Wise Dudu Takes Over

Wise Dudu Takes Over Nidhu Bhusan Das Rupam has a new boss.He is young,reticent,and wears the air of intellectuality.A stubble moustache hides expression that may linger on his upper lip.The new boss Dudu Chakladar has inherited the chair and the property of his father who has died recently at a little known kolkata nursing home without any fanfare.The son has been quick to take over.Since then he has been quite prompt to establish his power and control on the mini media empire his father has built and left behind.Rupam has found a new importance in the dispensation of the new boss.Dudu is 35,father of one son,who is,unlike,Dudu lucky to have no sibling. Dudu need not think,like his father, of partitioning the property as he has the sole heir. Dudu is confident he knows everything of the trade. Saurav Chakladar had a team of confidantes whom Dudu would not like to deal with. He,quite reasonably and expectedly, has chosen his own team of young people who respect and follow him faithfully.This has created a withdrawal mood among those who feel let down after the demise of the founder of the empire.They have their own interpretation of the attitude of Dudu.They say Dudu suffers from inferiority complex which his young followers would not take.Rupam feels Dudu is wise enough to discard the old haggards and pick up his dynamic young team.In fact, there is nothing wrong in it.Every leader should have the privilege to choose his own team,be it in business, sports, politics and in other fields.Dudu in his wisdom would have it that the senior employees quit, being embarrassed. This, of course, is a pragmatic idea. Rupam , handpicked by the senior Chakladar for odd jobs , is a resourceful boy.He can sniff and follow events , decide which is the favourable current to float on. So,he quickfixed himself and remained constantly attached to Dudu when the father Chakladar was in the nursing home.Dudu has the impression Rupam was privy to the plans and programmes of his father,and,therefore, has made him his lieutenant. He thinks he would be able to keep his sister at bay from the media empire equipped with information shared from Rupam. In fact, he could. Elated,Rupam uses all his means to help upgrade those who ,he thinks, will remain loyal to him,whatever be the consequences for the empire.Rupam knows Dudu remains engrossed in stock trading, and is dependent on him for information about the day to day activities in the media houses. The executives of the houses also are,by now,aware of the fact and,thus, Rupam also commands their awe.What Rupam assesses and says becomes the decision of Dudu. Rupam felt Kalinath Roy,news-in-charge of The People should be replaced by Shyam Singh and Dudu in no time abliged him.Kalinath not being far away from retirement could not come in conflict with Dudu,who,he understands, is impertinent and see by the ear..With this change Dudu and Rupam have been able to strike terror on the old haggards and the executives to the delight of Rupam loyalists.The turn for Rupam to be rewarded handsomely has come. His loyalists are known to be close to the ruling party always,and party leaders ,in many cases, tend to be paper tigers.This fact has created opportunities for Rupam,his followers and Dudu.After the change of guards in the state,Dudu feels his extra-importance as a couple of ministers of the new government have established firm relationship with him.The new government pledged it would cleanse the academic institutions of corruptions and party-ism. But it has not happened,rather people alleged to be in corrupt practices are apparently sought to be relieved. Dudu asked Kalinath to contribute a post edit every week,and he issued a circular to the effect. Kalinath’s post edit on the the bungling of the couple of ministers at the Royal University irks Dudu who has been promised a large tract of land in Dreamland for his pet project of a tourist resort. Dudu is right,Rupam is wise,his loyalists are happy.Newspaper is for business,and editors like Dudu make business in different ways.Business ethics may not always go with media ethics.writers in newspapers with such editors do not have the freedom to write what he knows to be true.They have to know what the editor in his business interest knows to be true,or they are to be thrown overboard.

Our Paramita

Our Paramita Nidhu Bhusan Das If you ask me what her Achilles’ heel is, I will readily say ‘She’ll break but not bend.’ Yes, she is determined, forward looking, and has the emotion and dream to do something for the people she leads. Our Paramita is now on the pinnacle. She has scaled the height after a long struggle which was made difficult by dictatorship-of-the-proletariat-ideology, behind the scene manipulation of her parent organization and fatal attack on her person. Her birth in a little known family came in the way of her going ahead down a path strewn with roses – rather it was thorns all the way. In the male dominated state- politics she carved her niche facing odds. She earned the love and affection of her people demonstrating her uncompromising stance in respect their interest. Even she recorded a hunger strike of 26 days to press for the cause of the affected peasants of her state. Yet one cannot be sure how far she will succeed because the serpents are around spiting venom. People may misunderstand her vis-à-vis the concerted campaigns of her detractors within and outside her coalition. Besides, a horde of sycophants are all around to mislead her. Perhaps, she needs a fool, as we find in a Shakespearean tragedy like ‘King Lear’. Her Dreamland was in the immediate past the fiefdom of the red rulers who earned the reputation of turning it into a graveyard – literally and metaphorically. After a resounding victory in the polls, she has formed a government to the relief of the people. Unwilling to lick the dust for long, the red are up and doing to resurrect with the help of former allies who are in the coalition government of Paramita as a junior partner. She understands it but is, most likely, unaware of the foul play of a section of her colleagues in the government and the party. One of her senior colleagues in the cabinet has been registered as a PhD student under a red activist in Proscenium University with the understanding that another red activist allegedly involved in corruptions of huge proportions will be given the tactical space to go scot-free. Another cabinet colleague helped him in striking the deal. Many of her party colleagues at the grass root level are in the same role as the red were during their long rule. In fact, many from the red party were welcomed into the party by her junior colleagues to utilize their experienced hands for perpetuation of corruptions to their personal benefits, and, thus, to the detriment of the party and government. The duo have brought Dudu Chakladar, the editor- by- inheritance of the daily newspaper ‘ The Gatekeeper’ within their fold offering him a large tract of land for his pet project of a tourist resort. If she fails to understand this and remains unaware of the diabolic activities within her house, innocence will be the victim, and a dream will end in nullity. Rituja, one of her party men says, ‘Didi (sister) is overworked … the state is in shambles, no money, no infrastructure, a politicized bureaucracy … it’s difficult.’ People may give her more time to bring the state back to track. ‘But how long?’ wondered Motilal, a resident of Nandigram which turned out to be the Waterloo of the red. This is a moot question, but could be a decider if her party colleagues continue to replicate the anti-people activities in the rural belt and the government fails to begin delivering the goods. ‘Paramita’, tells her wise octogenarian mother, ‘don’t go by what the sycophants say, give importance to the critics who point out mistakes and faults, throw suggestions. Remember, to err is human. Don’t be in the illusion that you cannot make mistakes.’ We don’t know if she will follow the advice of the mother.

Equity a Far Cry,in West Bengal Intolerance Rules

Equity a Far Cry, in West Bengal
Intolerance Rules

Nidhu Bhusan Das

Democracy degenerates when party politics overpowers governance.In West Bengal politics, dominated for a long time by the leftists,terms like fascism and fascists became clichés.The predecessor of Ms Mamata Banerjee betrayed his scarce respect for democracy when he said ‘we are 235 and they are 30’.If this presumption of Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharyya smacked of fascist tendency,the use of the phrase ‘barking dogs’ by the incumbent Chief Minister in oblique reference to her opponents suggests intolerance which is anathema to democracy.The present state of academic institutions and student politics demonstrates intolerance which may lead to anarchy, if allowed to persist unabated in the absence of the impartial role of the police which the Chief Minister promised on the assumption of power after a landslide victory in the assembly polls,and which is conspicuous in its absence till date.The assailants of the teacher-in-charge of Raigonj University College were booked under bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while the assailants of the Principal of Majdia College were booked under non-bailable sections. The Home(Police) Department is held by the Chief Minister.Such discriminatory approach frustrates the Chief Minister’s espousal of a equity-based dispensation.
The people of the state voted out the Left Front believing Mamata would be able to live upto their expectation of an egalitarian society where equity and rule of law would prevail.The way police have dealt with the incidents in different colleges so far has belied the expectation. The controversy over ‘Indira Bhawan’ at Salt Lake,Kalkata between ruling coalition partners Trinamool Congress and Congress is unwarranted as much as the hurling of invectives between them has crossed all limits of decency and responsible behaviour. Trinamool Congress as the major partner of the coalition in the state has the primary responsibility to keep the flock together for the sake of good governance which reticent Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar could have been able to provide in Bihar which was once thought to be a difficult state to govern.
The Chief Minister harps on the denial of special package by the centre for the revival of the economic health of the state. True,the package remains elusive. But what about the central schemes like NREG for which funds have been transferred ? The state government has miserably failed in different districts to guarantee to the rural poor employment for 100 days this financial year.The government may say it has not got a full year to implement the scheme but that would not justify the failure because they have passed seven months and a half which period is marked by inaction in respect of such projects. Inefficiency and lack of vision on the part of the concerned minister could be the cause of such failure.If these progammes could have been implemented in earnestness and with vision, the rural Bengal could have seen a semblance of development, if not a full scale resurgence.


.The government,no doubt, has been successful in taming the violent Jungle Mahal and Darjeeling hills,which are not a mean achievement. The peace is fragile and may, any time, be disturbed and lost if development activities can not be started within a reasonable time. However, if the government remains busy with trading blames, altercating and the interest of the ruling party is seen to be synonymous with public interest,good governance will be beyond the horizon.West Bengal will,eventually, slide into a state of hopelessness.