GENES DO EXIST

30.05.2009
It is for sure by now that at least one word in the dictionary has withstood the wrath of time. The word 'racism' has gone out of proportion with passage of human evolution engulfing the most 'sane' head of a single continent- single nation state. The head still believes that the assault on the Indian students by Australian hooligans does not relate to racism. He condemns the incidence carefully keeping aside the word 'race' from his speech. The colour of the skin still matters even after the free Americans have chosen Mr.Barrak Obama as their president. It is a shame that those who listen to Beethoven's Ninth symphony's melodious last part 'Ode to Joy' have very little expectation of universal brotherhood. Does the premier know that the cell 'Melanocyte' which produces skin pigmentation is present in equal numbers in all races. It is the activity of the cell that makes the difference between a fair coloured and a dark coloured individual. If over activity is inhuman then how come a fair coloured head with over active cerebrum call himself a superior ?

07.07.2008
A GENTLEMAN'S DUTY
It is not always true that a literature is lost because it did not have enough value to survive. Lying imprisoned in a single print, not being read much it dies a natural death. It is the duty of the reader to help a good quality literature or piece of arts to survive. With this in mind you can shortly expect a lost literature on the concentration camps in Germany.

29.06.2008  
OLD CALCUTTA
Any one from Bengal who is around fifty now, at the beginning of this wayward twenty-first century, will happily recall his days in sixties and seventies when excellent Bengali movies were produced which were often directed by little known film directors. People had hardly any money in their pocket but they never missed a single good cinema. Uttara-Purabi-Ujjala, Minar-Bijoli Chabighar and Radha -Purna -Alochaya were the three trio movie halls that brilliantly exhibited forthcoming cinema posters with much admiration. The cinema halls still exist but in a shameless state. The glare lost and the identity missing. I have very little expectation of seeing these films once more in the large format on big screens simply because many of them are lost or destroyed. Though some are still present, most of them are in a dilapidated state. Some have lost a part of the audio, many have gained unwanted adventitious sounds, some have missing frames and invariably all of them have lost the sharpness of their image. I was delighted to find some digitally mastered (poorly done technical job, anyway better to have something than nothing) films in DVD format worth watching. Viewing them anew may not re-deliver your adolescent experience but I am sure it will haunt you with the thought how much nearer we are to our cultural death. To start sharing my unforgettable experience I thought of adding a review of the film SESH ANKA starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore. It’s a must to watch film. Is the non resident Bengali community in the west watching this site? Tell your next generation that Indian film makers are no less worthy than those who were lucky to receive Oscars.

November 2006
FRAGILE REMEMBRANCE
Recently we had the chance to handle a few old Bengali magazines published in 1936. The print was in thick paper now turned deep yellow and awfully brittle.By handling we mean that the owner was kind enough to permit us to touch them, carry them to our house and read them. These are rare books indeed. I am not quite sure how many collectors in Calcutta have such books intact.Innumerable perforations have erased some of the words partly but you can make them up.None so far has thought of digitizing them, I believe. As keeping them in the shelf will guarantee destruction of other books, I am not confident of keeping them too. The owner had approached the Government library in the city and they, for obvious reasons, did not encourage him to keep the books either. Digitizing and preservation are costly and time consuming propositions in a country like India and may be even in the rich United States.It is ironic that those who love preserving don’t have enough money and those who have, have no passion for it. So we decided to translate a few of those printed materials and put them on the net before they are lost forever. The translations follow soon.