Bengal or as sometimes it referred as ‘Sonar Bangla’ consists of Indian state of West-Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.The people of Bengal farms and make usage of fertile Ganges Delta land. The main agricultural products of Bengal include Rice, vegetables and Fishes. So, it is quite practical Bengali culinary system will consist of a big part of Fish and vegetables.

In this blog i will try to give a brief feature of Bengal and its food habits along with some famous recipes in my next blog. Let us start with bazaars for whole food cycle.The Bengali bazaar or market can be classified into two groups viz. Vegetable Bazaar & Fish Bazaar. It is a common scene a Bengali babu holding a pair of fish with pride. The vegetable market is generally an open air market and its a known fact Bengal has lot to offer in terms of vegetables and fruits. Sealdah market, Gariahat Market etc. of Kolkata and Polton Bazaar of Dhaka can be seen as the busiest markets. A host of gourds, roots & tubers, leafy greens, succulent stalks, lemons & limes, green and purple eggplants, red onions, plantain, broad beens, okra, banana tree stems and flowers, green jack fruit and red pumpkins are just some of what you’ll see if you visit!

Fish Market which is referred as ‘Macher Bazaar’ in Bengali has also lot to offer.No state in India can offer you so many Fish options.It is very intersting to know visitors from outside Kolkata visit Fish Markets as a tourist spot.They are fascinated by the lively koi (climbing perch), the wriggling catfish family of tangra, magur, shingi and the pink-bellied Indian butter fish, the pabda. Among the larger fish, rui (rohu) and bhetki weigh upto eight kilograms. Baskets of pink and silvery ilish (hilsa) match the shine on the glistening blade of the fishmonger’s boti. And the fish itself is eaten from top to tail!

No straight from the market the Bengali Babus hand over all the shopping items to their wives called “Ginni’ and his duty is over. Now Ginni Maa will move to kitchen for the preparation. If we have a close look inside a Bengali Kitchen we can find so many special Utensils and Masalas that are unique only to Bengal.The kitchen also called ‘ranna Ghor’ or ‘Ranna Bari’ was used as a purpose of cooking. However storage and Eatery areas were different. Its quite intersting to know that separate Charcoal and woods were used to cook Vegetables, Rice,Fish or Mutton.But now Electric Gas is very commonly used.Among the cooking vessels that include are the karais (woks) where most of the cooking and frying is done, the tawa (griddle) on which rotis and parathas are made, the handi – a special large pot for cooking rice and the handleless modification of the sauce pan – the rimmed, deep, flat-bottomed dekchi are all hallmarks of the Bengali kitchen. And of course you will also find the pressure cooker which is indispensable to any Indian kitchen. As for the other utensils you absolutely can’t do without the hatha (ladle), the khunti (metal spatula), the jhanjri (perforated spoon), the sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the fire), the ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for pureing dal and the old wooden chaki belon (round pastry board and rolling pin).The action in the kitchen begins with the cutting of fish and vegetables and the grinding of spices. And this is when the two star attractions of the Bengali kitchen – the sil nora (grinding stone) and the boti (a cutting tool) appear. The items to be ground are put on the heavy sil, a pentagonal slab of stone and are crushed over and over by its moving partner the nora, a smooth black stone you hold with your hands. This inseperable pair lasts longer than a lifetime and is usually handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.

Common Bengali Style Cooking :
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1. Ambal : A sour dish either made by vegetables or fish.The Ambal is preapared with the pulp of Tamarind.
2. Bhaja : Fried items.Aloo Bhaja, Potol (Parwaal) Bhaja, Begun Bhaja (baingan) or Fish (Maach Bhaja) are famous.
3. Bhapa : Steamed vegetables and Fish.Ilish Bhappa is a world famous dish from Bengal.
4. Bhuna : An Urdu term used for fried items, fried for long time along with spices.Meats are used to bhoona items.
5. Chachari : A Vegetable item with varities of vegetables cut into pieces,sometimes with the stalks of leafy greens added, all lightly seasoned with spices like mustard or poppy seeds and flavoured with a phoron. The skin and bone of large fish like bhetki or chitol can be made into a chachchari called kanta-chachchari, kanta, meaning fish-bone.
6. Chanchra : A mixed vegetable item.Fish head is also used.
7. Dalna : Mixed vegetable or eggs are used to make dalna.Spices are added and the preparation is little thick pulpy.
8. Dam : Vegetables and specially meat cooked in a covered pot and cooked slowly over a low heat.
9. Ghonto : A mixed vegetable item, vegetables grounded finely and cooked with both a phoron and ground spices.
10. Jhal : Literally, hot. A great favorite in West Bengali households, this is made with fish or shrimp or crab, first lightly fried and then cooked in a light sauce of ground red chilli or ground mustard and a flavoring of panch-phoron or kala jeera. Being dryish it is often eaten with a little bit of dal pored over the rice.
11. A light fish or vegetable stew seasoned with ground spices like ginger, cumin, coriander, chili and turmeric with pieces of fish and longitudinal slices of vegetables floating in it. The gravy is thin yet extremely flavorful. Whole green chillies are usually added at the end and green corriander leaves are used to season for extra taste.
12. Kalia : A rich preparation of Fish, Meat or Vegetables along with Ghee and garam masala.
13. Koftas : It is also called Boras in Bengali.Prepared with vegetables and minced meat. It is served with thick Gravies.
14. Korma : Another term of Urdu origin, meaning meat or chicken cooked in a mild yogurt based sauce with ghee instead of oil.
15. Pora : It is an item usually burnt over furnaces (Unun-In Bengali).Brinjal, Parwaal Tomatoe are famous Poras. It is a custom to take Pora at the begining of Meal.”Porar Mukhe Sob Bhalo” (Taking Pora will make your Tongue taste better) is a famous saying.
16. Tarkari : A general term often used in Bengal the way `curry’ is used in English. Originally from Persian, the word first meant uncooked garden vegetables. From this it was a natural extension to mean cooked vegetables or even fish and vegetables cooked together.

Serving Bengali Foods:
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Traditional way to serve Bengali foods is something like this: Separate Small Carpets also called ‘Asans’ are arranged for each individual.In front of Asan large platter made of bell metal/steel or on a large piece of fresh cut banana leaf is placed.In arround the platter there will be an array of Bowls called ‘Bati’ in Bengali are arranged which contains Chicken,Mutton,Fish,Dal,Tarkari,Shukto,Chutney,Deserts.In the centre of the platter hot Rice is served along with a slice of lime and salt allong with green chillies.Fried items are kept at one side.At the centre of the rice fresh pure Ghee is poured.

In Bengal people use their hands to eat food,otherwise how it is possible to eat the fish Like Ilish or Koi that contains Hectic bones.Also scientifically eating with hands gives a separte taste to foods and a great satisfaction.The other peculiarity about the Bengali eating scene is the unashamed accululation of remnants. Since succulent vegetable stalks, fish bones and fish heads, meat and chicken bones are all meticulously chewed until not a drop of juice is left inside, heaps of chewed remnants beside each plate are an inevitable part of a meal. Wether you have one or twenty dishes,in Bengal the eating style is to have each dish separetly with rice n order to savour its individual bouquet.Vegetables, especially the bitter ones, are the first item followed by dal, perhaps accompanied by fries or fritters of fish and vegetables. After this comes any of the complex vegetable dishes like ghanto or chachchari, followed by the important fish jhol as well as other fish preparations. Meat will always follow fish, and chutneys and ambals will provide the refreshing touch of tartness to make the tongue anticipate the sweet dishes.

How Bengali food differs with any other food culture in India?
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Bengal has innumerable lakes and ponds and the availability of fishes are countless.The preaparation of fishes are different from rest of India.The style you will never find else where in India.Fishes are steamed or braised and also they are prepared with vegetables and usage of mustard paste is seen commonly. Poppyseeds are very famous and used in varieties of fish preparation.Not only fish ‘Posto’ is a very famous food for all Bengali.

Bengali master in Vegetable cooking. They prepare varieties of dishes out of the vegetables that grow here.Not only this various ‘Ambroisal’ foods are prepared from left overs like ejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables.They use fuel-efficient methods, such as steaming fish or vegetables in a small covered bowl nestled at the top of the rice cooker.

The usage of spices both for Fish dishes and vegetable dishes are unique and this combination cannot be found in Rest of India.Example can be Kalonji (Kalo Jeere) and pach phoron. Panch phoron is a five-spice (a mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard). The trump card card of Bengali cooking probably is the addition of this phoran, a combination of whole spices, fried and added at the start or finish of cooking as a flavouring special to each dish.Black Mustard are very famous among Bengali cuisines and is highly used as paste.

Bengali sweets are really unique not over in India but also over the world. Rassgollas, Kheer Kodom, Malai Chop, Sor Bhaja, Rajbhog, Sita Bhog, Mihidana, Doi and lots and lots to name.

Love-the most immortal feeling a human can have in his life. Love is feeling that makes a person complete. Love brings happiness in an individual’s life and without love life is not complete. To love some needs a great soul, a great courage and a big heart. In this love world there are many examples that show how people can sacrifice everything for the sake of his love. The most prominent example being Edward VIII of United Kingdom who abdicated his throne to marry someone he wished. He left his royal powers to marry Mrs. Simpson, an American divorcee.

Edward VIII was born on 23rd June 1884 at White Lodge, Richmond in England. He was the eldest son of King George V and the Duchess of York. He was under the care of his misters and nanny until a certain age. He was formally educated at his home by Helen Bricka and studied in various colleges like Osborne Naval College, Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and Magdalene College, Oxford. He served for a brief period in British army during the First World War and also performed his specific Royal duties.

Meeting and Relationship with Mrs. Simpson:

In 1930 his father King George V gifted him a mansion Fort Belvedere, near Sunningdale, England. There he had relationship with several married women like American Textile heiress Freda Dudley Ward, American Film actress Mildred Harris, Lady Furness. Lady Furness for the first time introduced Mrs. Wallis Simpson (Future wife of the prince). Mrs. Simpson at that time had already divorced her first husband and was married to Mr. Ernest Simpson. It was a known fact Mrs. Simpson and the prince had fallen in love with each other when Lady Furness was on tour, though he adamantly told his father The King that he is not having any intimate relationship with Mrs. Simpson. On his accession to the Throne of the British Empire on 20th January 1936, he broke the royal rule by watching the proclamation of his own accession to the throne from a window of St. James’s Palace in the company of the then still-married Mrs. Simpson.

On 16th November 1936, he called his Prime Minister Mr. Stanley Baldwin at Buckingham palace and expressed his desire to marry Mrs. Simpson. Baldwin informed him that there will be huge chaos among his subject if he marries Mrs. Simpson as the Church of England doesn’t permits to marry a divorcee. People will not tolerate Mrs. Simpson as their new queen. Edward proposed a morganatic marriage in which Edward will remain a King but Wallis Simpson will not be a queen and she will enjoy less titles and status. Any children born to them will not be in line of succession to the throne. This was also overthrown by the British Cabinet and other Dominion Governments as stated by the Statue of Westminster, 1931 which states

“Any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.”

The Prime Minister of Australia, Canada and South Africa made clear that they are against the marriage of the king with a divorcee and the Irish Dominion remained neutral while the Prime Minister of New Zealand, having never even heard of Mrs. Simpson before, vacillated in disbelief. With lot of opposition from every where king first responded that “there are not many people in Australia, so their decision doesn’t matter”. Edward told Baldwin that he will abduct his throne for Mrs. Simpson. Baldwin gave him three options: give up the idea of marriage; marry against his ministers’ wishes; or abdicate. Edward can’t live without Mrs. Simpson and he also knew that if he marries against the advice of his ministers then there can be a resignation from minister’s side and can create a constitutional crisis. He opted for abduction.

Edward duly signed the abduction instruments at Fort Belvedere on 10 December 1936, in the presence of his three surviving brothers The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.

At the night of 11 December 1936, who is now remained with a title of Prince Edward, broadcasted to the nation, his all explanations of abdication. In his famous quotes he said

“I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

At that night Edward departed United Kingdom for Austria and waited for several months for Mrs. Simpson over there until she was ready to get married.

Life after the abduction:

As soon as his brother Duke of York (George VI) came to throne he immediately announced his decision to make his brother Edward as the Duke of Windsor and awarded him highest degree of the British Empire. By making Edward as the Duke of Windsor George VI made sure that he could neither stand for election to the House of Commons nor speak on political subjects in the House of Lords.

The letters patent dated 27 May 1937, which re-conferred upon the Duke of Windsor, the “title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness”, specifically stated that “his wife and if any children cannot hold this title”. Many minister suggested his title cannot be conferred since he is not related to royal duties in any case. On the other hand some insisted marrying a prince will automatically have “Her Highness” title for Mrs. Simpson. On 14th April 1937, a memorandum submitted by Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell submitted to Home Secretary Sir John Simon which summarizes the view of Lord Advocate T. M. Cooper, Parliamentary Counsel Sir Granville Ram and himself, to the effect that:

· We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent.

· The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it.

· We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstances.

Edward married Simpson on 3rd June 1937 at Château de Candé, near Tours, France, without the consent of Church of England. George VI, his brother ordered every family member not to attend the marriage but Edward wished the presence of his brothers the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent and his second cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten. After the marriage there was a huge conflict for not granting the status of “Her Royal Highness” to Duchess of Windsor (Mrs. Simpson acquired this title by default after getting married to Edward, Duke of Windsor. Also after marriage she changed her name to Wallis Warfield). Also there were a lot of financial settlements with the allowance that the new king was supposed to pay him. Also the Government refused to include him in the civil list. Edward possessed all his wealth from Duchy of Cornwall and the new King and Queen was forced to give him Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle. These properties were Edward’s personal property, inherited from his father, King George V, and thus did not automatically pass to George VI on his accession. Relation went bitter and bitter with his family and Edward once have written to his Mother Mary of Teck that

“Your last letter destroyed the last vestige of feeling I had left for you … and has made further normal correspondence between us impossible.”

The Duke(Edward ) was in a hope that he would return to England after a year or two of exile in France, but his brother George VI (the new king) with the support from their mother Queen Mary and his wife Queen Elizabeth threatened Edward that if he comes to England without any invitation, then his allowance can be stopped.

In his last days….

The couple settled in France. The French government provided them with a house in Paris with a nominal rent. French Government also exempted him from paying any taxes. In his last days he authored many books including the famous “A King’s Story” and “A family Album” that stated the style of the royal family starting from Queen Victoria.

He was paid for writing in Sunday Express and Women’s Home Companion, as well as a short book, The Crown and the People. He visited USA on the invitation of President Eisenhower and President Nixon invited the couple as a special guest of honor.

The Royal family never fully accepted the duchess and Queen Mary (mother of Edward) refused her to be a part. However, Duke sometimes met his mother (Queen Mary) and his brother King George VI. He also attended the funeral of the King. In 1965, the couple returned to London and attended various family gatherings.

In the late 1960s health of Duke deteriorated. Queen Elizabeth (Daughter of George VI and the new ruler of England) visited him on a state visit to France in 1972. On that year, May 28 Edward passed away peacefully from throat cancer. He was a smoker from an early age. His body was returned to Britain, lying in state at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The funeral service was held in the chapel on 5 June in the presence of the Queen, the Royal Family, and the Duchess of Windsor, and the coffin was buried in the Royal Burial Ground behind the Royal Mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore. The Duchess stayed at Buckingham Palace during her visit. Increasingly senile and frail, the Duchess died 14 years later, and was buried alongside her husband simply as “Wallis, Duchess of Windsor”.

With all this tremendous situation love for each other never deceased. They loved each other at any conditions. For Love the King became a beggar. This is what a true love is. May god bless every couple with this kind of feeling. Long Live the King!!!

Satyajit Ray was a great Bengali Film maker and a great star in in the world of Bengali Film Industry. It is a dream for every actor and actress to get a chance to work with him. Today his 89th Birthday and in short i will try to sketch his bright career and work towards Bengali film industry.

Satyajit was born in the famous family of Roy Chowdhury originally a zamindar(LandLords) family from Mymensingh district in East-Bengal. He was born on 2nd May, 1921, in Kolkata to Suprabha Ray and Sukumar Ray , a great writer and creator of “Abol Tabol” (Nonsense Rhymes) and various other children stories. His Grandfather was Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury a great writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Satyajit studied in Presidency College and at Santiniketan (Viswa-Bharati University). Satyajit initially started his career as a commercial artist and then he finally shifted his career to film making after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing the Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves during a visit to London.

Achievements:

Ray directed over 32 films, including various documentaries, short films and feature films. He was not only a great director but he was also a great film critic like his father. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, graphic designer. Ray’s first film was Pather Pachali, a legend in Bengali film industry. It won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Document at the Cannes film festival. The Apu trilogy includes

• Pather Pachali,
• Apu’s Sansar and
• Aparajito.

Ray did the

1. scripting,
2. casting,
3. scoring,
4. cinematography,
5. art direction,
6. editing and
7. designed his own credit titles and publicity material.

Awards

To his credit, Ray won many national and international awards and prizes that includes 32 National Film Awards, a number of international awards, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992.

His Films

Some of the greatest films ever produced in Bengali Film industry were directed b him, however not only Bengali but Indian film industry took benefit out of his qualities directed.

• Pather Pachali,
• Apu’r Sansar,
• Aparajito, Charulata (The Lonely Wife),
• Devi, Kanchanjungha,
• Nayak are his some of the greatest works.

Children stories

• Joy Baba Felunath(The Elephant God),
• Sonar Kella (The Golden Fort),
• Gupi Gayen-Bagha Bayen,
• Hirok Raja’r Desh e,
• Gupi Bagha Fire Elo are a few name to mention.

On his later creation, he created

• Aguntuk,
• Shakha Proshaka,
• Ganashutru,
• Ghaire Baire.

Ray has made various literary works for children. Feluda (A fictional Detective named Pradosh C. Mitter) is a very popular character among children. Various films like Sonar Kella, Joy Baba Felunath was made by him. There are lots of stories published on Feluda like:

• Bombay er Bombette (The Buccaneers of Bombay),
• Gorosthane Sabdhan (Beware In Graveyard),
• Chhinnamastar Abhishap (The Curse of Goddess),

and many many others. His Son Sandip Ray has made films based on some of the Feluda Story like

1. Bombay er Bombette (The Buccaneers of Bombay),
2. Kailash e Kelenkari (A Killer in Kailash).

His Characters:

• Other characters Like Professor Shanku (Scientist) is pretty famous among children.
• Tarini Khuro (Uncle Tarini ), a character not very famous is also awesome.

His AutoBiography

He has also written an auto biography of himself “Jokhon Choto Chilam” (When i was a kid) and and essays on film: Our Films, Their Films (1976), along with Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), Ekei Bole Shooting (1979). Our Films, Their Films is an anthology of film criticism by Ray. The book contains articles and personal journal excerpts. His book Bishoy Chalachchitra was translated in 2006 as Speaking of Films, and contains a compact description of his philosophy of different aspects of the cinema. Ray also wrote a collection of nonsense verse named Today Bandha Ghorar Dim, which includes a translation of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”. He also authored a collection of humorous stories of Mullah Nasiruddin in Bengali.

Ray’s work is often described as full of universality and humanism and always underlying great and complex thinking. The great and legendary Akira Kurosawa, who declared,

“Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”But his detractors find his films glacially slow, moving like a “majestic snail.

Ray’s work has highly appreciated by legendaries like Jean-Luc Godard, V.S Naipaul,Stanley Kauffman,Mrinal Sen. Though once V.S Naipaul had criticized his movie “Shatraanj Ke Khilari” with a Shakespeare play.

Ray has always been bestowed with great awards through out his life. He has been awarded with 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. He was only among the three to win Silver Bear for Best Director twice in Berlin Film Festival and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations (seven times). Venice Film Festival, where he had previously won a Golden Lion for Aparajito (1956), he was awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982.That same year, he also received an honorary “Hommage à Satyajit Ray” award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Ray is only after Chaplin to receive Honorary Doctorate degree from Oxford University. He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and the Legion of Honor by the President of France in 1987.The Government of India awarded him the highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna shortly before his death. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Ray an honorary Oscar in 1992 for Lifetime Achievement.In 1992 he received posthumously Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival, it was received by Sharmila Tagore. Entertainment Weekly magazine, In 1996,ranked Satyajit Ray at #25 in its “50 Greatest Directors” list. The Sight & Sound critics’ and directors’ poll ranked Ray at #22 in its list of all-time greatest directors in 2002.Total Film magazine included Ray in its “100 Greatest Film Directors Ever” list in the year 2007.

Satyajit Ray passed away peacefully on 23 April 1992 in Kolkata. He lives in the heart of every Indians specially all Bengalis across the border along with his wife Bijoya Das, his son Sandip Ray and Grandson. The Legend of the Indian Film Industry can never be forgotten and we remember him on this Birthday with great respect.

A famous criticism of communism states “Communism is itself a religion”. According to many people’s belief communism is total comprehensive system and provide a framework for complete devotion.It provides a complete revolution against capitalism. Formation of stateless, classless society with a fundamental of common ownership is the basic principle of communism.It provides a socioeconomic structure to point a good base for above achievements.Communism is often compared to earlier Christianity as various stated in verses of holy Bible.But as a whole it cant be a religion,its a movement.

Gaither Stewart Says in his note that : “Though Communism always proclaimed itself godless and anti-religious, its adherents have been compared to Jesuits as a result of the rigorous dogma of their faith, the iron discipline, their passionate loyalty and confidence in the future. Therefore the historical tendency, especially among ex-Communists, to label Communism a religion and the Manifesto a holy book.”

Great English Historian R.N. Carew Hunt in his Theory and Practice of Communism labeled Communism ?the largest mass movement since the rise of Christianity.? Historians has always tried to put a bogus tag on communism that it is a religion and stated a striking dogma about it.But,Communists believe communism can be seen in many religion,many of its ideas can be seen in Islam,Hinduism and Christanity, but as a whole it is not a religion.Communism is not even an ideal.Marx and Engels wrote that Communism was ?a movement which abolishes the present state of things.?

A scholastic approach and investigation says communism emerged from religious movement in Germany.It emerged as a way to replace modern Christianity with Humanism.Marx?s forerunners, the Young Hegelians of the early Nineteenth century, believed in the imminent fall of Christianity, to be replaced by a new humanist faith. Christianity that transformed the natural communal character of man into a union of each individual with a personal God was responsible for the individualism of modern society. Young Hegelian and other philosophers claimed that Communism rested on the religious conception of the essence of man.

Thus Communism can be based on the belief of humanity.If forced,communism can be considered as a religion based on human values.Its a movement for the people and of the people.If a movement can be tagged with some religion then that’s fine!Critics can question about the economic performance of communist principle against market based economies,their principles against religion is the only way that can protect this world from burning against terrorism.State Atheism is a very good phenomenon that must be imposed if we really want to save our “GOD created earth”.

Communism and religion; these two are are just opposite to each other may be we can call them as two different poles of human belief. Early communism like as proposed by Karl Marx is completely based on atheism, but to some extent it was having a liberal view point. Karl Marx himself was an atheist and he termed religion in a very difficult way. In his famous quotation he once said that

“Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.”

(Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right ).

Lenin the other face of communism in USSR also qouted

“Atheism is a natural and inseperable part of Marxism, of the theory and practice of scientific socialism”

The term Religion is important for the majority sect of people in all over the world, but it raise a question “wether religion is really necessary to lead a peaceful life?”. It will be decided by the people of the world when the time will come. There are some communists although, who has termed a new name for communism called “Religious Communism”.

Let us take in depth with this religious communism. Religious communism is based actually on some religious principles and its followers merge with secular communists in abolitionism of capitalism. It is based on the principle that some people volunteer themselves their personal belongings so that each and every people can have a little share and miserable condition of people can get a little reduced. The main motto of this principle is that “Let people work according to their ability”.

In religious communism the ideology is that to apply religion in the field of communism. Here some criticism can be done like how can an intellectual apply religion to communism is a good question and great food for thought. Religious communism is advocated by great philosophers like Fran-ois Babeuf who coined a great term

“Society must be made to operate in such a way that it eradicates once and for all the desire of a man to become richer, or wiser, or more powerful than others.”

Various religion like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christians support to this ideas.

Islam directly does not have any fundas of ‘Religious Communism’. But to some extent Zakat and Riba are in favour of Religious Communism, in the sense that zakat refers to the system of donating some of a personals income to some one and that is what religious communism supports. Riba is a system for usury and is totally forbidden in Islam as stated in Quran. Verses like

“That they took riba, though they were forbidden and that they devoured men’s substance wrongfully? We have prepared for those among men who reject faith a grievous punishment (Qur’an 4:161)”

and

“O you who believe, you shall not take riba, compounded over and over. Observe God, that you may succeed. (Qur’an 3:130)”

clearly states how Islam does not allow Riba.The same principles appears for Religious Communism.

According to christian beliefs that supports the view of “christian communism” states that after a year of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ a little group including the apostles formed a small group of christian communists. To some extent according to many Christians The Holy Bible compels them to follow communism. Some biblical verses like ACT 2 and 4 states that Christians lived in communist society.There are numerous other quotes that are taken from ‘Synoptic Gospel’ that defines the life and ministry of Jesus.There are various quotes that suggests the idea. An example can be

“49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (Gospel of Luke (1:49-53), Mary delivered the following description of the works of God).

The above statement clearly shows the idea of Religious Communism.

I dont know how you suddenly came into my life and brought happiness that i needed.You came so close to me,felt my pains and always encouraged me to lead a happy life.You are a person of material who has always shown correct path to me. Dada you promised that you will meet me when i will come to Dhaka.You told me and Maqbool that you are going to enjoy time with us in your place. Delwaar Da you did’nt keep your promise.

I met this person in Facebook (Thanks Facebook). I remembered the date. It was December 15th,2008 and the exact time was 7:36 PM. I found him commenting about some controversial topic. He was continuously fighting with some Pakistanis, who were saying something really bad about his country, Bangladesh. I supported his views and i sent him a message on Facebook. He replied me with a happy message and we became friends.We started becoming closer to each other sharing various view points about our Bengal. I used to tell him about Kolkata and he used to tell me about his motherland Dhaka.

Our relation was only based on social networking through facebook not more than that, but still this person became my friend, mentor and guide. Delwar Hossain Khan, the name that brings smile and happiness on everyone’s face, was a great person as far as i have analyzed him. He possessed immense knowledge on every subject regardless of history, medicine or religion…you name it and Delwaar Da was always there to give you an idea about the topic. A great entrepreneur with a great vision for Bangladesh and its people.

Within a short time of period he became really close to me. He used to get worried when i fall sick some time and was hospitalized. He even told my friend Dr. Maqbool Hussain that he is going to pray (Dua) for me so that i can recover soon. Dada was so conscious about my health that he once asked Maqbool to give the number of the doctor, so that he can directly ask doctor about my health. I can say only one thing that people can become so close to each other, even they don’t know each other, they became so close that it really hurts if he or she leaves us suddenly.

Delwaar Da, you are a great person. I will never forget you.You are my dada, you are my guide to show me correct path. Dada, wherever you are please bless me with your love and remember you didn’t keep your promise to meet me. Why you left us alone to cry? Dada…may God bless you with His choicest blessings. Joy Bangla…Joy Bangali was your favorite qoute. Joy Bangla dada..for you….Love you Mr.Khan!

Editor’s Note: Delwaar Hossain Khan was a common friend on Facebook. He was a kind heart man and always helped everyone understand what are the actual facts on several things. He passed away with Cardiac Arrest.

Readers of Pakistan Time along with Team of Pakistan Times pray for him that May Allah bless his soul and award higher levels in Heaven. And give patience to the family of bereaved; bear this loss. Ameen

Bengali new year marks the beginning of new year for Bengalis and it is widely celebrated across the Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Orissa in India as well as in Bangladesh. In west-Bengal(India) a state holiday is observed and in Bangladesh a national holiday is observed. This is the day when Bengali Community from all over the world unite together irrespective of their cast and religion to celebrate Bangali New year.

Bengali New Year is generally celebrated on 14th of April in Bangladesh as decided by the Bangla Academy and on 15th April it is celebrated in India. History reveals that Bengal, a land whose sons have always struggled for their language against imposition of any other language, is really proud to celebrate this festival. With new clothes and smiles Bengalis distribute sweets among each other and go to Temples and Mosques for prayers. A typical Bengali Babu dresses for poila baisakh in “dhooti & panjabi” or “loongi and panjabi”. Kids generally wear kurta and payjamas and ladies like to take “lal paar sari”. Pohela Boishakh( New Year) joins all ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences.

History of Bengali Calendar :
The Bengali calendar or Bangabda is used in West Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam and Tripura.The Hindu solar calendar based on the Surya Siddhanta that commences in mid-April of the Gregorian year. The first day of this calendar is celebrated as the traditional New Year. It is according to the Bhaskar (Sun) Era, pioneered by Emperor Akbar in 1584 AD.

The calendar was initially named as Tarikh-e-Elahi. The months of the Bengali year(or Tarikh-e-Elahi) were primarily recognized as Karwadin, Ardi, ‘Vihisu, Khordad, Teer, Amardad, Shahriar, Aban, Azur, Dai, Baham and Iskander Miz. It is assumed that the present names of months are kept before the names of the stars. This is introduced from the Shakabda in 78 A.D. to honor the sovereignty of the Shaka.

THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS DERIVING FROM STARS—
1. Baishakh from the star Bishakha
2. Jiashthya from Jaishtha
3. Ashara from Shar
4. Sraban from Srabani
5. Bhadra from Bhadrapada
6. Ashwin from Aswaini
7. Kartik from Kartika
8. Agrahayon from Agraihon
9. Poush from Poushya
10. Magh from Magha
11. Falgun from Falguni, and
12. Chaitra from Chitra stars.

Some argue that, Shashanka, king of Bengal, introduced Bengali calendar to memorialize his invasion of Assam.

It is said that under the Mughal era taxes were collected according to the ‘hijri’ calendar. But since it is a total lunatic calendar so it doesn’t coincide with harvest time. So, in order to maintain; Emperor Akbar tried to formulate a new calendar with the help of Fatehullah Shirazi, the great astronomer from Bengal. He organized the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new agricultural year was introduced on 11 March 1584.The new year subsequently became known as Bonggabdo or Bengali year.

Tradition is to clear up all dues on the last day of Choitro. On the first day of the new year, landlords would distribute sweets among tenants. On this occasion fairs are organized. The occasion has became a part of domestic and social life. The main event of the day is to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities, traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones. They used to invite their customers to share sweets and renew their business relationship with them. This tradition is still practiced, especially by jewelers.

Celebrations In Kolkata :
Baisakh is considered as a very pious time to conduct marriages and other productive activities. On this day people wear new clothes and decorates their house with ‘rangoli’ which is called ‘alpana’ in Bengali. Choitra the end month of the year is generally a very hectic month and garment dealers give clothes at heavy discount popularly called choitra sale in Kolkata. Cultural programs are organized and prayers are offered with families. Ladies wear white sarees with Red Border and men Dhooti Panjabi and take part in ‘probhat pheri’ procession to welcome the new year.

This day being auspicious, new businesses and new ventures are started. The Mahurat is performed, marking the beginning of new ventures.Traders go to ganga ghat (babu ghat) and open new account books called halkhata. Priests enchant mantras and draws shostik (“Hindu swastika”). Long queues of devotees are seen in front of the Kalighat temple from late night. Devotees offer puja(worship) to receive the blessings of the almighty. On Poila Boishakh various fairs are held in West Bengal. The most famous of these is Bangla Sangit Mela, held at Nandan-Rabindra Sadan ground. This fair is conducted by the Government of West Bengal. People visit their relative’s place and have typical bengali ‘addas’.

Clebration in Dhaka:
Dhaka and all parts of Bangladesh celebrate this festival by their heart. They clean up their homes and take bath early.They visit their friends and relatives and have typical addas. On poila baisakh whole of Dhaka gets colored.

Boisakhi fairs are very famous in all over Bangladesh and handicrafts and toys, clothes etc are exhibited. Also varieties of sweet are and foods are prepared in these fairs.The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers and dancers staging jatra (traditional plays), pala gan, kobigan, jarigan, gambhira gan, gazir gan and alkap gan. They present folk songs as well as baul, marfati, murshidi and bhatiali songs.

Traditional folk plays like Laila-Majnu,Yusuf-Zulekha and Radha-Krishna are staged. Among other attractions of these fairs are the puppet shows and merry-go-rounds.The most colorful new year’s day festival takes place in Dhaka. Large numbers of people gather early in the morning under the banyan tree at Ramna Park where Chhayanat artists open the day with Rabindranath Tagore’s famous song, Esho,he Boishakh, Esho Esho (Come, O Boishakh, Come, Come).

A similar ceremony welcoming the new year is also held at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. Students and teachers of the institute take out a colorful procession and parade round the campus. Social and cultural organizations celebrate the day with cultural programs. Newspapers bring out special supplements. There are also special programs on radio and television.

The historical importance of Poiela Boishakh in the Bangladeshi context may be dated from the observance of the day by Chhayanat in 1965. In an attempt to suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistani Government had banned poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, the most famous poet and writer in Bengali literature. Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pohela Boishakh celebrations at Ramna Park with Tagore’s song welcoming the month. The day continued to be celebrated in East Pakistan as a symbol of Bengali culture. After 1972 it became a national festival, a symbol of the Bangladesh nationalist movement and an integral part of the people’s cultural heritage. Later, in the mid- 1980s the Institute of Fine Arts added color to the day by initiating the Boishakhi parade, which is much like a carnival parade.

However, Bengalis are the people who enjoys their life at best forgetting all grievances and forgiving every one.The grass, the skies, trees ? every natural object seems beautiful and glows with delight and cheerfulness. To each and every Bengali, it is an occasion of joviality to enjoy with immense merriment, in all possible way. Special dishes are prepared on this day. I would like to invite every one to visit the Bengal at this day and see how Bengalis welcome you with their wide open smiley hearts.Visit Kolkata or Dhaka the zeal is same. No border can break the unity of Bengalis.
Happy new year to all.

Ghosts are an important part of Bengali Folklore. There are different types of ghosts popular in Bengali literature and culture. Ghost are commonly made part of Bengali fairy tales. Modern Bengali literature also carries their references. It is interesting to note that the spirits of those human beings who cannot find peace in the afterlife or die unnatural deaths remain on Earth. The common word for ghosts in Bengali is bhoott.

Some of the prominent Bhoot famous in Bengal are as follows:

* Shankchunni: A female ghost. Usually married women who dies prematurely and unsatisfied with her married life. According to other view a women during her married life if having an extra marital affair and dies prematurely becomes a Shankchunni. Danger: It is said that they stay in trees and whenever they see a young attractive young man she immediately catch him ups and don’t leave him till he dies.Wow! What a love!

* Petni: Another version of beautiful lady ghost. A story is regarding petnis like this, once a zamindar Babu (LandLord) named Prafulla Kumar Ghosh from Faridpur (Now in Bangladesh) was roaming in the field at night. He suddenly noticed a very beautiful lady was sitting on a tree. She was wearing a red saree (tradition Indian dress) along with a red Bindi (Part of Benagli Makeup put on forehead) and all her hairs were waving in air. Zamindar Babu immediately fell in love and she was also smiling at him. Zamindar asked her who is she and what she is doing on the top of the tree at late night. She said she is a simple girl, since her father was forcing her to get married with an old man she ran away from home and hidden in the branches of this tree. Zamindar babu immediately asked her to get married with him. She replied that she can marry on a condition. The condition was that zamindar will have to take a dive in water pond and fetch fish for her. His success was guarantee to marriage. The tragedy was that when Zamindar dived in the pond he never came out and nor the fish. On the next day his body was found in pond. People beleived that Yamini Petni has killed him who has died 90 years ago. She was an unsatisfied woman and committed suicide.

* Chorachunni: They are mischievous ghosts and usually are the ghosts of Thieves. They come out in the night of “Purnima” (Full Moon Night) and break into homes of peoples. It is interesting question that How people can protect their homes from them? Commonly believed that an iron nail purified with Ganga Jal nailed in in the door is effective remedy to keep these ghosts away from home. Also “Satyanarayan Katha” Can be help full.

* PenchPenchi: They look like owls and exist in form of couples as one is female and other is male. They keep following people to jungle and kill them and eat them up.

* Nishi : These are supposed really dangerous. They call people by their names at night. People get hypnotized and go with them and never return. Interestingly few tantrics (magicians) keep Nishi as their pets and use these to take revenges from people.

* Mamdo Bhoot: These are ghost of Muslims according to Hindus.

* Brahmadaitto or Brahmodatti: They are spirits of Brahmins. They generally appear in a white dhoti (Traditional dress in form of a loose fabric tied on waist) with a sacred thread on this body. It is said that when a Brahmin dies and if they die prematurely they become Brahmadaitto or Brahmodatti. Also if a Brahmin dies without his threads then also he can become a Brahmadaitto or Brahmodatti. They are sacred ghost. It is believed that if they bless someone; one can achieve goals. But annoying or irritating them make them dangerous. They live in Banyan tree or Apple tree. They also live in open terrace. They sometime look like Hindu deity Shiva.

* Aleya: Marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings and eventually drown. They are generally the ghosts of fisherman who died during their work. Some time they confuse the fishermen and some time they help them in knowing the future dangers.

* Skondhokata or Kondhokata: A headless ghost. They are ferocious and kill humans once they feel them. They are generally the ghosts of people whose head has cut off may be in Train Accidents. But it is also easy to fool them since they don’t have heads!

These are some of the ghosts popular in Bengal. But according to my personal belief these ghosts are less dangerous than humans. Ghost in the form of Politicians, Ghosts in the form of Sadhus and Maulvis are very dangerous. Instead of looking for these stupid ghosts we should find and get rid of these socialites ghosts who has made our societies full of horror due to their wrong deeds.

Recently I have been going through an article that titled “Social No-Working”. Facebook is a Social Networking service that is meant to bring friends and relatives more close. I have also found my long time friends in this site who are not in touch for more than 15 years! We share lot of stories about our personal life and comment a lot about job. Commenting about job is not very safe at least in Facebook now. Recently in that article I have seen a 16 year old girl named Kimberley Swann of Clacton on Sea in England was sacked from her company for mentioning in Facebook that her job was boring. She used to work in Ivell Marketing and Logistics Limited. I researched more on this and was trying to find what the hell she has written that turned her job life a hell. Exactly what she has written is as follows:

““all i do is shred holepunch n scan paper!!! omg!‘” … “im so totally bord!!!”

Her former boss Steve Ivell justified the sacking as Swann ‘publicly’ posted comments and shared them with coworkers. UK Tabloids such as The Sun placed in newspaper as “Social No-Working”. Also most recently same incident occurred for Virgin Airlines as well as British Airways for calling its passengers as “Smelling & Annoying” in Facebook.

Essex BBC got a few quotes:

Her mother, Janette, 41, said: “I think she’s been treated totally unfairly. She didn’t mention the company’s name. “This is a 16-year-old child we’re talking about. She says Clacton is boring but we’re not going to throw her out of the house for it.”

Mr Ivell said: “Ivell Marketing is a small, close-knit family company and it is very important that all the staff work together in harmony. “Had Miss Swann put up a poster on the staff notice board making the same comments and invited other staff to read it there would have been the same result.”
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said employers needed “thicker skins” in relation to social networking websites.
She said: “Most employers wouldn’t dream of following their staff down the pub to see if they were sounding off about work to their friends.”

Now a few things according to me:

1) What Miss Swann has said is wrong. It definitely hampers a companies’ Pride. But on careful study of the statement it is clear that she has not mentioned any name. Then how can her boss fire her?
2) If someday a person is kicked for this reason he can also say that now a days hacking a Facebook account is not a big deal. Then what is the proof that his or her account was not hacked and somebody else has not written the abusing statement?
In this recession market none of the job is stable. The Big Boss searches for a little reason and if they found it, it takes not even a minute for him or her to become an adamant boss like that of Peter parker’s boss in his Daily Bugle newspaper. In my personal experience I have seen how people are loosing their jobs in a moment without any reason. How their bonuses are cut down and how they are treated in their workplace. Its really feels bad to sign a Pink Letter for someone whereas it is of great pride for some people to do the same.

Facebook is site where people can share their views and comments and it’s a social right for a person to speak against something they don’t like. If I were the boss of Miss Swann then really I would have called her asked her what was the reason to say such things instead of sacking her. It should be remembered critics are the person who make us better.

Youngsters and lovebirds are generally seen to chat with unknown peoples. Sometimes they become so close that it seems to live without them a little bit impossible. Now imagine a case when a first person doesn’t want to talk to second person. The first person remains invisible in messenger window. However the second person thinks he or she is offline. But dear friends don’t worry in this blog I am going to tell you youngsters how to catch some one if he or she is invisible or really offline.

Here I will demonstrate two messengers: Gtalk and Yahoo Messenger.

Gtalk:

1. Select the person whom u doubt to be invisible.
2. Open the chat window. (See the screen Shot)

3.Now find the drop down at the extreme right of the window. Use the drop down and check the option “Go off the Record”.

4. Now the message comes in the Chat window as seen in Screen Shot.

5. Now send a message. If he or she is really offline a message appears: xyz@gmail.com is offline and can’t receive messages right now.

6. If he or she is invisible you will not receive this message.

Explanation:
Point 1: When a chat is set off the record, it will no longer get stored in your Gmail account.
Point 2: When you send a chat message to offline or invisible user, it gets delivered by default. At receiving end if user is online, a chat screen pops up showing him your message.
If he/she is offline, your chat message will go to inbox as a mail.

Now if you put together above points then you will notice that, when you set chat off the record it can’t be delivered to inbox as mail, so it will be delivered only if user is online (no matter if he/she is invisible).

How to know if somebody has blocked you in GTALK:

For this you need to install Pidgin.

Steps to Follow:

1. Download Pidgin free from Internet and install the same.
2. Next open it up.
3. Go to Buddies->Show->Offline Buddies.
4. Now select the person you doubt.
5. Right Click on the name and select Get Info.
6. If he or she has blocked you, you will never see the Information details. Else Details are available. Try it out!!!!

Easy right!!! So go ahead and chase your love.

Yahoo Messenger:

There are really lots of ways to see this. Here I will state two ways:

1. It is really very simple. Go to the link and enter the ID you want to see. Just enter the ID and you will see whether he or she is offline or invisible.
2. Else download Buddy Spy. It is free of cost. You can download it from net.

1. In Buddy Spy first go to Configure section. Give your ID and password. Don’t touch the connection settings. Let it be default settings.

2. Now go to the Buddy Spy section. Give the ID you doubt to be invisible and give a cool search. Here the advantage is that it shows details of the buddy like Status, Chat Room, Webcam details, Primary ID etc.

I am little researching on MSN as well as Facebook. By the way if any one knows the trick get back to me!!! Dear don’t give the advice MSNSpyMonitor; I don’t like that…because it is not free!!!! However for MSN I can suggest you a site that shows the real status of the person as well as if you are blocked. Try it buddy here it goes:

msnfanatic