{"id":15940,"date":"2012-03-03T01:44:51","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T01:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drishtikone.com\/?p=15940"},"modified":"2012-03-03T01:44:51","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T01:44:51","slug":"mamata-bannerjee-paints-red-calcutta-in-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/mamata-bannerjee-paints-red-calcutta-in-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamata Bannerjee paints Red Calcutta in Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
Its Blue everywhere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Red Calcutta \u2013 or Kolkatta for the hard-core Bongs \u2013 is changing color. \u00a0It is being painted Blue by Mamta Bannerjee, and with a vengeance. \u00a0All the bridges, the road dividers, the bus stops and the the Government building are being given a new coat.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in this city of highly sensitive citizenry, even the private apartment complexes are being directed to paint their exteriors blue in keeping with the new hues of the City of joy. \u00a0Even when they are being asked to do so at their own expense!<\/p>\n

The Mayor of Calcutta<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Sovan Chatterjee \u2013 sees this as an opportunity to differentiate Calcutta a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Jaipur is known as the pink city, Kolkata can also be known as a blue city. Under the direction of Mamata Banerjee we are using a uniform colour for Kolkata,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The total cost of this change? \u00a0Rs 80 crores. \u00a0Money that could have been utilized for feeding the poor or doing something useful for them. \u00a0The truth is that such money is never used for that. \u00a0Not that programs for poor aren\u2019t important, but all the talk of \u201ccould have used the money for poor\u201d is a stale and a useless argument if it is not backed by a polity which prides of audit of the programs and political action.<\/p>\n

What Mamata Bannerjee is doing is ridiculous because it would not change the city or its situation and miraculously lead them to the growth. \u00a0But the argument by the Communists \u2013 who are opposing it tooth and nail \u2013 is also cliched and ineffective. \u00a0It is not as if, when the Communists weren\u2019t spending the money on painting the town blue \u2013 they were using this money for the poor. \u00a0The poor, on the contrary, increased during the Communist rule. \u00a0Because only hopelessly poor, Government employees and the unemployed love to look for a social structure of entitlement without any responsibility.<\/p>\n

Since even the cab drivers have to get their vehicles all blue, they aren\u2019t a happy bunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would change our identity,\u201d said Balwinder Singh, joint secretary of the Bengal Taxi Association, noting that yellow taxis are a long-familiar sight on city streets. \u201cRather than allocating money for paint, the government could invest in state transport,\u201d Mr. Singh said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand there are still enough hard core Calcuttans, who still think that their city is epitome of \u00a0cultural society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need a colorful identity to glorify our city,\u201d said Kaustabh Mukherjee, a 33-year old software engineer in Kolkata. \u201cThe city\u2019s rich heritage is enough to speak for itself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hopefully the new color will also change the future of the city<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red Calcutta \u2013 or Kolkatta for the hard-core Bongs \u2013 is changing color. \u00a0It is being painted Blue by Mamta Bannerjee, and with a vengeance. \u00a0All the bridges, the road dividers, the bus stops and the the Government building are being given a new coat. 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