Life in a Metro

This post is not a review of the Bollywood film, in fact through this I would like to convey my experiences of daily life in a Metropolis.

A general idea that people have in their minds about the life in a metro is the life goes on a fast-track with a lot of frenzies. I being brought up in a small sleepy town had this idea infused in my mind that life in a big city like Kolkata is so fast that people rarely get to see their children. But after spending the four most formative years of life in this metro I found it is quite the contrary, maybe this is because of the fact that I am/was a student and I stayed with a family that found reasons for gathering and rejoice, no matter however small the occasion is. But that is how most of the people here are like. Be it India’s victory against a paltry team like Bangladesh or be it Big B’s next block-buster, their alacrity for celebrations is beyond any normal person’s imagination. A celebration need not be a huge party in a multi-star hotel. It is a small gathering in a household with some good home cooked food (Bengalis have a flair for good food) and a never-ending “adda “ session.

Bongs are like this. Bong is a newly coined term for Bengalis. It stands for those who are characterized by their typical chauvinist attitude teamed with an indolent attitude towards their profession.

Cricket, football and politics (both national and state level) are what they virtually thrive on. A high-quality tape-recorder would accept defeat when compared to Bongs, because even a tape-recorder has to stop at the moment when the cassette is over but a Bong would go on with his (mostly) enigmatic views on topics that range from nation’s security, to oil prices, to despising present educational system, to the brand of chappals that should be worn during rainy seasons. Sometimes they will actually make you wonder what would have happened to the country had these Bongs and their precious comments not existed. These beguiling discussions emanate irrespective of place and time or the persons who are participating in them. Wherever more than one Bong is juxtaposed- be it in bus, in train, in auto or even waiting in queue outside a doctor’s chamber, these discussions are bound to creep in.

The discussions are unique in themselves. They are started with a topic which is perversely changed in due course of time by the speaker(s) when no one finds any point to show-off their punditry on the subject or when there happens to be more dissidents on the subject than there should usually be. In the end all these discussions take a preposterous turn when the speakers become utterly discordant.

Bongs’ allegiance for the political party they vote for is something that can be rarely seen in any other state. Whether it is to commiserate for the victims of the recent industrialization fiasco or to exhilarate the wrong done by BCCI on their very own “Dada”, they have only one way to show their disgust- prodigous strike (mostly headed by Mamta “didi” Banerjee). This city is governed by a set of polito who are busy in sardonically diatrinbing the opposition for the “Bandh”s and the opposition busies itself in criticizing the ruling party for its insensate polity, thus giving rise to a political pantomime.

All these and so many other issues that the aboriginal Bongs fathom to live with, yet they are cheeriest people I have ever come across who carry an undefined determination in their heart.

Otherwise how would you describe the actions of a desparate lady picking bricks from the street for building her house.

All this along with the blatant and plangent noise of the traffic which no other Calcuttan can parry makes life in the Metro all the more foxy and exciting.