'Covid or no Covid, I knew I had made the right decision (calls from my bank to extend the much touted loans offered by Ms Sitharaman, notwithstanding),' says Keya Sarkar.
Never have I been so thankful for my decision to quit my life in Mumbai and shift to Santiniketan as I have been in these times of the coronavirus.
'I wonder how much of the guilt do I bear for having started off the cycle in the first place by giving her a job,' says Keya Sarkar.
Prodded by Mamata Banerjee, Keya Sarkar updates her voter card only to discover...
'Despite many advising me otherwise saying "nothing will come of it", I refused to be cynical and dialled the number that had been staring at me from billboards aross the state,' reports Keya Sarkar.
We had managed to unshackle another youngster from the chains of buzzwords, says Keya Sarkar.
'I know margins are under pressure, but have banks begin to stoop so low to enhance their floats or slip in strange charges?' asks Keya Sarkar.
'I wondered how one could impart training to grown men to not lie,' notes Keya Sarkar.
'My curiosity remained regarding what predominantly middle class Bengalis who frequent my shop do with so many wooden trays,' says Keya Sarkar.
While everyone raves about the joys of the monsoons, Keya Sarkar is not as enthusiastic.
The cycle rickshaws have been replaced by battery-run 'totos'. These 'totos' strangely are not registered with the regional transport authority but by the strange rules of West Bengal administration are 'empanelled' with the ruling party, says Keya Sarkar.
Tagore had a song for every occasion. Perhaps one of his songs on greed could become the anthem for the once hallowed Visva Bharati, says Keya Sarkar.
'Much as I have been enjoying the anti-GST jokes on WhatsApp and also worrying about the economy in a tailspin in more serious moments, there is a tiny part of me that is thankful to Modi and Jaitley,' notes Keya Sarkar.
Keya Sarkar outlines some of the challenges faced by a low-income father determined to educate his daughter.
'As it coiled around the stick and the gardener started to walk out, our house help kept reminding him about the fact that Russell's Vipers jump and can jump towards you.'
For Keya Sarkar it HAD TO BE a Maruti because that was the only company with a service centre in Santiniketan. Until even that ceased to exist.
While the standards of Visva Bharati University fall, the chief minister of West Bengal fantasises about a Biswa Bangla University a few kilometres away. Keya Sarkar ponders the sad state of affairs.
Bereft of options when Keya Sarkar arrives at a charitable eye hospital in Santiniketan she is pleasantly surprised -- not just by the building but also by the patience of the tribals who await their turn and the overburdened doctors.
Bereft of options when Keya Sarkar arrives at a charitable eye hospital in Santiniketan she is pleasantly surprised -- not just by the building but also by the patience of the tribals who await their turn and the overburdened doctors.
Knowing Rabindranath Tagore's dedication to aesthetics and simplicity, Keya Sarkar wonders what he would have thought of the modern-day commemorations organised in his honour.
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