Kolkata Confidential

Portrait of a change
With the new Trinamool Congress board taking charge in Kolkata Municipal Corporation,a number of changes can be seen on the civic body premises. The most striking is a portrait of party supremo Mamata Banerjee in the office of Mayor Shovon Chatterjee. This is a departure from tradition as earlier,only portraits of former mayors adorned the Mayor’s office. Now,with Mamata keeping company with the likes of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and Subhas Chandra Bose,other members of the Mayor in Council (MMIC) have given orders for Banerjee’s portraits to be put in their offices too.

Swearing by Sumon
It may not have set the cash register ringing,but Sumon Mukhopadhyay’s ode to Kolkata, Mahanagar@Kolkata has managed to set a trend,albeit a dubious one. A character in the film is made to mouth the choicest of Bengali expletives. Needless to say,he has managed to catch the audience’s fancy. After a matinee show of the film at Nandan complex,a bunch of schoolgoers were heard practicing the swear words. Perhaps their parents would want to have a word with Mukhopadhyay!

Changing spots
The winds of change have not only changed the political scenario in the state,but have also brought about a behavioral change in bureaucrats posted in Bengal. For instance,Alapan Bandyopadhyay,former municipal commissioner and currently secretary for municipal affairs,was seen forcing Mayor Shovan Chattopadhayay to be clicked with him on the day of swearing in. Bandyopadhaya,better known for his inclination towards the Left,was spotted literally running after the new mayor and Firhad Hakim,MMiC. A senior civic official said Bandyopadhyay had started shifting allegiance since panchayat polls last year.

Better of the best
Who is better — Pele or Diego Maradona? A Bengali news channel arranged a debate on this with former Indian internationals P K Banerjee,Surojit Sengupta and Manoranjan Bhattacharya. It ended in a tie. Everytime there’s a World Cup,the issue becomes a hot topic of discussion. The Kolkata soccer fraternity is divided. The older ones vote for Pele,while the younger ones pitch for the mercurial Argentine. Outside football,it’s a tie as well. Sourav Ganguly is an unabashed Maradona admirer. “He is the best ever,” Sourav says. Tennis ace Leander Paes begs to differ. “I have met the Brazilian legend and was bowled over by his humility. He has no peers,” says Paes. Pele came to Kolkata in 1977 and played for Cosmos against Mohun Bagan,while Maradona’s visit 31 years later was restricted to off-field activities. Both saluted Kolkata’s love for the Beautiful Game.