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In the days of Ray, Ghatak, Sen, and Tapan Sinha, Bengali cinema was the forerunner of the Indian film industry. Later came Goutam Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Rituparno Ghosh and Aparna Sen. Their films made a mark on the history of Indian cinema, and were justifiably favourites at the National Awards. Then there were films by Kaushik Ganguly, Suman Ghosh, Anjan Dutt, Sandip Ray, and Srijit Mukherjee, again very relevant and topical, universal in nature. Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, the darlings of middle-road cinema, made some gems like Icchhe, Ramdhanu and Bela Seshe, that catered to middle-class sensibilities while addressing universal themes. Now, I believe, Bengali film makers have run out of ideas. Let's not even talk of commercial Bengali flicks that are blatant rip-offs of South movies. I am talking of middle-of-the road Bangla cinema. Recent offerings like Chhaya o Chhobi, Drishtikone, Haami, Uma, Ghare & Baire, Abaar Ashbo Phire, Cockpit, Amazon Obhi...

The world over these days, beauty contests for women are pretending to be contests for judging the overall personality of the contestant, not just external appearance and vital statistics. If that is the case, then why do they have the rather blatantly-titillating swimsuit round, may I ask? If a lady is not being judged for her vital statistics, then why is she made to strut around in a teeny-weenie bikini, and pose with a pout for the judges and cameras?  Why does it matter whether she stuns the audience in a strapless figure-hugging evening gown, balancing herself on inch-long stilettos, or not?  If her final answer is what determines whether she ultimately wins the title or not, then why the rigmarole of parading her in various kinds of provocative clothing? I failed to understand the double standards of these contests, and also of winners (think our local Aishwarya Rai or Priyanka Chopra) who seem be deep thinkers on world issues, judging by their answers. Why d...

There are films on patriotism, and there is a film like #Raazi. Shot in the thriller format, this is an edge-of-the-seat entertainer with a heart. And what raises it's level many notches higher than the ordinary patriotism-spouting Hindi film, is the deft and sensitive direction and acting. The most important takeaway from the film is the view that most people are essentially good; their motivations may come from wrong purposes or bad politics. #Raazi depicts the life of an Indian girl - Sehmat, who is married to a Pakistani army major, with the specific purpose of spying on them and supplying vital information for the Indian government during the 1971 pre-war stage. But nowhere does the film accuse or point fingers at any one. Characters from both sides of the border are shown as credible human beings, no matter what their nationality is. In fact, the ending makes us veer more towards the devastated major, who had come to genuinely love and respect Sehmat. The fact that Sehma...

Much has been written about how the Indian education system is hopelessly out of times and needs to be changed drastically. Its another matter that whenever some radical change is introduced, parents and schools are the first ones to protest. Like the time when CBSE made Higher Secondary  Board exams optional, parents of teenage children were up in arms. Why such a move? What about standardized exam system? Why continuous assessment of students, etc.etc. Currently, the CBSE proposal to make sports compulsory in classes 9-12 is similarly being hotly debated, and given a thumbs down by most Indian parents.  So what do Indian parents really want? To stuff their children with as much academic knowledge as possible, in the hope of making them mathematical or scientific wizards, or brilliant historians, economists or geologists? Or to make them successful politicians by teaching everything that is there to be learnt in political science? Coming to political science, the way ...

"India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and am proud of its heritage....." This has been a pledge we have all taken in school. Sadly, recent events have shown how few Indians actually believe in this pledge. We have seen such ghastly acts of rape in recent days, that as an Indian my head hangs in shame. Perpetrators of the most gruesome crimes against children and women walk free and escape imprisonment on flimsy grounds. How can I be proud of my country where women and children are constantly living in fear? And more appalling is the polarization of people on religious and political grounds, and worse, their justification of such inhuman incidents with "When such an incident happened before, why were such protests not organized?" or "It is a conspiracy to malign our great country." Like really? What great country? If such incidents of rape, acid attack, sodomy, child abuse, incest take place on a regular,...

Rani Mukherji, as a teacher, raises some vital questions regarding education and teaching in her latest Hindi film, Hichki. Though the film is about a teacher afflicted with Tourette Syndrome, it goes beyond discussing her handicap to talk about the barriers and restrictions we ("so- called normal people") have in our minds that hold us back. As a teacher struggling to normalize of a batch of under-privileged, unruly, sidelined kids, she challenges our educational system time and again. First, why do we, as teachers and as parents, lay so much stress on teaching the same old syllabus in the same old manner?? Who says learning can't be fun? Why go around the beaten path only, and drone on and on about formulae and theories in physics, maths, chemistry? Why not imagine creative situations where these theories can be demonstrated, exemplified, and therefore ingrained in the mind? Two, every child is unique and has some inborn talent. Just because he/she doesn't...

A recent news article in the Times of India revealed that almost 50% academic positions in India's higher learning institutes are lying vacant!! Imagine what it means to the quality of education and research? No wonder we are happy churning out routine mediocre workers, not thought leaders and innovators.  Despite such a wide gap in the availability and demand of qualified teaching professionals, the governing authority - University Grants Commission still imposes outdated restrictions on who can be appointed as teaching faculty in its affiliated colleges and institutes. I had successfully cleared the UGC-NET examination way back in 2014, but have been denied NET certificate till date. Why? Simply because I chose as my subject Labour Laws and Personnel Management, and not English (my graduation subject). With experience in HR and training and requisite diplomas, I love to teach these subjects, and hence wanted to clear my NET for further opportunities. However, no amount of ...