Mac Flecknoe ll

           Mac Flecknoe ll

                                     Nidhu Bhusan Das

            

            God knows how Dryden would react after Poet Sushil Sarkar of Rupsapur had received the DLit from Rupsa University on the recommendation of the Education Minister who knows how a pseudo communist can be broken in and exposed. Had there been a Dryden to write a reaction to the Award, we could have ‘Mac Flecknoe ll’ in our reading list.

            Every intellectual in Rupsapur knows for certain how great a poet Mr. Sarkar is. His wife Chandrika Roygupta was, many say, a better poet. She was not considered for a posthumous DLit to their astonishment. Whatever be it, we shouldn’t have any doubt now after the Award that Mr. Sarkar shouldn’t be considered a poetaster any more.

         What is intriguing is what will happen to the restoration of the communist order in the country of poets and poetry if the Marxists lose for ever talents like Sushil Sarkar.It’s understandable Mr. Sarkar has genuine cause for grievance. Perhaps he was in his right to hope for the position of the Poet Laureate which he was denied. He hoped for it till the day the Marxists were dethroned which astonished even this wise poet who sang paean to his former patrons till their last day in power. It was beyond his capacity to understand that the actions in Tingur and Kandigram marked the swansong of his long time masters. Well, to err is human. Wise people like Mr. Sarkar have the ability to correct the error, so he is now with his present masters. Socrates and Galileo were, indeed, unwise if we compare them with the wise men like Mr. Sarkar of our Rupsapur. So were Pablo Neruda of Chile and Mangalacharan Chatterjee who Translated Neruda for Bengali readers.

      It’s always wise to play safe for awards and recognition and be with those who have the power to reward. Now we may expect Mr. Sarkar’s poems will appear in the school text books of Rupsapur for children to read, learn and be enlightened.

Dog-eater of Kolkata

Dog-eater of Kolkata

                 

                                       Nidhu Bhusan Das

            When Mr. Bidesh Bhattacharyya, Prof.Sushil Sarkar et al had a sumptuous feast of beef on the street of Kolkata, the moving statue of the Queen atop the Victoria Memorial could have an occasion to snigger. So what! It’s the demonstration of their being secularists par excellence. They’re so concerned about the Intolerance in India today! Being tired after organizing and participating in the media-oriented show, they’re so tired that their eyes cannot but be under lids for rest in a convenient slumber.So, they’re really unaware that some suspected ISI agents have been arrested in the City of Culture. We must think secularism could be safe and protected only under the guardianship of these wonderful people.

       Mr. Bhattacharyya might have heard from a journalist friend the stock definition of news: “When a dog bites a man, it is not news, when man bites a dog, it is news.” So, after the histrionics of beef-feast and encouraged by the wide media coverage of the great event, he said he would even eat the meat of dog. Mr. Bhattacharyya is known for his sobriety and humility. The definition is a cliché but to the erudite gentleman it is a novelty which he should not fail to use to grab headlines.

        A gang of naughty boys once found it a great fun to hurl stones at the frogs in a pond. The sport of the boys was the cause of peril for the amphibians. So, it is said, what is fun to the boys is death to the frogs. Maybe, Mr. Bhattacharyya did not know about the plight of the insignificant creatures. But the street dogs of the City of Joy who knew it , were upset and looking for new shelter beyond the reach of the potential dog-eater. We do not know how Mr. Jim Corbett would react had he been there to learn about the desire of the secular omnivore.We,perhaps, need to have people like Mr. Bhattacharyya to safeguard secularism and secure ecological balance.