DURGA PUJA FESTIVAL OF 2009

Liza: - Hey, how are you dude? After a long time, I am chatting with you in Facebook. So, have you got any new job in Hyderabad, or are you still searching for it? What about that status in your Facebook? That girl is again giving lectures to you, I think! If she is dominating over you, then why the hell are you tolerating her?

Arindam: - Don’t worry, I will totally ignore her from now on, and by the way, she is just my friend only. So, nothing to worry about it and for your kind information, I am in Kolkata now. I will go back to Hyderabad on 5^th October 2009, and then I will search for a new job.

Liza: - Oho, you are Bengalee. Ya, ya, I remember that you told me once about the Durga Puja celebrations. In London also, there are 2 or 3 places where Bengalee people perform the Durga Puja. I am yet to visit Kolkata during the Durga Puja Festival. I will surely visit once in my lifetime.

Arindam: - of course, why not? You must visit Kolkata during the Durga Puja Festival. At this festive time, it is a ‘CALCUTTA CARNIVAL’. There is no problem of accommodation in Kolkata for any foreigners, as there are good hotels like The Park, the Hyatt, the Sonar Kolkata and others.

Liza: - But, I have heard that the public of West Bengal are very crazy and undisciplined. Recently, I have read in one of our London daily newspapers that even Salman Khan had to save himself from those public, during an exhibition football match.

Arindam: - Ya, you are right. Here, the public are wild in nature, but you must also blame it to AIFF personnel for this case. But, this time, I will appreciate that the Kolkata Police in accordance with the West Bengal Traffic Police has done a decent job to control any kind of chaos during the Durga Puja. It is due to their constant vigilance that in all major streets and pandals, there were no such major disturbances during the Durga Puja.

Liza: - Well, Arindam, please don’t mind, but I have a question. What is so funny about those Durga Puja pandals, that everyone is so much interested in visiting it? Everywhere, the idol of Goddess Durga is the same only.

Arindam: - No, Liza, actually, you are in London, that is why; you cannot feel the difference. See, in every locality, there are clubs and these club members conduct the Durga Puja, by collecting money from the local people as well as from different sponsors. Every club has its own unique style or theme and they construct their pandals in that fashion only, with the help of some skilful artists. The Durga idol is created mostly in Kumartuli area as per the order from the respective club members. Every Durga idol is unique in its own way, because, you cannot create the same eyes for two idols. Not only have that, many companies and media partners give awards to the best pandals for best themes, best idols, best pandals, best environment and best eco-friendliness. So, this really motivates everyone to create some innovative pandals for the worship of Goddess Durga.

Liza: - Ya, it sounds interesting. I will try to visit Kolkata next year during this festival. Accha, tell me, which are the popular places, where I can see good pandals and Durga idols?

Arindam:- Well, there are many places, at least in Kolkata, I can name few places like College Square, Mohammad Ali Park, New Alipore, Behala, Thakurpukur, Jadavpur, Ballygunge, Mudiali and Chetla. Don’t worry, whenever you will visit Kolkata during the Durga Puja, automatically you will get to know about the best pandals, by reading any daily newspapers. This time in 2009, Suruchi Sangha, Natun Dal, Babubagan, Behala Club and other 3-4 clubs have really created some innovative pandals.

Liza: - Really, I must appreciate that Bengalee people are the craziest Indians, and we also like the way they perform the Durga Puja worldwide. Bengalee people are the only people who worship a goddess; that proves the respect for women in the Bengalee society. That is really great. I hope that you have enjoyed the “DURGA PUJA FESTVAL OF 2009”.

Arindam: - Ya, of course, I enjoyed it fully. Liza, maybe, we, the Bengalee people are the craziest people of the world but our craziness unites all the Bengalee people worldwide during this festival and even our Goddess Durga feels proud to be the mother of all Bengalees and protects them all from any kind of dangers. Just visit Kolkata during Durga Puja once, you will get to know everything. And remember one thing, Hinduism always respects women. JAI HIND.

THAKURPUKUR BRANCH (1357) OF STATE BANK OF INDIA

Customer 01:- This is a No.1 Nationalized Bank of India. Really, we just spit on their customer service. There are 4 counters, but only one counter is open and there is no person in the other counters. We are fed up of this Thakurpukur branch (1357) of State Bank of India.

Arindam: - Sir, I applied for Internet banking in this Thakurpukur Branch only on April 2009, but still my online account is not activated.

SBI Officer: - What can I do in that regard, if yours Internet Banking account has not been activated yet? Go and ask the Branch Manager. He is there in his cabin now.

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Arindam: - May I come in Sir? Thanks! Sir, my online account is not activated yet. Tell me what to do?

Bank Manager of Thakurpukur SBI Branch: - Oh! Boss, this is State Bank of India, and you are expecting Internet Banking from this bank. Still, SBI is not so modernized in terms of Information Technology or Internet Banking. Anyway, you can write a letter to the Zonal Manager of SBI regarding this matter. Ok…you can go now. Bye.

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Customer 02:- What do you people think about yourself? The lunch time is between 1 PM to 2 PM. You went out at 1 PM and now it is 3 PM. You are harassing the customers. You are supposed to come back in the counter in time after the lunch. Why we, the customers will wait for you for so long? We are depositing our money in your bank, which is why; you are getting paid every month. Just think about that.

Cashier of SBI: - Please don’t shout at the top of your voice to become a Hero. Today, there was a parent-teacher meeting in my daughter’s school. So, I went there to meet the class teacher. Now, please be seated there. When I will call your token number, then only come and stand here in front of the counter.

Customer 03:- Is State Bank of India paying you people for doing all these personal works during office hours? State Bank is still doing profits because of those provident funds of Senior citizens; otherwise, the young generation people are literally fed-up of the worst customer service of State Bank of India.

Arindam: - No, it is not that everywhere the services of SBI people are the same? In Secunderabad city, I have seen SBI employees giving faster service than any other private banks, but the problem is here in West Bengal. The work culture of this state is such that, people don’t value their customers, their valuable time and the future opportunities of earning more profits. All the SBI employees of West Bengal consider themselves as they are the King of the world. Customers need to wait for them. If a customer does not know how to do the buttering and oiling to the SBI employees in West Bengal, then he or she has to wait for a long time in the bank counter queue to get his or her work done.

Customer 01:- See; now there is a power cut also and they don’t have a proper generator system in this Thakurpukur branch of SBI.

Bank Manager of Thakurpukur SBI Branch: - Dear customers, we regret to say that, there is no oil in the generator we have. We have already told one boy to bring the oil. Within next 15 minutes, generator will start working. So, till that time, all the customers standing in the queue are kindly requested to co-operate with us.

Arindam: - Thanks to ICICI and HDFC bank. At least, they taught all the PSU banks of India; what banking means to a customer in this era of globalization and Internet. After experiencing the customer service of “THAKURPUKUR BRANCH (1357) OF STATE BANK OF INDIA”, I am damn sure that our next generation will just hate to keep their money in any PSU banks, unless Indian Government takes any step to modernize all PSU Banks and teach a lesson to all these bloody corrupted PSU Bank employees. All employees above 50 years should be forced to take VRS immediately in State Bank of India. I really wonder why the share price of SBI is going up day-by-day. 10,000 branches and too much recruitment will go in vain for SBI, if their top management does not change the entire work culture of the bank.

KOLKATA HAS THE WORST TRANSPORT SYSTEM !!!

Naren: - Hello, Jamal, where are you, boss? Today, I am on duty here in the Howrah Bus Depot to monitor that all the buses are starting on time or not? Already many passengers are waiting in the stand for at least 1.5 hours. Where are you?

Jamal: - Oh! Come on boss, now, don’t teach me all those duties. Let them stand there. They have waited for 1.5 hours, they will wait for another 45 minutes, but they will still wait, after all they are Kolkata public. They are all ‘Hijras’. They will not protest about it. I and Pradip are now drinking whisky. We will finish the drinking party soon, and the bus will reach the Howrah Bus Depot after 45 minutes. Till then, you announce to them that there is a huge traffic jam in Behala side, which is why; exact timing of the next bus cannot be mentioned.

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Deepak: - We are waiting here for 2 hours for a bus. They regard passengers as animals or what?

Arindam: - Yes, really, it’s pathetic. I came here in Faluknama Express at 6.45 PM and now it is 8.30 PM, still there is no bus at all. There is no discipline maintained in CSTC and WBSTC.

Mrinal: - How can there be? New Transport minister of West Bengal is a useless person. Buddhadev and Jyoti have corrupted Health, Transport and Education of entire West Bengal from top level to bottom level, and what to say about that lame Mayor of Kolkata. He always orders the people to do the redundant work in the municipal areas. Within every 2 months, you will find KMDA people doing all those bullshit works on the roads. The drainage pipes are all old. The materials used for constructing roads are of bad quality, so that they can get a work after 2 months only. KMDA really means ‘Khurchi Maati Dekhbi Aaye’. In Behala, all those Tram lines, illegal autos, rickshaws, as well as hawkers are the real problem. What to say about the trams. Even a caterpillar moves faster than a tram. Not only have that, people always create pandals on roadside by bribing the policemen. As a net result, Behala is one of the best places where you will find traffic jam for at least 360 days. And to add more salt to that problem, State government has banned all old vehicles, but yet to launch new government buses. In Silpara Garage only, there are around 600 state buses standing. This bloody Kanti Ganguly does not even bother to repair those buses and make it ready for the public. Why should they do that also? After all, all the state employees will sign their attendance sheet, while coming to the duty and get the salary. They are really working or not, nobody cares. For 30 years, this is how, West Bengal has ruined in all departments. In a metro city, we are waiting for a bus for 2 hours.

Tapas: - Don’t blame it all to CPI (M) only. Now, in Behala, those hawkers are occupying around 30% of Diamond Harbour Road. When the CPI (M) government wanted to remove all those hawkers, the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee protested about it. Then those hawkers remained there only and occupied the roads as if it is their ancestral property. Now, as a net result, common people are getting harassed day-by-day. What improvement Rabin Dev and that Hawker leader Shakti Mondal has done for Behala area. Behala is still in behaal condition.

Arindam: - Why they are not constructing a fly-over from Mominpur to Sakherbazaar?

Deepak: - Ha ha ha…CPI (M) government takes at least 5 years to complete a simple flyover in Kolkata. You people are blaming Gammon India of Delhi, but do you know that Simplex Company also uses bad quality materials for constructing flyovers. Till now, no flyover has collapsed, that is why; no one is monitoring Simplex Company. Simplex also bribes to the State ministry level to get those projects. And what to say about Metro Extension at Garia? It took around 9 years to complete that link. Look at Delhi. Their Metro Railways are far more advanced than Kolkata.

Arindam: - to control traffic jam and have a good transport system, what is the role of Kolkata traffic police, then?

Tapas: - Boss, you can bribe any Kolkata traffic police to get access of their wife and mother also for a night. Such is their character; and they will control the traffic? Anybody can do anything with their private car in the Kolkata roads, by bribing them, after all; they are the followers of Buddhadev only. But, still not a single Kolkatan will protest about it, basically, they are all ‘Hijras’, and if they protest also, CPI(M) cadres militants will give threats to slaughter them. That is the reason why, all the protestant people of West Bengal have become violent and joined Naxals and Maoists to teach a lesson to Buddhadev. Nothing will change in West Bengal. It will slowly transform into a tribal village with some uncultured Bengalee people. I feel shame to utter that I am a Bengalee, even Rabindranath Tagore in heaven is also feeling ashamed of being a Bengalee.

Arindam: - Really, “KOLKATA HAS THE WORST TRANSPORT SYSTEM”, and I am experiencing it today. Satyajit Ray rightly said, “Yeh ek abhisapto desh”.