Ratan Tata’s open letter

Ratan Tata's open letter to the youth of West Bengal to choose between modern infrastructure and lawlessness. The letter showed how much Mr Tata a many of very few words was hurt in being forced to movie out of West Bengal. The Tatas did not say goodbye to the sate happily after having invested close to Rs1500 crores in what would have been a engineering marvel to roll out of a state infamous for bringing industries to a standstill.

Expectedly the letter met with severe criticism from the Mamata Banerjee and her party members. After chasing the Tatas away she has kept a low profile in Bengal and demanded a judicial enquiry into the Batla House encounter in Delhi. What a leader who crushes the dreams of thousands of youth in her own state under her meaningless ego and political beliefs and then rubbishes the sacrifice of a police officer who laid down his life for the sake of the nation.

Mamata Banerjee might have forgotten a that the Constitution of Indian bestows every Indian citizen with 'Freedom of Speech'. She challenged Ratan Tata to come and contest elections. No doubt she proved her insane self in throwing up this challenge to Mr Tata. He is an industrialist who brings in development to the nation and not a mindless politician like many in Trinamool Congress are. Ratan Tata can contest elections if he wants but can our Mamata set up industries and create jobs? She can halt them for sure.

Tatas have always done their business ethically and have been instrumental in development of the places where they have operated from. Personally I happened to witness the difference between the Tatas and the others in the tea gardens of Assam. As a part of our Mass Communication course we had to make a documentary and we chose the tea gardens of Assam. Most of the gardens we visited lacked the basic necessities like proper sanitation, drinking water, roads but to our sheer surprise the garden maintained by the Tatas were a startling contrast to the other gardens having elementary schools, good roads and medical facilities.

One of my close friends has the habit of chatting with people across the world. On conversation with a Brazalian boy he was asked what did he know about Brazil, my friend replied football, samba dance and pretty girls. When my friend asked him what did he know about India he replied Taj Mahal and Tata. Such is the aura of the company whom some super intelligent fellows chased out of West Bengal.

Tatas are gone and we have grieved enough and now its time to think ahead. Perhaps in his exit Ratan Tata has given some clues as to what the people of the state especially the youth have to do in the near future. As for the mindless politicians in the state I hope the next parliamentary elections puts them where actually the belong to. Thanks Mr. Tata even in your exit you showed us a way.

Calcutta to Kolkata: The joy still remains

The entire tourism industry is saying 'Look East' and what better place to visit than the 'City of Joy' Calcutta or modern man's Kolkata. A city which has something to offer to everyone from history to rich literature, music and most importantly an everlasting joyous environment. The erstwhile capital of British India Kolkata was once regarded as the ' Jewel of the East'

The modern day Kolkata is city fast changing metropolis but unlike other mega cities the old and the new have a symbiotic coexistence here. From Victoria Memorial to the river bank across Hoogly, Kolkata is a travellers delight. The ever romantic ride in a tram leaves a mesmerising impression on the mind of any visitor to the city. Some of the must visit spots in the city are:

Victoria Memorial
Victoria Memorial is perhaps the most renowned landmark of the city, a monument people in the city swear by. This magnificent structure was designed by Sir William Emerson in 1921. Victoria Memorial is regarded as one of the finest art museums in the world.

Birla Planetarium
The second largest planetarium in India the Birla Planetarium Kolkata was built in 1962. It is the centre of the space science, technology and communication. Astronomical shows are a must see here providing information about the solar system, galaxies, space, planets, life span of stars.

Nicco Park
Kolkata's own version of the Disneyland this amusement park provides a modern touch to the classical city. Situated in the northern part of the city it attract lots of youngsters everyday . One of the biggest attractions in this amusement park is the River Cave Ride.

Fort William
Situated at the banks of the river Hoogli it is named after King William III of England. It was established during the tenure of British Raj in 1696. It has served as the seat of military power from the time of the British Raj and is currently the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army.

National Library
The largest library in the country it is situated in a 30 acre estate. It was established in the year 1836 and houses a collection of more than 1000000 books making it one of the largest libraries in the world. The library is currently digitising most of its rare books and journals.

Howrah Bridge
A rare cantilever bridge on the river Hoogli in 1874 after which even a movie is named. Considered to be one of the busiest bridges in the world it connects Howrah to Kolkata. Rechristened as Rabindra Setu the 270 feet high bridge sees more than a hundred thousand vehicles pass under it everyday.

Hospitality
Kolkata has hotels and restaurants for every pocket. The city has some of the best hotels in Eastern India including Taj Bengal, Hayat Regency, Oberoi, Grand, Lytton and Hindustan International. Other than these there are hundreds of budget hotel and lodges around the city catering to thousands of people arriving at this magnificent city everyday.

Kolkata is a place to eat and Bengalis take pride in their cuisine. The taste here varies from a variety of fish curries to the rosogolla, sandesh and sweet curd. The city also has great eateries like Kewpie's Kitchen, Tung Fong, Arsalan, and Tamarind which serve mouth watering dishes. A must visit would be Aminia and Shiraz famous for their biriyani. The street food in Kolkata can be just defined a awesome.

Aviation
Kolkata is connected via flight from all major hubs in India and the world. The Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport serves as a major transit point to the countries in far east. It is located 17kms from the central business district of the city. It connects Kolkata to 26 destinations in the domestic sector and 14 international destinations.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is carrying a major face-lift of the airport and building a fourth terminal in it. The modernisation plan also include the lengthening of the runways for bigger jets like Airbus A380 to land at the airport. Recently the airport has been linked by a suburban railway system connecting it to major parts of the city. The airport currently has a capacity to handle 350 flights per day.

Some of the surrounding tourist destinations around Kolkata are Bandel, Sreerampur, Dakshineswar Kali Bari and Chandannagar. Kolkata today is fast changing but the fact remains the 'City of Joy' still has something to offer to everyone.

Mamata scripts Bengal's biggest loss

What a puja it was for West Bengal and the entire Bengali community. After all the drama Ratan Tata decided to pull out of West Bengal proving who had the power to decide. Mamata Banerjee on her part scripted the biggest loss in West Bengal's recent history. It is ironical that she did not live upto the meaning of her name which means 'mother's love'. There was a time when she was looked up as a selfless politician but she has rather proved to be a cat among the pigeons. The truth is today she eyes the Writers more than she cares about the farmers of Singur.

Ratan Tata had earlier warned that any industry cannot run under 24 hour police protection and if the situation on the ground is not normal he will be forced to pull out. So he did just when the entire state was gearing for the biggest festival Mr. Tata gave the final blow. The entire state was left shell shocked and the politicians on both sides were short of words.

The best joke of the entire event came from the Singur MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya belonging to the TMC who said they did not want the Tatas to leave Singur. Then why did he join the meaningless protest. Was he trying to script his way into a Tollywood movie facing the news reels everyday. People like Mr Rabindranath Bhattacharya fell sorry not for the farmers but for themselves as they made a lots of quick bucks supplying building materials to the erstwhile Nano plant.

The land that was taken from the farmers is not suitable to agriculture and so most of the farmers have lost literally everything. The thousands of educated youngsters of the state who were looking up at this project are heartbroken. The labourers and the workers employed at the Nano plant have turned jobless overnight. All because of a failed politician who wanted to revive her doomed political career at the cost of the state's development

As far as Mamata's CV is concerned she has been a 'big talk' politician all her life. People should not forget how she almost brought the Indian Railways to a halt while she was the Railway Minister. The same Indian railways is making huge profits under a surprising candidate Laloo Prasad Yadav. Mamata's dream of becoming chief minister of the state can only bring catastrophe to West Bengal

The big question that arises is in all this who has emerged as the winner. Surprisingly its a man by the name of Narendra Modi who has got one more jewel in his crown in his already industrialized Gujarat. Perhaps Mamata should have judged the importance of this projects from the politicians of other states who were in a rat race to get this project in their home state. Modi for now is surely in the steering wheel of the engineering marvel.

Now with the Tatas gone and Bengal's re-industrialization dream dented chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya will have to look of other potential investors. Perhaps the only sign of hope came from him when he said the war is not over yet. As for the people of West Bengal they will have to decide the fate of people like Mamata Banerjee who have the potential to take the state back to the stone age.