The Bengalee sense of humour is much older than that of the now materialistically-developed Western civilization (classical knowledge and wisdom travelled from the East to the West; now in the 21st century there is reversal of the sine wave: relocation from the West back to the East). Now both the West and the East have to meet and live together, in this squeezed global village. In the hot tropics, BO [body odour] is present in epidemic form; hence the daily bath--we have to patronise our 300-plus rivers! A land overflowing with the bounties of Nature--don't blame the Begums.
There is a keen sense of wit, humour, satire, irony in our politics, which baffle the distinguished foreign analysts. It is more, and deeper, than the antics of the two Honourable Begums, who had been playing “ludo” with our fate. The hot question being asked today everywhere is why do we put up with the sort of third class political governance, where the systems losses are very high, and corrupt practices are encouraged or overlooked?
We have a soft golden heart. The brain shines in pure white [some think in black using grey matter], but we are rather ruled by the heart than by the head. Too soft inside, with a great deal of tolerance, and ability to absorb misdemeanours.
This casualness in disciplined life-style is not working in today's fast global village--the IT bug. Nothing can be kept secret. The era of the flowing saree, dhoti, and jowar bhata is gone [note the chador, alwan on wintry nights]. The younger people are seen in tight jeans and T shirts.
We are not nationalistic enough? What about the Language Movement sacrifices, compelling the UN to announce the Mother Language Day on Feb. 21?
Luckily, now we are aware of our international shortcomings. We have brought in an incisive caretaker government, to tie up the loose ends. There is leakage when there are overflows--it shows our generosity, perhaps.