in real terms in the last fiver years or so in terms of urban infrastructure development. Though the uncomfortable questions remain: development for whom and at what price?

The media has added a lot of muscle to its repertoire in and around Kolkata these days. Any illegal construction, filling of wetlands, defacing of heritage buildings, public corruption, irregularity in high offices etc. are regular fodder to its mill. Newspersons are constantly on the move, trying to gather and garner news like busy ants.

Certain incidents have taken place at Kolkata during the last week or so that display the wonderful character of this metropolis. A young taxi driver found a large amount of unclaimed money and jewelry in his car some days back but ensured that the same was retuned to its rightful owners. Perfect strangers have helped a sick man on the streets of Kolkata while Kolkata Police have helped a young woman return to her native village located some distance away from the City.

The above incidents are not major enough to attract news headlines but they still exhibit the human content of Kolkata in a simple enough manner. Great acts do not always require much fanfare but can be executed in silent but noble ways. This is the humane core of Kolkata that may not always be noticed due to the problems galore that face the everyday life of the City but that nevertheless comes shining through at critical and more often than not difficult junctures.

Joints such as the City Center at Salt Lake are thriving with people who do not always buy but rather go on window shopping sprees. Expensive restaurants and multiplexes cater to the tastes of the young and upwardly mobile pretty young things who stroll at ease whether around Mayfair or Park Street.

The night clubs and discos are doing brisk business these days. Contraceptive vending machines may soon be installed at these places to promote the concept of safe sex. The aggressive campaigns being carried out of late by the National AIDS Commission (NACO) have raised a lot of distraught eyebrows. Letters have been published in local newspapers where concerned parents have voiced their discomfort against such open information and education exercises that lead to considerable embarrassment before their children.

Indians in general and the citizens of Kolkata in particular are not quite famous for their sense of propriety and proportion. So incidents happen in public life that are not always desirable. We have simulated the promiscuity of the West but we have not yet been able to entirely emulate the Protestant Ethic and honesty and civic integrity of the West. The West is not always the Best but at least we should make conscious efforts to glean the exemplary lessons from other civilizations and cultures.

Culture is what we do and civilization is what we are. So it is not perhaps difficult to gauge the ways and means in which people ordinarily behave and react in and around Kolkata. The Metro Railways happens to be an example: people do not normally spit underground but they start spitting merrily on the streets once they have surfaces from the subways. Does this really indicate that Kolkata has two cultures? One above the ground while another underground? This is a most disturbing question that may be addressed by social scientists. It was recently suggested that the unemployed youth could be engaged in the election process. This was a hotly debated issue in the local media. Such a controversy proves that Kolkata is still intellectually alive. It simply requires a culture boost so that politics and society can engage with one another to begin to answer some disquieting questions.  

May 7, 2006

Top | Kolkata Diary

The Week of May 7, 2006      
India-Pakistan Must Jointly Combat Terrorism by Rajinder Puri
Releasing Masood Azhar was a Political Decision by MH Ahsan 
Extinction of Democracies and The Irish Elk by Gaurang Bhatt, MD  
Bhutan: India's Trusted Strategic Friend and Ally in South Asia by Dr. Subhash Kapila
What is the Solution to the Kashmir Imbroglio by TA Ramesh 
Natural Disaster: A Concern for Security by VK Joshi 
High on Grass by Chitra Balasubramaniam  
Look Around You by Naira Yaqoob
An Indian Summer by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti 
The Question of Truth and Yogic Practice by Ashish Nangia 
Myths in Jyotish by Rohiniranjan
The Fairy Tale Code by Kelley Bell  
Make Travel Fun for your Little One by Garima Gupta 
A Passionate Cry for Human Dignity by V. Sundaram   
Never Victorious, Never Defeated A Book Review by Amreeta Sen 
Bankim's Krishna-Charita : Some Observations by Major Gen. Shekhar Sen, VSM
VPN : An Introduction by Ruchi Gupta
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
O Cancer: I am a Fighter Too by Ravi Pipal   
My Mother : A Cup of Wonder by Dhiraj Bhimji Raniga    
Suseela a short story by NS Murty
Divorce a short story by Vikram Karve  
Naushad : End of an Era by Ramendra Kumar 
Interview with Emraan Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja by MH Ahsan 
To be Single and a Mother by Karina Araos 
Plenty but not Enough by Kavita Devgan  
Ayurveda as a Career by Pallavi Bhattacharya