Bizarre incidents surprise us now and then. I often wonder life would have had no color had there been no offbeat happenings that evoke awe and amusement. One such took place in the city yesterday. It all started when a petty thief after successfully snatching a gold necklace from an old lady was caught by […]
Minneapolis bridge disaster
It takes the breadth away. The collapse of the Interstate 35W (I-35W) over the Mississippi river is so total that it resembles as if there has been an earthquake. The scene of the collapse reminds me of similar destruction caused by the Great Hanshin earthquake or the Kobe earthquake in Japan in January 1995 (see […]
Hits and misses
The magic of online voting recently engulfed the collective imagination of over 100 million voters across the world to select what is termed as “The New 7 Wonders Of The World”. In India we have a wonder, the Taj Mahal, and thanks to constant reminders by television channels in the countdown to final announcement and […]
Tale of secrets
In his forthcoming book, Kaoboys of RAW – Down Memory Lane, author B Raman, a former bureaucrat in the Cabinet Secretariat, writes that during Indira Gandhi’s reign, the CIA, conscious of her distrust of US activities, could lay hands on sensitive documents through the French intelligence agency that successfully penetrated the Prime Minister’s Office. Raman […]
If Mumbai gets it, why not Kolkata?
After 2 subsequent years’ deluge brought Mumbai to the knees, the authorities there have recently asked for and granted Rs.1500 crore by the center to improve its drainage facilities. The mandarins at Kolkata thought if Mumbai is given the largesse, why not the center blesses Kolkata too with similar attention! After all, the city can […]
Howrah Station going vertical?
Howrah is often called Kolkata’s twin. There is however less similarity between the two except chaos, which is way above the standard that Kolkata maintains. A city is best reflected at places where many people come and go. Howrah Station, rather its chaotic outside, is a prime example of urban decay that the city suffers […]
Fire and after
A place caught in fire is tragic and unfortunate. More often than not, it causes untold misery to people who are directly affected. Something of that sort crossed my mind when the broadband service went kaput late afternoon yesterday because of massive fire at Telephone Bhavan. I curse the fact that Telephone Bhavan stands of […]
Time for burgling
Kolkata Police’s records show the number of burglary increases manifold during monsoon. A steady downpour like the one in the last week means that people are forced to spend indoors, and there is slack in vigil. If the rain is heavy, the constant drumming drowns the sound of breaking locks. It also helps the thieves […]
Another makeover
Kolkata Musing has been consistently about events that stir – to my understanding of them – the imagination of Kolkattans. In course of time I realized that it is humanly impossible to cover all the ‘soul-stirring’ events as they occur because it’s only that much I can write on as is possible with my 2 […]
Court sees answer scripts
Picture this. A Uchcha Madhyamik (Higher Secondary) examinee, Debapriya Sengupta, fails in all her science subjects, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics in this year’s exam, yet ranks 1700 in Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The strange dichotomy is so glaring that it required the High Court to actually examine the answer scripts. On Debapriya’s seeking justice, […]
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