Why do Bengalis from Calcutta look down upon the Hindi language?

It’s a superiority complex that the Bengalis of Calcutta have. They look down upon anything not related to them.

Most of the Bengalis of Calcutta have two different origin. The Bengalis who resided in the city for more than 150–180 years, the others are Bangladeshi immigrants. The second are the dominant.

They have a tendency of dominating everything and when they do not win they use tactics to demoralize the opponents.

Like, they mock the Bengalis of Midnapore and Bankura district for their strange accent, not realizing their own accent is extremely hilarious.

They have a superiority complex over the Bihari and UPites as these people mostly come to Calcutta to do menial jobs and these Bhodrolok babus of Calcutta gets a reason to mock not realizing that not any job is small.

These things are mostly cultural. I am a resident of West Midnapore district and I have faced these problems from the residents of Calcutta!

Crazy One’s

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race Forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

 

-Rob Siltanen

How come Kabir is so popular as a philosopher but did not leave behind any cult or religion after him?

Did all philosopher leave behind a new cult or religion? I guess not. Plato was a great philosopher, so was Aristotle and Socrates. Did they leave behind new religion or cult? No.

Philosophers are seekers of truth. They do not promote any cult or religion. They are mainly teachers. They seek truth and tell the world about it.

Truth, on the other hand is very relative. That is the reason no two philosophy is same. That is why, Indian philosophy talks about nothingness and Western philosophy talks about Heroism. All these are perspective truth. Truth from the point of view of a person.

Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism never taught any new religion. All he did was he questioned the existing practices, and gave his Truth to the world. His followers did get separate from the dominant Brahminical religion and started following Buddha’s path, that came to be known as Buddhism.

This is the reason Kabir’s dohey is still revered and he is considered as a great philosopher.

 

 

Original answer: https://www.quora.com/How-come-Kabir-is-so-popular-as-a-philosopher-but-did-not-leave-behind-any-cult-or-religion-after-him/answer/Abhisek-Bhowmik-1

Is it okay if, at the age of 19, you have a new crush daily?

18–26 is the age where you meet a lot of temporary people in your life.

Having a new crush daily at 19 is very common. We are mostly new to college. Most of Indians study in Boys schools or girls schools, where they are not very acquainted with people of opposite gender.

Just take a chill pill and enjoy having crushes. Having a crush won’t crush your heart.

 

 

Original answer: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-okay-if-at-the-age-of-19-you-have-a-new-crush-daily/answer/Abhisek-Bhowmik-1

How does a Bengali, staying outside West Bengal for work or education, feel during Durga Puja?

I am a Bengali working in a mining project in Chhattisgarh for the last 6 years. And in these 6 years, I have been home only 2 times during the Durga Puja.

If you are here, you won’t feel the Puja is ongoing! Most people celebrate Dusshera but the charm of Durga Puja is not there.

I have had a blunt feeling during these years when I’m here. It’s a NUMB like situation where you don’t feel the craze. But somewhere, deep in my heart, I do miss my home.

 

Original answer: https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-Bengali-staying-outside-West-Bengal-for-work-or-education-feel-during-Durga-Puja/answer/Abhisek-Bhowmik-1

Why do the Bengalis hate the idea of Gorkhaland?

The problem of Gorkhaland is not a fight between the Bengalis and the Gorkhas. It’s a fight of inclusion and non-inclusion.

Mainland Bengalis (from Kolkata) has a very weird idea of Bengal. For most elite, Bengali of Kolkata are the real Bengalis. Others are just Bengali speakers.

This mentality comes from the Bhodrolok culture of the mid-nineteenth century. The bhodroloks of Kolkata have their elite education from elite schools and colleges and they are always a dominant figure in Jobs, cinema, art and culture. Their dialect of Bengali is considered as the face of Bengali language.

On the other hand, there are Bengalis from districts, who speak in their own accent, often study in district level schools and colleges. They are definitely not a part of this bhodrolok culture.

Forget about the Gorkhas for a while. There are so many other tribes in Bengal who are integral to Bengal. The Santhals, Mundas, Lepchas. Are they considered to be part of Bengal fraternity? Certainly there are people who are compassionate with them, but are the bhodroloks concerned? (refer Agantuk, by Satyajit Ray).

Urdu, a language alien to West Bengal is being given priority in state affairs. Is Nepali being given the same status? Is Santhali being given the same status?

To support or not to support is purely an individual choice. But to make all the residents of Bengal inclusive, should definitely be a matter of principle. Start making them inclusive, show compassion to them, make them feel at home. We can make the Bangladeshi refugees a part of our society, why can’t the sons of soil?

Inclusion will definitely make the situation better for everyone. Unity among diversity, the motto that binds India shall bind West Bengal.

 

 

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Bengalis-hate-the-idea-of-Gorkhaland/answer/Abhisek-Bhowmik-1

 

Biratnagar, Nepal

A few pics of Biratnagar Market in Nepal.

Any different from India?

Dawki, Meghalaya

A few more pics from my Meghalaya trip.

Umngot River

The beautiful clean river is flowing towards Bangladesh.

The boats.

Bangladesh view.

India view.

Again, Bangladesh.

The water is so clean, the river bed can be seen. But that morning, there was some rain, but still the water is pretty clean!

The place from where the boat journey started, The Ghat.

This is Bangladesh and Bangladeshis. Talked to them, they invited us to their land, but off course, we didn’t break the rules. A guy named Abdul Karim even offered us kuler achar, but we had to decline.

View of Bangladesh from the top.

The place, Dawki is really beautiful, with lush greenery and crystal clear waters.

Living root bridge, Meghalaya

Some pics from my Meghalaya trip.

 

When the whole world is trying to find out a way to sustain nature, the people of Meghalaya, for thousands of years have been doing the same. Instead of cutting down a tree to make a bridge, they fold the roots of the trees to create a living bridge. How natural!

While the developed world might be thinking them as underdeveloped, they are the actual fighters of climate change.

The living root bridge is an awe inspiring creation.

Corporations, hiring and background checks, need of the hour

Ma generally calls me in the evening. It’s my daily routine. So, today’s call was not an exception until she shared what had happened in our lake-town residence. The narration scared the shit out of me.
My sister in law (Jhilik) ordered food via Swiggy on tuesday. It was a COD mode of payment. She paid and took the parcel.
Today at around 2pm in the afternoon, the same delivery guy knocks the door and informs her that because of some billing issue, he needs to have a copy of the invoice.
She didn’t have the copy of it but in her mail she had a soft copy. While she was doing her search, the guy was inside the room. On showing the invoice, he further requested her to get him a glass of water.
Generally such requests are never turned down. She took out the bottle from the refrigerator and headed towards the kitchen to pour water in the glass.
Meanwhile, the guy went to the kitchen and took out his knife. The fellow held the knife to her neck, covered her mouth and dragged her to the drawing room. The motive was to steal her jewelries.
The guy kept threatening her that if she shouted, he will kill her. Asked her to take out all her ornaments.
My two year old nephew (Swachho) was sleeping in the room adjacent to the drawing room.
Suddenly, he woke up to the sound of an unknown guy and comes out. He started crying loudly on seeing his mother caught up like that. Immediately the guy held Swachho’s hand and started threatening her that if she did not keep quiet, he will kill both of them. Jhilik somehow made a narrow escape and pulled Swachho towards her. At that moment, Jhilik started shouting ‘help help’
The guy then pushed both of them and made an escape.
After all that had happened, my brother came back, and spoke to the manager of Swiggy. The manger sent them an image for identification. Jhilik readily identified him, as did the neighbors who saw him running.
Swiggy’s manager has shared his government ID proof with us. FIRs will be lodged at the local police station against the delivery guy. Swiggy has also come forward to lodge a FIR against their employee.

This incident teaches us one thing, how casual the corporates have become today in their selection and hiring process. Does possessing a government id only a condition for hiring? Why there’s a lack of exhaustive background check?

Today when home delivery services are becoming the key factor for any successful business transaction, why is the hiring approach so callous? Why there are no safeguards?
Anything could have happened to my family. A cautious hiring could have saved my family from the trauma!

Please be careful! We depend so heavily on home delivery services that we have to think wisely over who are we going to allow in our house!
Comfort of home delivery can have damaging repercussions! Please make it harder for crime to happen in your residence. Swiggy

 

Personal experience of Sumagna Bhowmick, PhD scholar, TISS and a childhood friend of the author. Published with her permission.

Pic- dreamstime.com