Kolkata confidential

Summer in,sweetness out
With summer gradually setting in the city,it’s time to say goodbye to Kolkata’s favourite winter delicacy — notun gur. After months of feasting on heady notun gur sondeshs and rosogollas,it’s but natural that Kolkata’s sweet-loving denizens are left with some withdrawal symptoms. “In the past few months,I have grown used to gur sweets. I have gorged on kilos of notun gur sandesh. The very thought of not having a gur sandesh after dinner upsets me,” rued a middle-aged housewife,while queued outside a north Kolkata sweetshop. Meanwhile,sweetshops across the country are making a killing with their last stock of gur delicacies. “The gur that we had in stock will only last for a week and its demand generally shoots up in the last week of February. People perhaps want to have as much gur sweets as possible before the markets run out,” said a worker at one of Kolkata’s oldest sweetshops.

Chinese intrusion in Bengali delicacy
A multi-cultural complex near Santiniketan prides itself on its Bengali roots. “The idea was to make it an extraordinary Bengali experience through its architecture,films and food,” explained the general manager of the company. She cited the example of the restaurant housed in the complex,which,she claimed,specialises only in Bengali delicacies. “We want students and tourists to get a feel of Bengali hospitality here,particularly in its food,” she added,sitting in the restaurant which had Tagore’s poetry inscribed on its ceiling. Interestingly,the menu included chowmein and chilli chicken in the restaurant alongside Bengali specialties. As the manager fumbled to explain the Chinese intrusion,the waiter stationed alongside quipped: “How many Bengalis eat more aloo posto compared to chowmein? Your city lives on chowmein and chilli chicken,doesn’t it?” A point that cannot be contested!

‘Labour’ing for board exams
Every year,the board examinations bring along a host of challenges for the authorities conducting them. With about a million students appearing in the exams this year,the authorities have an unprecedented challenge on their hands. So far,there have been four cases reported of pregnant girl students going into labour while appearing in the examination. These instances have been reported from far-off rural areas where girls are married early. Although the authorities from West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and West Bengal Board of Madrasah education have had to regularly deal with candidates falling sick at the examination centre,the latest instances are something they were not prepared for. The authorities rushed these candidates to the nearest hospitals or health centres and to their surprise,post delivery,the candidates have sent in requests that they would want to write their papers. Both boards have made arrangements to enable students to write their paper from the hospital. The board authorities maintain that next year onwards,they would keep a vigil on such candidates and be prepared to face any eventuality.

Giving IG ‘Hood’ a wide berth
EFR IG (Special) Benoy Chakrabarty may have earned a name for himself for his “hooded” press conference following the Silda massacre,but he has emerged as a ‘black sheep’ within his own cadre. Unhappy with his show at the conference,IPS officers have reportedly started shunning him. A number of them are so upset that they have decided not to even socialise with him. At a recent meeting where the top brass of West Midnapore district had gathered,Chakrabarty was also present,but no one spoke to him unless it was absolutely essential. For the few who did,they drew the line quick and fast. Even during the tea break,said an officer who was present,nobody spoke to the officer. A number of IPS officers who are working in Jangalmahal are unhappy with his “cowardly behaviour”. But there is another lobby appreciating his guts in wearing a mask and lambasting the government for its failures. “Not many among us would dare to do that,” said an IPS officer,adding: “See how he is holding on to his grounds.”