Har fikar ko dhuen mein ...

Has the Saradha fiasco had a bearing on Mamata Banerjee's taste for music?

Caution: Don’t ask me how I got hold of a question paper on general knowledge for standard VI students. The content is important at present. I have no clue, and I don’t like to poke my nose into the West Bengal government’s (read school / education) affairs. Neither do I like to beat around the bush or to take you into a narrative. Coming to the point straight, the first question on the paper was: which Hindi song is Didi listening to these days? I don’t know what the children answered, but one famous song of evergreen Bollywood actor Dev Anand’s movie Hum Dono that tickles my cerebral is: 

Har fikar ko dhuen mein udata chala gaya / Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya / Barbadiyon ka shok manana fizul tha /
Barbadiyon ka jashan manata chala gaya

However, this morning yours truly got a text message from a distant uncle. And the note was that I should send him a bundle of imported cigarette packets ASAP. And out of sheer curiosity, I called him up to know why he needs cigarettes and imported ones at that. He told me that he wanted to do some philanthropy. I asked him explain the relationship between cigarettes and charity. He got irritated and gave me a mouthful!

To make the picture clear, kindly allow me to quote him verbatim, “kothaiye kaaz karo” (where do you work?), he asked.  Don’t you read the newspapers, don’t you watch TV news! How could you miss Didi’s diktat: smoke a little more to alleviate Saradha pain. He went on to add that the whole of Bengal is in grip of smoke – some dark (read scams) and some not so dark (read follies).  Calcutta -- oh typo error, it is Kolkata -- the City of Joy’s collective consciousness can best be exemplified again through another Dev Anand Hindi movie song,

Dum maaro dam mit jaaye gam / Bolo subah shaam
Hare Krishnaa, Hare Raam ... ... ...

While coming to office as usual I switched on my favourite FM station. Mukesh's melodious voice echoed my silent thoughts:

Wo subah kabhi to aayegi, wo subah kabhi to aayegi /
In kaali sadiyon ke sar se, jab raat ka aanchal dhalkega ... ... ...

Is this the victory of Maa Mati Manush?

In office there is a small LED television in my cubicle. And as a news person I have to keep myself updated. I was surfing the news channels. In News Tomorrow,  I saw poor women screaming, beating their chest and crying profusely. They wanted their hard-earned money back from Sudipta Sen. It was getting a little difficult to watch those heart-renderding scene on TV so I changed it to a music channel to bring some harmony into my life. It was playing a song:

Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar / Kisi ka dard mil sake to le udhaar /
Kisi ke waaste ho tere dil mein pyaar ... ... ... 

I do sometimes question my inquisitive mind about how Bengal can regain its lost paradise. What's actually wrong with the land of Amartya Sen? Is it too late?

Zindagi ke safar mein gujar jaate hein jo mukaam / Woh phir nahi aate, woh phir nahi aate /
... ... ... Patjhhad mein jo phool murza jaate hein / Woh bahaaro ke aane se khilte nahi

Sitting cross-legged or rather say in Budhha-pose (no offense meant to the former chief minister), a flicker of an idea came to my mind; and do I need to elaborate? To call a spade a spade: it is politics. (IM) Pure politics. When Didi and Dada will say let bygones be bygones.

Chhodo kal ki baatein, kal ki baat puraani /
Naye daur mein likhenge milkar nayi kahaani ... ... ...