The bengali in me

Born and brought up in Nagpur , studied in Karnataka and now in the US, there is very little Bengali left in me. To add to it, I seriously hate Calcutta and the Red Brigade. At one time I hated cricket and so was Ganguly.
But ya there is no doubt that no other Indian language has achieved even half of what bengali literature has done. but its not a time for reminiscence about the past. I had liked Sharat Chandra Chattopadhdhyay immensely ( for all those who don't know, he is the one who wrote Devdas/shrikant etc.) but that was until i had read Shrikant. The story is wonderful but the continuous mention of "bangalir gorbo" (bengali's pride) really pissed me off. My mom asked me to ignore that and concentrate on the other aspect of the book but I couldn't.
Anyway this is not the point. Inspite of so much hatred, I don't know I think deep down somewhere unconsciously the bengali in me is still wide awake. I realised it when inspite of not being a big fan of Ganguly, I was deeply hurt when he was sacked and when people had created the controversial website ihateganguly.com . I tried to shove off those feelings by justifying myself of not being bengali but humanitarian. But when the reverse thing happened, I was surprised on my stance. This was the Chappell idol fiasco. I was very happy and was telling people about how creative the Bengali Murtikaars are by shaping "Mahishasura" as Chappell, and i was thinking that it is violation of freedom of expression when his creation was destroyed.
But when i compared that with my stance on ihateganguly.com, I think its just the bengali feeling in me, nothing else can justify my stance unless we take it to indian and non indian lines which will be foolish.


This also makes me wonder whether this is the reason why I like Rani over Preity, Sushmita over Aishwarya and Bipasha presently over anybody else? Is that why i wanted Antara Mitra to be the Indian idol2? Doesn't the feeling that all nobel laureates of India are connected to bengal feels my heart with a little pride? Do i like Arundhati and jhumpa a bit more because they are bengalis? Am i proud of the fact that the best quizzers in India are from bengal???

I guess my feelings were a lot influenced by my lifecycle. In the school days, it was all bright and shiny bengaliis all around me. The annual academic results annoucement was mostly a bengali affair, the Durga Puja was the most well managed event in my Defence Campus. But I hated the frequent load sheddings and the mosquito bites of Kolkata.

In NITK my views changed, I tried to compare regions based on the tiny sample of people that came there! I thought the bengalis are dumb,lazy and ill mannered the marathas are bright, shiny and well mannered. While the latter might be true, no doubt the first one is false. I think we can't judge people based on geography. We can't even say that there are exceptions to a generalization. Generally the exceptions are so big a percentage that they can't be called exceptions anymore. But ya during this NITK times, Calcutta became the city with lowest power cuts, highest average vehicle speed metropolitan in the country and there was kolkata shining.

Now i guess i have a more mature view. I can really see things with an open mind and I know that this feeling of being a bengali can never subside in me. Rather it is absolutely human to have feelings for your state. And as for the angst over others, try to keep that to minimum. I guess i should extend these feelings to nationalities , religion as well. I have off late felt proud of being a texan too. :)

As i conclude this article, I wonder about the last para. I claim i can see with an open mind, but may be some new ideas will open up 5 years henceforth. Here is a song, which though written in bengali is I guess true for anybody.This song has got the same status in Bangladesh as vande mataram in india- an alternate anthem.

"Dhono dhanne pushpe bhora
aamader ei boshundhora
Tahar maajhe aache je ek
Shokol desher shera.
She je shopno diye toiri she desh
Smriti diye ghera
Emon deshti kothau Khuje paabe nako tumi,
Shokol desher raani she je aamaar jonmobhoomi,
she je aamaar jonmobhoomi, she je aamaar jonmobhoomi"

Here is teh complete list, thanks to vivek:

dhanO dhannye is one of the most beautiful patriotic songs of Dwijendralal Roy.

dhonO dhanne pushpe bhorA AmAder ei boshundhorA
tAhAr Majhe Ache desh ek shokol dhesher sherA
she je shopnO diye toirI she je sritI diye gherA
emon deshti kothao khuje pAbe nAkO tumI
she je shokol desher rAnI she je AmAr jonmobhumI
she je AmAr jonmobhumi she je AmAr jonmobhumI

chondro shUrjO grohO tArA, kothay ujon emon dhArA
kothay emon khele torit, emon kAlO meghe
O tAr pAkhIr dAke ghumiye pOrI pakhIr dAke jege
emon deshti .......


etO snigdhO nodI tAhAr, kothay emon dhumrO pAhAr
kothay emon horIt khetrO AkAsh tole meshe
emon dhAner opor dheu khele jay, batAsh tAhAr deshe
emon deshti....

pushpe pushpe bhorA shAkhI, kunje kunje gAhe pAkhI
gunjoriyA Ashe oli, punje punje dheye
tArA foolEr upor ghumiye pOre foolEr modhU kheye
emon deshti

bhAyEr mAyEr etO snehO, kothay gele pAbe kehO
O mA tomAr choron dutI bokkhe AmAr dhorI
AmAr ei deshete jonmO jenO ei deshete morI
emon deshti.......