story in Odia

Krantidhara 28.6.21

 

We must make our cities and towns walkable. Article in Odia.

Nirbhaya 28.6.21

 

Weekly column in English | Window Seat | 27.6.21

 Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 27.6.21

Problem and Solution

Solutions derive from what we define to be a problem. A wrongly defined problem will yield a wrong result that may be mistaken for a solution or which unscrupulous persons may push as one. Often, interventions defined as “solutions” may merely hide the actual problem or translocate its manifestation. Consider spraying deodorant to hide body odour or room spray to hide any unpleasant smell. They work temporarily. It is not the solution of the problem, which might have greater implications. Looking from this angle quick-fix temporary solution can actually aggravate the real problem.

Beach clean-ups or many of the Swachh Bharat photo-ops with broom-wielding celebrities are again examples of false solutions. They hide the symptom of the disease by removing garbage from places valued by the social elite to places considered valueless. One person’s solution becomes a curse for an entire community.

There is another problem with this quick fix sham solutions: it becomes the form that everyone tries to adopt as it provides the sense that the problem has been dealt with. Politicians do it to gain popularity fast. Administrators do it to tide over immediate problems at hand.

But the problem remains and worsens.

Emergency

As I am writing this column on 25 June, I remember that on this day in 1975, at midnight emergency was clamped in India. I was 15 years old, too young to understand the larger issues related to it but old enough to understand that something has changed. There were fewer crowds and more police men at the bazar of the small town that we lived. My father wore a long and gloomy face. My mother was visibly happy as she was told prices of essential commodities had come down.

Cartoon by Abu Abraham. 1975. Published in Indian Express.

I went to college next year. Stories of police atrocities floated in our college campus. Police were, we were told in hushed voices, particularly harsh on young men who wore long hair and bell-bottom pants with wide bell shaped ending. What harm long hair and bell-bottom pants (a fashion craze in mid-seventies) could do- we wondered. In 1977, suddenly one day- there was jubilation in the college- emergency had been lifted. Elections were announced. Indira Gandhi contested from Raebareli seat. Her major opponent was Raj Narain. AIR used to broadcast the election results. My father sat through the night with the lone transistor radio that we had. Past midnight suddenly we heard father shouting with glee: wake up everybody, Indira Gandhi has been defeated. His announcement was followed by a song on radio: Jhumka gira re Bareli ke bazar me Jhumka gira (my earring has fallen at the Barelie bazar).

Monsoon

The term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy season or rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern.

The term was first used in English in British India and neighbouring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area.

The English word monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim (which means "season") perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsoon.

The monsoon is critical for agriculture in India since nearly 60 per cent of India’s net arable land lacks irrigation. The monsoon delivers about 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall and determines the yield of several grains and pulses, including rice, wheat, and sugarcane. Agriculture may have steadily lost its grip on India’s overall economy, but it still holds around 15 per cent of the pie, employs millions and sustains hundreds of millions of people.

More importantly, higher agriculture yield would mean lower pressure on food prices and the overall retail inflation. It is also crucial to keep up the rural demand which creates market for FMCG, white goods and auto sector.

The rains also replenish 100 plus large reservoirs critical for drinking water and power generation across the country.

Tailpiece: Genius

At Oxford, 200 people were participating in men’s only English language competition. The challenge was to express peacefulness, happiness and calmness in a single sentence. The person who won wrote: My wife is sleeping. He received standing ovation from all the judges and audience. One married judge actually ran to the stage, hugged him with tears in his eyes and said, “You are a genius.”

Tailpiece2: Senior Citizen

After retirement, Ashutosh Nath aged 60, married a young 25 year old woman.

Now he was spending less time with his friends. His concerned friends enquired if there was a problem.

“I'm eager to pass time with you all, but my young wife gets lonely when I'm away.”

His friends advised him: Keep a young tenant at home, your wife will be happy in the company of a younger person.

Nath promptly acted on their advise and leased a room in his big house to a young tenant.

 

Now the friends were meeting more often. One day the friends jokingly asked, “How is your wife now?”

Nath: "She is not lonely at all, in fact she is happy and in fact she is pregnant"

The friends laughed, as they expected this. “And how is the tenant?” they asked.

Nath replied very soberly, “She is also pregnant. ..”

 

Morale of the story: Never underestimate a Senior Citizen.

(Courtesy: Social Media)

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The columnist is a journalist turned media academician. He lives in Dhenkanal, a central Odisha town.

mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com

This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com

Review of Safdar Hasmi Book |

Nirbhaya 27.6.21

 

Weekly column in Odia | Pathe Prantare | 27.6.21

Samaya 27.6.21

 

Morning Newspaper vrs Evening prime time TV. My article in Odia

Nitidina 26.6.21

 

Weekly column in English | Window Seat | 20.6.21

 

Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 20.6.21

Empire of Fake

After loads of fake news, crores of rupees worth fake medicines including the costlier than gold- Remdesivir – now we get the news of fake Covid test reports dispensed liberally at ‘devbhoomi’ Haridwar during Kumbhmela. No wonder, Haridwar showed very low rate of infection, which the pundits attributed to the mahima of paapnashini Ganga. 

The scale of the scam is so large, that it indicates hundreds of people must have ‘bought’ negative Covid reports to participate in Kumbh mela and take a dip in the holy river. How could a scam of this magnitude evade the police radar? The answer is clear. When religion and politics is mixed up the concoction paves the way for unscrupulous and greedy business men to take advantage of the situation. It happened in Haridwar. As a result the entire country suffered.

Consider the fake medicines people bought and consumed. Consider its impact on their health. And also consider its impact on their faith on the entire system. When the citizens begin to lose faith on the system- that is the beginning of anarchy.

The tentacles of the empire of fake is spreading fast and trying to throttle the country. We must take all steps to contain it.

 

Corona Mata Temple

We have had goddesses for diseases- Sitala Mata for example in Eastern India, who was supposed to heal or ward off small pox. It was but natural that we would have a goddess for Corona.

Last year in several villages in Karnataka, the villagers worshipped ‘Coronamma’ in sync with their age old tradition of worshipping the goddess to leave their village. In Assam, hundreds of ladies took ceremonious bath in rivers as part of a puja of Corona Devi.

Corona Mata Temple at Shuklapur village of Pratapgarh district, UP

And in June this year some enterprising persons in UP built a temple and installed an idol of Corona Mata- with a mask covering her face. On the ‘temple’ it was written- ‘Biswa ka ekmatra- the only temple in the world for Corona Devi. Within days, hundreds of worshippers started bhajan kirtan and began to offer money, clothes, etc. to keep their family safe.

The temple was subsequently demolished by UP police recently following a compliant.

But two points that needle me: a. why do we turn to the divinity to cure our disease- which is the domain of science; and b. why for most of the diseases we have a goddess and not god? 

Crocodile

In the present times, several cartoons and other visual arts are drawn taking the crocodile and vulture metaphor. In public sphere too analogies taking these two creatures abound. In varying degrees they signify cruelty and deceit, opportunism and unscrupulousness.

However, if you go beyond the look of the two creatures- you’ll realize this is gross injustice to them. Both of them, especially the vulture actually help us to keep our environment clean. In fact the vultures are the sanitary workers nature has provided. Crocodiles, the largest reptiles in the world or their relatives have been around for an extraordinary length of time, their fossil remains having been found in rocks from the early Jurassic period, around 200 million years old. In comparison, the homo-sapiens, have been around just 2 lakh years. But we have managed to push the crocodiles to the brink of extinction. The gharial, a distinctive long-nosed species that eat fish, in India, the Philippines crocodile and the Chinese alligator are on the critically endangered list.

It is good that attempts are being made to protect the crocodiles. June 17 is observed as world crocodile day to highlight the plight of the endangered crocodiles and alligators sound the world. Crocodilian species found in India are Mugger or Marsh crocodile, Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile and Gharial.

Surendra Mohanty@100

Surendra Mohanty wore several hats. He was one of the finest fiction writers of modern Odisha, politician, parliamentarian, editor and an erudite public intellectual.

Surendra Mohanty (21 June 1922- 21 Dec. 1990)

Born on 21 June 1922 his initiation into politics happened early. He left his studies at Ravenshaw College to participate in Quit India Movement. The next four and half decades life took him through a roller coaster ride. He was twice elected to Lok sabha and twice to Rajya sabha, wrote over two dozen novels and equal number of short story collections, edited two daily newspapers (Kalinga and Sambad), became the president of Orissa Sahitya Academy, received Central Sahitya Aacademy award and had three children.

My first substantial interaction with him dates back to 1984 – me as a trainee reporter cum sub-editor and he as the editor of newly launched Odia daily Sambad. I entered his room and said “Sir, I want to write a weekly column in Sambad.”

He looked at me with his pair of large and piercing eyes, puffed on his cigarette and asked, “What kind of column?”

-      “A slice of life kind of column like Khuswant Singh writes”.

He flicked ash in the ashtray and told me “Write some pieces and show me.”  

I did that next day. Half an hour later, I was called to his room. He said, OK. write one. I have thought of a title for your column. Sambad Rojnamcha. Do you know what this word rojnamcha means?

-      Yes. It means daily dairy.

He smiled. At 23 I started writing my first weekly column in a major newspaper.

Thirty seven years later- whenever I sit down to write my columns- I remember him- who gave a break to a young man.

 

Teacher of the Year

Teacher of the year award should go to Covid-19. It taught us how to live our life amidst uncertainty. I taught us we can live a simple life. It also taught us the value of family.

Googlopathy

You may have heard about allopathy, Homeopathy, Naturopathy. Have you heard about Googlopathy?

It’s the most modern branch of medicine, where patients prescribe medicines to the doctors.

(Courtesy: Social Media)

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The columnist a journalist turned media academician lives at Dhenkanal, a central Odisha town. He also writes fiction and translates poetry.

mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com

This column is published every Sunday in Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com