Well... It has snowed in Sahara for quite sometime, has it?
The truth is, I have been in a rather sensible and pragmatic frame of mind ever since my India trip....very good for research, very bad for writing!

Coming to the states hasn't exactly been a culture-shock for me, except perhaps the trip to Vegas, but this trip to India was! Maybe this time I could finally take off my love tinted blinders and scrutinize the scenario better or maybe this has really blown up to the extent where you actually begin to notice it. I am talking about the Indian culture. Well, I am afraid I have to be rather narrow minded in my outlook and focus entirely towards the Bengali culture because that is the only aspect of Indian culture that I have enough exposure to comment on.

Bengal, the land of Teresa, Tagore, Ray and endless others who have been the embodiment of creativity and freedom from stagnation, the inspiration of millions and my first love!How dear it is to me. How mellow are the rays of the morning sun that lovingly caress the waves of river Hoogly. How green are the leaves on the trees which dance in the gentle morning breeze. How sweet are the sounds of the tea stall on the footpath and the tinkling of the rickshaw which wake you up in the morning.

But when I go back, I suddenly get the feeling that this wonderful city is giving up everything that has made it what it is to imitate the West! The new multiplexes and shopping malls that have srung up like scars on Kolkata's beautiful face seem to be the talk of the town these days. The places people go to when they want to eat are Pizza Hut or Kentucky Fried Chicken! There is nothing to on a Saturday night except go club hopping and the places are excuses for clubs, I am sorry to say! What bothers me is not the fact that my city is changing; it is the fact that people are taking the easy way out. I am not worried about the fact that they are just passively imitating and embracing a culture that is alien to them. What worries me is that they have a wrong notion about the Western culture and they are making that their role model just because it is easy to follow. If people have to imitate somebody, then why don't they do a good job of it? If they have to party like the Americans on the weekends, then why don't they work half as hard as the Americans on the weekdays? Why do they have to skip lectures and go to movies and shirk jobs on the weekdays in that case?

Well, you cant blame it entirely on the frivolous new generation. For anything to prosper, there has to be change. If it is not there within your culture, then people will seek it outside. For how many days will people cling to past and lament about what there was at one time? Why is it that Kolkata has not produced another Tagore or another Ray? Why has the stagnation set in and what has to be done in order to break it? Society is all about regeneration and propagation. If there is no rebirth, then it will ultimately perish and die. How can people realise that change cannot be heralded through mindless imitaion? When did people forget the necessity of being creative?

I was sitting in my garden reading a book when I heard a flutter behind the bushes and on further investigation found a poor sparrow trapped in the nettles. It was fluttering around desperately, trying to find a way out. The thorns were peircing it, causing it to bleed. All I had to do was to gently hold the branches apart and the tiny creature sprang into the air with renewed vigour and soared high in the vast blue expanse. My gardener smiled at me and said "Dont worry, it may be hurt but it will survive." That is the good thing about us , we never lose faith. The survival instincts are too strong!