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PORNOGRAPHY @ WORK PLACE

2012-02-09T12:54:00.000+05:30

With proliferation of pornography in printed and visual media, we believe large section of people are 'attached' to pornography. Problem arises when one gets addicted. Addiction is an attraction that compels a person to do what his his/her boby/mind is craving for , notwithstanding the situation around.

How Pornography addiction affect people is evident from two reports in TOI dtd. 9/2/12. 1st report covers ministers in Karnataka and the 2nd one covers a clerk of a London court.
The details of the 1st case is here :

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2012/02/09&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00101&ViewMode=HTML

It is quite a well known case to-day - lot of sound has already made in TV and newspaper during last 48hours. It is the 2nd one that attracted my notice - Majumder , the Court clerk was caught by the Judge who was sitting behind him while the court was in session. How addicted the person must have been that he was viewing pornography during a rape trial !

The link and the details are here :

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIKM/2012/02/09&PageLabel=16&EntityId=Ar01607&ViewMode=HTML

Indian caught watching porn during rape trial in UK

London: An Indian-origin court clerk, who was caught watching pornography right under the nose of a judge during a rape trial, has said he did so “because he was bored’’.
    Debasish Majumder, 54, accessed obscene images of topless women being gagged and couples engaged in sexual acts while the victim gave her harrowing evidence at Inner London Crown Court, the court was told. The judge, who was sitting behind him, caught him. Majumder, who had worked at Inner London Crown Court, later admitted routinely watching porn during the trials.
    “Majumder was working as a court clerk at Inner London and his conduct was an abuse of his position. It was quite clear that he viewed porn sites on his court computer whilst the court was engaged in the conduct of a trial on an allegation of rape,” prosecutor, Annabel Darlow, said.
    A police probe into the incident found pornography searches in the history of Majumder’s work computer and child and extreme pornography images on his home computer. ANI

This report reminded me of a friend of mine in a class-room, very likely of Electrical Technology , at IIT, Kharagpur during 1960s. Well, internet was not even our dream , but, hardcore pornography was. My friend was reading a book - what was known as 'pondi' in IITian's terminology - while our Professor was trying to make us understand difficult to curves and formula..... I do not recollect much, but do remember the 'boy's' name. It may not be proper for me to mention his name here - but, I know he has become a 'professional' priest in a far-away country !

AT THE BALLYGUNGE RESIDENCE OF SUPRIYO SEN

2007-02-09T22:11:00.000+05:30

Supriyo came to Calcutta during the 3rd week of January,07. He wrote to me earlier.Many other friends from IIT, Kharagpur knew of his availability, but, catching him and meeting him in a group was not easy. Dates, the group composition and venues changed. Finally, we had a very enjoyable get-together... a dinner party.... at his place on 3rd February,07.

Sitting : From L2R, Shyamal,Suman,Swapan.
Standing : From L2R,Supriyo and Tapan.

Indrajit Bhownmick and his wife, Subhadra were in Calcutta during this time too.An opportunity to contact eluded me.

Let me come back to the get-together at Supriyo's place.Masima arranged for a wonderful dinner. We met Suman Dasgupta and Chitralekha , Swapan Roy and his wife , Diptendu Chakrabarty, Supriyo's neighbour in Calcutta and Canada and Raja Sen, a noticeably quiet cousin of Supriyo.

Diptendu was a very interesting person to meet..... his description of the 'rituals' following the death of a typical Indian person in Canada ..... well !! I shall remember this anecdote for long.

When I was at Burnpur last month, Tapan Hazra told me that if the get-together with Supriyo could be held on 2nd/3rd February,07, he and Neepa would join us in Calcutta , if we manage a date around 2nd/3rd Feb. Supriyo and Tapan met after 38 years , first time after leaving Kgp...... likewise , Swapan and I met after a equally long time.

The evening ended close to mid-night. I carried my lap-top where I created a show of photographs I collected over the years ... starting with those I took during the marriage party of the elder daughter of Indrajit Bhowmick and the ones I received from Swapan Hazra when he visited Kgp couple of year ago during an alumni meet !

Sitting: L to R :Neepa,Ruby,Chittralekha and Mrs Roy. Standing : L to R :Supriyo,Suman, Tapan,Shyamal and Swapan.

Masima enjoyed this intrusion to her normally quiet house . She personally supervised the preparation of a very well laid-out and sumptuous dinner.We learnt that there were a series of get-togethers at her place as Supriyo invited many friends ,their wives and relatives at their residence. And , she was enjoying every moment of it !! :-)) Her team did not show the strain and deserve a special mention!!

This photo of Masima was taken when the excesses were being removed.

After quite a few weeks of absence...

2007-02-03T00:35:00.000+05:30

Since I visited Biman's (Biman Sarkar) house at Salt Lake in Sept.,'06 , collected a no of copies of Alankar ( of which he was an editor) and his recent photo, I have not done enough for keeping this site fed with regular postings.The copies of Alankar deserve better deal !!

..))

October,06 to January,07 ....... the months of absence had untimely rains and floods, a very wet DurgaPuja, a rather noisy Deepavali , preparation for retirement on 31/12/06, a busy Dec-Jan family situation and two outings.

December-January in Calcutta are the months for heightened social activities..... marriages, painting and photographic exhibitions, visits of relatives and friends from abroad and the ensuing get-togethers. I had Dr Sri and his family at our place,missed at least two dinner parties, attended the marriage of Amitava Lahiri's younger daughter ,visited Tapan at Burnpur and would meet Supriyo tomorrow at his Calcutta residence.

There will be more photographs in this page for our friends to enjoy!!

VISIT TO TAPAN HAZRA's BUNGALOW @BURNPUR

2007-02-02T23:46:00.000+05:30

Tapan was my neighbour at RK Hall during 3rd and 4th year. We have remained in touch with each other through our service life.He never left Asansol/Burnpur as he spent his entire professional life at IISCO till he retired from this Organisaton last month.

An invitation to spend a day or two at his sprawling bungalow before he would move out to his own accommodation was a tempting offer.When my elder son visited us this Dec/Jan during his vacation , we drove down to his place with my family including our lab.

We spent two nights at his place. During the day in between we went to Panchkot at Purulia.... nearby places with small hills , dirt roads , lots of tal trees, temples and historical ruins. Had a nice picnic under the shade of a giant tree.

The three pictures in this blog show a group photo of ours (from L to R ..... tapan's wife Neepa,me,Tapan and Ruby, my wife) ,our picnic at Panchkot where Babai , my elder son and Pajo, Tapan's younger son were present and the sunrise through the trees of tapan's bungalow.

A NOTE I RECEIVED FROM Dr SRI BANDO DURING OCTOBER,'06

2006-10-15T12:15:00.000+05:30

This is an extract from Dr Bando's e-mail on his teaching style . Here he acknowledge his debt to our Institute's teachers.

'....Thought my IIT friends will like to know that the teaching style I learnt from my IIT teachers has proved valuable in my teaching at UNSW : Please do not misunderstand me - I am not placing this for my own advertisement, rather pleading that it is what students do need in addition to good lecture materials.

The latest teaching appraisal conducted by my Head of School came up with the following results :

Dr Sri Bandyopadhyay : MATS3574 Polymer Eng 2 S-2 2006 : 4th year * Bando gives students a sense of pride in their work, teaches ethics & other personal traits totally ignored by other lecturers.

Dr Sri Bandyopadhyay…MATS3443 Polymer Sci & Eng S-1 2006- 3rd yr * .....It is safe to say he’s most students favorite lecturer. Rather than looking for the brightest students, he tries to bring everyone up to a higher level"

Very good Dr Bando. Please do write a few more lines on your teaching style. Add a couple of anecdotes or an interesting story or two about your relationship with students.

A PHOTOGRAPH FROM Dr SRI BANDO

2006-10-06T21:15:00.000+05:30

Many of us know Dr Sri Bando well. He stays in Australia with his wife Sonali , daughters Indrani, Rakhi,Srijata and son Kanchan.
Sri is an academician. All his e-mails will have this signature :

School of Materials Science and Engineering
University of New South Wales
Sydney 2052, Australia

He is a very good singer too. I have attended a function he arranged last year at Taj Bengal, Calcutta. It was great !! You can find his songs at :
private URL : www.mp3.com.au/Bandythesingingprofessor/

Sri has sent a photo of his family which I share with the readers of this blog . In this photo, we see Sri , Sonali,Rakhi and Srijata.

TWO INTERESTING PHOTOGRAPHS _ ALUMNI MEET @2003

2006-10-02T10:30:00.000+05:30

AN INTERESTING PHOTO :

AND NOW TRY TO MATCH THE BETTER HALVES :

SATYEN'S POEM IN BENGALI SCRIPT

2006-10-02T09:43:00.000+05:30

It is not always easy to write and paste in a blog site. I wrote down 'charti_dashak' in bengali scrript and scanned it ... but two attempts to paste it in the previouspost in the right place failed.

Hence , in the morning of dashami, I am trying to paste it again.

Ok .. fine . The pasting operation is successful.

Shuva Bijaya.

A POEM FROM SATYENDU SANAYAL'S ARCHIVE.

2006-09-29T00:11:00.000+05:30

This poem has a history.

On 20/9/06, Satyen sent this poem in roman script to my e-mail address as a contribution to this blog-site.It was written months ago. Probably years. I requested Satyen for a translation and a scanned copy of the transcript written in bengali, in his handwriting. The second did not happen ....the translationis here. The scanned copy of the poem, in Bengali script , I am afraid, is to be done by me.Here is the old text :

Ramapada-r shawngey gonta-gunti-te kichu kobita beroy. Nimnokto-ti shei rawkom. Likhey mowney holo eta pothitobyo, tai pathalam. "Ekbar nakshatra-r paney cheye, ekbar bedona-r paney" chhaya podechhey, shawmvaboto idaning kar mrityu-r jonno. P&S. Satyen.

Char-ti dawshok agey jey shawb balok-e /
Asposhsto swapno hatey hentechhilo Hijlee-r pathey /
Jeebon sayahney eshey bishonno alokey /
Mookh dyakhey paraspar, hat rakhey hatey /
Swapner awlpoi ar aboshishto achhey /
Mayabee alok tobu dekey nyay kachhey /
Abortito jeebon-er klanti, rawkto, swed /
Moochhey feley uthey ashey ashchorjo nirbed /
Kromo.bawrdhoman brittey amader lekha /
Ateet smritee te moda bhobitawbyo.rekha /
Amogh awnter agey ki gopon tan-e /
Tuley dharey sthir.chitro amader praney //

Now , we have the Engish translation of this poem , taken out of the old mail . The issue of ownership of the contents old letters stimulated a lot of exchanges between friends. A part of that also can be retained in this blog site.

STAYING CONNECTED

All those young adolescent boys
Who, under four decade old skies
Filled Hijlee streets with noise
With nebulous dreams in their eyes
Are gathered now in this twilight
Of life's autumnal haze, a soft hue.
Seeking familiar faces in their sight,
Yearning again for a friendship true.
Those old dreams, alas, have faded away
But lingering memories hold their sway.
Amid evolving patterns of our lives ~
Grown up children and aging wives,
‘Staying Connected’ is a marvellous boon.
Old age blues cleared by our ‘High Noon’.
Before the curtain falls and we bid adieu
Let old friendships be rekindled anew.

Indore,
23rd September, 2006

PULAK DHAR _ RK HALL , Electronics Dept

2006-09-19T18:28:00.000+05:30

Pulak was my friend since we became neighbours in 1963. He had a wonderful collection of Rabindrasangeet which he still has with him in Canada.
I came in touch with him , after ages, through internet.... through the letters and jokes which circulate among IITians.
His family's photo graph , taken in november, 2006 is here:

I give below an extract from a letter I wrote to Pulak after my family relocated to Calcutta in December, 2003. A little of reminiscence .... smriticharana. And a little bit of my feelings during relocation. This situation will be known to many of us , who whave relocated after retirement or got themselves transferred during the last leg of working life.Please read on :

"Back to smriticharana. I remember your being fond of Dwijen and Sumitra Sen. In fact, you were the first person I came across who a collection of Sumitra’s songs………… I used to be very fond of Suchitra Mitra’s rendering of ‘Likhon tomar dhulay hoyechhe dhuli’ , did Dwijen also had a record of this song in the ‘60s ? I remember you had a record-player - did I hear Dwijen’s ‘ Ganer jharnatalay’ for the first time in your player ? You will remember – I cannot match your memory regarding IIT hostel days. And – yes , I had a transistor set by GEC . Sound was good. Did you have a good collection of Debabrata ? Akashbhara suryatara and Achhe dukhkha are the two numbers I remember. Esechhile tabu aso nai ? I can still visualise patay patay bindu bindu jhare jal .

Smrti ar bartaman baro jhagra karey.
Bhuleo giyechhi kato katha..
Jegulo mane achhe, segulo bekar .
Majar katha – bartamane ja ja bhuli,
Seguli baroi kajer ar darkari!

Calcutta, like all other metropolitan cities in India, is divided in two sections. Bharat & India.
Indian part is fab. New houses, shopping mall, entertainment ‘system’ , big housing complex -- one section of society will have them. The poorer section will crowd footpaths, jaywalk among honking cars and will shit as close to your ‘castle’ as possible. Bihar and Bangladesh will export their poverty to Calcutta for years to come – to the swelling milieu of “Bharat’."

Amitava Lahiri... RK Hall, Chem Engg.

2006-09-17T12:11:00.000+05:30

This was four years ago. I went to Amitava's place at Serampore on my way back from a tour .This is how Amitava looked like in 2002.

I have visited Amitava's plce many times since we met each other in IIT's hostel. He is famililiar among his friends as "Bhutu". The most memorable of these visits is the one when we went for a boat-ride on the Ganges in the evening of a Bijaya ... that was during seventies. Both Ruby , my wife and Indrani , Bhutu's wife were with us. The Puja festival was ending with immersion of devi pratima. The experience is still etched in my mind.

This is Indrani's photo taken when I visited their place in 2002.

ANNAPURNA DEVI --- SATYEN , SUMAN ar BANDO

2006-09-17T10:28:00.000+05:30

Well , Satyen again. He circulated a big article on Annapurna Devi on 1st Sunday of Sept,'06.

The serious guys have read it and advised me publish the following :

Satyen,
Ha, ha. great. You have succeeded well in confusing everybody. How about a little more on Brahmanbaria links?
In the process, however, we should not forget Shyamal's BLOG requirements.
Till the confusion gets cleared, Sri's statement can appear there - say, on a provisional basis at least. Clarifications/amendments can always get added later. Sri may consider.
Suman.

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 SSanyal@tatainternational.com wrote :
Awjana toththo nischoi bitawron kawra ucheet.
But I'm a bit confused. Baba had been a court musician at Maihar for ages.As such Annapoorna Devi should rightly be claimed by Maihar, having been brought up there. Her being from Uttorpara is somewhat like our feeling good if Nora Jones succeeds since she was fathered by Ravi Shankar.
Also the dates are conflicting. Baba had started the Maihar Band ( with orphaned children ) at the request of the Rajah in 1918. Which means he was well entrenched in Maihar by that time. Annapoorna Devi ( actually christened Roshan Ara ) was born in 1926 and married in 1940 and had a son born in 1942.How Uttorpara can claim her is a mystery to me. Baba being an original resident of Brahmanbaria ( now in Bangladesh),I would feel that Brahmanbaria would have a more legitimate claim. Unless Baba's wife was from Uttorpara ( I've no dope on this eloquently named Madanmanjari Devi ). But then don't we remember Annapoorna Devi as her father's daughter rather than her mother's ?

On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 Sri Bandyopadhyay wrote :
Perhaps one thing Satyendu - others may not know,Annapurna Devi, I was told some 20 years ago, that she comes from my hometown i.e. Uttarpara [ opposite Dakhineshwar].
Srikanto

ANOTHER NOTE FROM SATYENDU SANAYAL

2006-08-15T19:15:00.000+05:30

WHEN I INVITED SATYENDU TO VISIT THIS SITE , HE WROTE :

"I haven't a clue as to blogs........howone goes about opening and populating it etc.............but you have my"Blessings.......".

HE SENT A 'CHHARA' , WRITTEN IN BENGALI, BUT PENNED IN ROMAN ALPHABETS. I POST IT HERE . ENJOY.

M aidaney Awnek Alo, bolchhey h*enkey Indrajit /
A mi boli ‘Ei boyeshey khelbo ki bhai Choo Kit Kit /
I ndro bawley ‘Voy-ta ki tor, shawkto moder haddi’ /
D oudey giye a*kdey dhawro – ei jeebon-ta kabaddi. /
A mi boli ‘Awnek holo, h*apiye gechhi ei khelay’ /
N yada jawkhon hoyei gechhi, ar kyano jai Beltawlay ? /
E r modhdhey Suman abar pawn korechhey amakey /
Y udhisthir baniye debey. Palai ami kon f*ankey ? /
A chhi dibbi bidi f*unkey, majhey modhdhey whiskey /
W ith water, with soda, nai ba thakuk Lewinsky. /
N a rey, achhi hashyo-mookhey, jatey matal, taley thik /
E i dyakhna, acrostic-ey kobir hashi dyay jhilik /
K awtha karo nyayna kaney, shudhoy bujhi Suman-bhai /
A rey beta lassi piyo, khao dahi, doodh , malai /
L assi chhedey ‘V*oshshi’ tano, eitey tomar bawddo dosh /
O poretey jabar shomoy dekhbey gayeb awndo-kosh. /

RETIREMENT PLAN of SATYENDU SANYAL

2006-08-13T13:06:00.000+05:30

We ,who know Satyen , is aware of the fact that he has remained immersed in literature since he was a boy. Over the years , his writing has also become quite readable.

I wanted to know what is retirement plan is . Read on .... his reply is here for you to enjoy :

"My dear Shyamal,

Apropos your queries on retirement blues and our not meeting for fourdecades etc.Came across a gem from Ogden Nash :

"Reflection on the Fallibility of Nemesis"
He who is ridden by a conscience
Worries about a lot of nonscience;
He without benefit of scruples
His fun and income soon quadruples.
-- Ogden Nash.

Unfortunately, having the benefit of scruples, my income has not quadrupled.As such, with retirement looming large, one does wonder ---- "dimly reckoning from traces of a distantly heard echo what my unfinished lifetime will still bring". ( Pasternak's words in the poems attached to hisDr.Zhivago ).

But at the same time, as an innate, if errant, believer in "Mangal-bodh",one hopes to muddle through somehow, somewhere.Does this strike you as a hopelessly unplanned state of affairs ?It is.But then...........

"Into this universe, why, not knowing /
Nor whence, nor whither, willy nilly flowing /
And out of it, as the wind along the waste /
I know not whither, willy nilly blowing //"

I'm sorry if this leaves you even more unclear and befuddled as to whatever you wanted to know.But that is how it stands at present.

All the best and take care.

Satyen.

A QUOTE FROM MAIL RECEIVED FROM UJJAL MONDAL

2006-08-11T15:56:00.000+05:30

I receive mail from many of my IITian friends . I have retained some of them for use in a compilation. When I staarted , BLOGS were not a familiar concept.But , now , I can easily bring out the gems, put them here for others to enjoy. The one posted here is from Ujjal , who is now in Canada.He circulated this one on 4/10/2005. Please read on .

Ethnicity of Jesus

My Cajun friend had 3 good arguments that Jesus was a Cajun.
1. He liked to serve fish to his friends.
2. He could make his own wine.
3. And he wasn't afraid of water.

My Black friend had 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black.
1. He called everyone "brother".
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.

My Jewish friend had 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish.
1. He went into His Father's business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God

My Italian friend gave his 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian.
1. He talked with his hands.
2. He had wine with every meal
3. He used olive oil.

My California friend also had 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian.
1. He never cut his hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.

My Irish friend then gave his 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish.
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But my women friends have the most compelling evidence of all that Jesus was a woman.
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when he was dead, he had to get up because there was more work to do.

A POEM I LIKE TO SHARE ..... HOW WE DRIFT AWAY

2006-07-08T12:13:00.000+05:30

I tried to do a bhabanubad :

A few very young men used to chat in the five-point crossing of Shyambazar
They used to lean against the railings of footpath , share a cigarette
Sometimes discovered empty pockets after entering the Coffee shop,again returned to the streets,
What was the attraction? Only poetry? Apart from poetry , the vibrant flow of life
A few very young men used to chat in the five-point crossing of Shyambazar.

TIME* was there ………unseen ,he used to follow everything standing besides them
Often he used to laugh, future used to play in his fingers………………

Get-together of those youths in the five-point crossing stopped , perhaps no one noticed.
All those orinthopters got lost as if in dirt roads under the scorching sun
No one bade farewell explicitly, but it was a parting ,as if an incorrect rhyme
Who knows who reached where ,or did not reach ,a lot of arguments on this issue too
The piece of paper written by TIME floats in the air even to-day
Often the dreams of those youths touch the skin of TIME
What is visible can be false, never the dreams ..

* What will be the proper synonym of KALPURUSH ? I asked baba, Mrs Chakrabarty, Satyen and Mrs Banerjee. I looked up for ‘God of Time’ in internet.
I found ZURVAN , an Asyrian god.
Mrs C suggested KALAKAR, a character from Iliad ,who could foresee future .I looked up internet but could not find any reference.
Mrs B suggested SERAPH from Greek mythology.I have to check up.
Satyen did not reply..
The best I got , again from internet , ....CHRONOS. Greek god of TIME. The images do not match KALPURUSH though.

2006-05-28T11:59:00.000+05:30

AT SUJIT DASGUPTA's DELHI RESIDENCE_JAN 2005

2006-05-28T00:53:00.000+05:30

Our friend Sujit Dasgupta , in my opinion, is one of the 'most-connected' fellows of 1963 batch. He has an excellent data-base of IIT alumni.He never forgets to send season's greetings to his friends.
During my visit to his place in New Delhi, I have seen photographs of many of my friends' families living in MEA and the USA.
Here , you see Sujit's and his wife Deepa's photograph , taken at his reidence in New Delhi in Jan_2005 .

2006-05-28T00:03:00.000+05:30

Here we have a group photo of ME_63 batch. Received from Sujit Dasgupta .He stays in New Delhi.