Language barrier

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have developed an aversion to the English-speaking media but should the head of a central corporation based in Kolkata follow suit? This appears to have been the case at a joint press conference addressed by the top management of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) and Urban Development officials last week in the capital. Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna left for another meeting before the media had finished asking questions. As soon as KMRC Managing Director Subrata Gupta, who had flown down from Kolkata for the event, had the floor to himself, he switched exclusively to Bengali. This bizarrely open parochialism continued for a good 20 minutes, leaving the many reporters who did not follow the language wondering what information they’d missed.