Column | Window Seat

Hoisting the National Flag

 As Head of an educational institution I unfurl National flag twice every year- on 15 August Independence Day and 26 January Republic Day. I have been doing this for quite some time now- 15 years, to be precise. Every time I do it, I feel goose bumps all over my body. Looking at the tri-colour flying against the blue sky (at times cloudy- particularly in August), my heart swells with pride. As I sing the national anthem with others I feel happy and content. Long after the song is over, the refrain reverberates within me.. jai he, jai he which means victory to thee, victory to thee. I can understand the need of obliterating the boundaries between the countries and make the world one. Our scriptures have so vividly pronounced the philosophy of : Basudheyiba Kutumbakam (The world is our family) But on the day, as I unfurl the tri-colour I feel a strange kind of pride to belong to this land: my country. 

Lit-Fest

 Across the country the numbers of lit-fests are growing almost in geometric progression. Ironically, book shops, across the country are closing down, including in the mecca of book-lovers - Bengal. Most the teachers I meet complain that the young students are not reading books other than their text books. Serious academicians warn me that in India ‘aliteracy’ is growing. ‘Aliteracy’ is a new term they have coined to denote people who can read (as opposed to illiterate, who can nor read) but they do not read. But number lit-fests are growing; footfalls at these fests are also increasing. I really fail to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory facts. Or probably I can understand the connection- but it is so uncomfortable and scary that I do not want to spell it out. 

The Big Bag carriers

 I find it terribly irritating: people carrying big bags on their back which obstructs your way, nudges you at the wrong places and blocks narrow passages. Often if you ask the bag bearers to remove their bag and keep it down, they oppose so vehemently as if you are asking to remove their body parts. I thought only I have problems with hunchback bag-bearers. But I found a poster campaign on web to that effect, which means others also do suffer these idiots. 

Tailpiece: If You are not.. 

If you are not listening to your dad You are an Akhilesh If you are still listening to your mom You are a Rahul If you are not listening to anybody You are Narendra Mody And if nobody  is listening to  You are… Kejriwal (Courtesy: Social Media forward)
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 Mrinal Chatterjee, a journalist-turned- media academician works and lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com

This column appears in www.orissadiary.com and Sikkim Express