The Art of Rebranding

                                                        (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Prussian king Frederick the Great is known for his art of rebranding and how he convinced his people to cultivate and deploy potatoes in his country.

He passed a circular order to ensure the cultivation and deployment of potatoes in his country. Potatoes were new to Prussia. He wanted to grow potatoes because they have a high nutrition value. He also realized that potatoes have the potential to feed the nation and reduce the price of bread.

But the peasants had other ideas. Peasants thought potatoes are suspicious subterranean vegetables. They believed potatoes are good to eat during the famine but not regularly. They also thought that there is no point in cultivating a tasteless vegetable.

Sensing a backlash, Frederick the Great started a campaign and coined a catchy phrase ‘potatoes instead of truffles'. He also used his army to start a propaganda campaign to grow potatoes. But peasants were adamant. They came with a reply – 'what the peasant doesn’t know, he will not eat'. One town gave a stern response to the king’s order by saying – ‘The things [potatoes] have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us?’

Therefore Fredrick the Great came up with his cunning plan. He instructed to cultivate potato around the area of Berlin and ordered the guards to protect the fields from any thefts. People became suspicious that potatoes must be rather a precious vegetable and guarded so strictly. This way the king made his people believe that the potatoes are royal products. But in reality, the king told his guards not to protect the fields so strictly and to look away or to pretend to sleep. Sensing a royalty in potatoes, people started to steal potatoes from the fields when soldiers were unobservant. The king had this idea in his mind.

In this way, he popularized potatoes among his people. And the peasants of Prussia started cultivating potatoes on their land.

The Beauty I Find in Card Games

According to Wikipedia, card games have invented during the Tang dynasty in China in the 9th century AD. But I’m not going to rant here about the history of card games. You can easily find it on the internet. Rather, it’s my opinion on why people love to play card games or to be precise, why I love to play card games.

                                                   (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

When we play the card game, we unknowingly play around with our emotions, cognitive abilities, computational skills, and many more. While playing, you have to compute all the 52 cards on your mind. You not only keep the count on what is on your hands but also need to perform a shadow count of the cards on your opponent's hand. There are few games that are dependent on the factor of luck but most card games, especially the popular ones, require exclusive computational skills. If you can remember all the 52 cards and their positioning then you’re the sure winner.

Card games improve patience. You learn how to wait; wait for your turn or wait when to place the right card to trump your opposition. With patience, you learn to anticipate. You anticipate what will be the next move. You try to gauge what your opponent's next move will be. Luck plays a part initially but while playing you need to be careful about many things. You need to superfast at counting cards, in your mind. And also need to do guesswork that which opposition has what cards.

Card games are pure mathematics. In the film- 21, we’ve seen how a math professor recruits 5 brilliant students and uses their skills to win billions of dollars in Las Vegas.

Card games carry the burden of being a game associated with gambling. But in reality, all games can be fixed and gambled. So don’t curse the card games. I play the game because I find it really appealing to anticipate, calculate, guess, and wait. There are very few indoor games that rush my adrenaline like card games.

How to Wrap Your Gifts

Gifts play a role in winning your loved one’s heart. So are the gift wrappings. But when it’s come to gift wrapping, the discoveries tell a different story. Consumers spend lots of money on gift wraps- paper, boxes, ribbons, and pretty bows. While some individuals are good at wrapping a gift with perfect folds, carefully tied ribbons, and bows, others are not good at the job.

Eric M Mas and two of his colleagues experimented to find whether the time we spend on wrapping gifts is worth or not. Do people like beautifully wrapped gifts, or it’s the other way around?

They recruited 180 university students at a behavioral lab to perform the experiment disguised as an extra credit exercise. Upon arrival, they were given coffee mugs as a token of appreciation. Half of the students got coffee mugs with the logo of the home basketball team, very popular among them as it’s their home team.  And the other half of the students got the coffee mug with the logo of the rival basketball team that was not popular at all. The purpose behind that segregation is to offer half of the students’ desirable gifts, and the other half received something they did not desire.

Now come to the gift wrapping part. Half of the coffee mugs had a neat wrap, and the rest looks slapdash. After unwrapping, the participants evaluated how much they liked their gifts. The researcher found that those who received sloppily wrapped gifts preferred their present significantly more than those who received neatly wrapped gifts.

To understand the reason, they received another set of students and told them to imagine an item inside neatly and sloppily wrapped gifts. All of them received the same thing- a pair of JVC earbuds.

Results showed that expectations were significantly higher for the neatly wrapped gifts compared to sloppily wrapped ones. When asked, the individuals who received neatly wrapped gifts hold that it failed to live up to their expectations. On the other hand, the recipients of the sloppily packed items said the JVC earbuds surpassed their expectations. It suggests that people compare wrappings to how good the gift will be. Neat wrappings imitate that it will be a great present. Sloppy wrappings, on the other hand, set low expectations, suggesting it will be a not so good gift.

In their third and final experiment, they wanted to check whether the relationship between gift-giver and recipient changes with the type of wrapping. They surveyed 261 adults, and half of them told to imagine a gift from a close friend, and half of them instructed to believe it comes from an acquaintance. 

(Image Source: pxhere)

When it came from a close friend, recipients ended up liking sloppily wrapped gifts more, and when gifts come from an acquaintance, recipients preferred when it was neatly packed. It was the case when recipients considered the wrapping as a hint of how much the gift-giver values their relationship. Neat wrapping implies the giver values their relationship.

So from next time, mind the wrappings.

(Source article: https://bit.ly/3igADq0)

Deconstructing Duck Tales

Duck Tales’ 21st episode (season 1), Maid of The Myth, first broadcast in 1987. I am sure many people previously have written on Duck Tales. But as an ardent Duck Tales fan, consider this as my tribute to the show. The storyline of the 21st episode ‘Maid of The Myth’ is like this- opera singer Mrs. Beakley gets abducted by the Vikings from the Norse mythology, and Uncle Scrooge and the others rescue her. But the episode offers more than just being a rescue story.

‘Maid of The Myth’ starts with the attack of the Vikings by the sea that resonates with the theory that someone unknown will suddenly attack our world when we are unprepared. The attackers will attack us from nowhere and loot everything we have. They will not only take our wealth but will also take our prized possession- the heroines. In this episode, it is the opera singer Mrs. Beakely, the beacon of the rich world, the world from which billionaire Scrooge McDuck belongs.

The episode projects the Vikings as the beastly villains who not only loot but also have an eye for our women, portraying Vikings as a lustful, degraded animal. It is like messages from the rich to the middle class, look the enemy will not only loot your property but will also take your women. So better be ready. However, in the end, it is not the ordinary people who will take the mantle of saving our women. It will be rich people like Scrooge McDuck. It is the rich who always do the right things to rescue our icons.

In the episode, Uncle Scrooge and the others chase the Vikings and rescue Mrs. Beakely. However, at the Vikings’ island, Mrs. Beakely is being treated well by the Vikings compare to the people of the civilized world. It shows how differently the rich world projects someone as a villain. Mrs. Beakley’s astonishment showed that, in reality, they are not bad people.

The rescue operation was a funny affair. Uncle Scrooge’s help Launchpad asks for a manly fight with the Vikings to rescue Mrs. Beakely. It shows the love for the masculinity among the people from the rich world. It also seconds the idea that women need to be rescued by men when they (women) are in danger. The story becomes intricate when Launchpad develops an affinity towards a Viking girl. The girl helps Launchpad to prepare for the fight. This girl plays an important role. She assists Launchpad, jeopardizing her future, and ditches her clan. When Launchpad fails to show up, Mrs. Beakely participates in the race and saves the face of the civilized world. The race signifies a fight between the civilized and uncivilized world, and a woman wins it. It’s like a triumph of creativity and compassion over masculine power and strength.

However, in the end, the rich man, here Scrooge McDuck, forgets the importance of a woman. Scrooge completely ignores Mrs. Beakely at the meeting with the Vikings. Uncle Scrooge dictates the Vikings king to maintain a good relationship with the civilized world. Again it shows the toxic masculinity of the rich people to control everything.

This episode shows us how rich people manipulate everyone and dictates everything. Though Scrooge McDuck chases the Vikings to save Mrs. Beakely, he did that for a reason. He wanted to show the world that he is the undisputed king. This love for power keeps rich people busy. The episode also tells that how rich people bad at predicting the enemies. After all, it’s a girl from the enemy’s side who helped them to win the race and leave the place.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Save DVDs & Blue-Rays!

The rise of OTT platforms has sidelined DVDs and blue rays. People have forgotten the joy and excitement of holding a DVD pack of their favorite movies or music albums. The OTT platforms are erasing the idea of owning something that you love dearly. Now when you want to see a film or a documentary, you go to Netflix or Amazon and subscribe to it. You don’t own anything.

According to Statista.com, data published in 2018, DVD/Blue-ray player ownership has shrunk to 57.8% among the 18-34 years old, compared to 69% among 30-49 years old and 58.6% among 50-64 years old.

When you buy a DVD/Blue-ray, you indirectly become a part of the film or the music album. The DVDs on your shelf mean you own them. However, when you subscribe to a web series on Netflix for a 1-month slot, then you become part of it for a month. When the subscription is over, viewing right is also gone. It’s more like paying rent to the owner of a house. You get all the facilities, but you never own it. In short, someone richer than you dictates your life.

Having a room full of DVDs and Blue-rays not only establishes your share with a film or movie album but also shows your love for cinema and music. The ownership also allows you to showcase your wealth to your guests who are also maybe film buffs or music enthusiasts.

There is a sense of joy and happiness when you bring out a DVD from a DVD pack that you’ve just ordered. I used to be very happy in browsing my favorite directors’ movie at DVD shops.

Few idealists will argue that the idea of ownership is not good. Ownership is one of the tenets of capitalism. But I would happily disagree with them. By renting out films and web series, the OTT platforms are monopolizing the industry. And nonetheless, who likes to watch a movie on a Smartphone. 

                                                       (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Dharmatala is the Ugliest Place in Kolkata!

(Image: Telegraph India)

A year ago, I was waiting at Esplanade to meet my ex-girlfriend. We made a plan to have Biriyani at a popular restaurant in Dharmatala. When I reached the place, I checked the time on my watch- it was 6:30 p.m. That meant I had to wait for half an hour more, as our mutually-fixed time was 7 p.m.

I bought a bottle of cola from a street-side pan shop and went to a corner where the pavement ended. You know the situation of the Dharmatala pavements, encroached by the hawkers which leave no place to walk. Both the left and right sides have grabbed. The narrow space between the right and the left sides is for public use. In some parts, that space is non-existent.

H1

H3

H5

H7

a

H2

H4

H6

H8

H9

I was standing at the (a) spot waiting for my ex-girlfriend. The hawker (h1) sitting next to me told me to leave. When I asked him about the reason, he replied with a lot of annoyance in his voice, ‘just leave’. I gave him a stern reply, ‘I’m standing on a pavement. What is bothering you?' He replied fiercely, ‘This is a place of business. Customers come here every day. Don't you understand?’ I failed to fathom what the guy was saying. The pavements are for public use, not for doing business. In reality, they have grabbed the pavements and doing their business.

Meanwhile, other hawkers had also assembled to lend their support to him (h1). The tone in which they were talking helped me to understand that they want me to shoo away. I realized there is no point for an argument with them as they were more in numbers. Also, it was their territory. So, I left the place.

Later while returning home, I saw many people are using the main road to walk rather than using the pavements. I kept wondering why people use main roads that are for two and four-wheelers. The answer was in front of my eyes- the encroachment. Not only encroachment, the shouting, the hooting- make the place unbearable.

Later I was talking to one of my friends about the incident. He laughed at me and said it was quite 'normal' considering the Dharmatala standard. He went on to share his experience. He went to Dharmatala with his British wife to do some shopping. When they were bargaining, a guy pinched his wife from behind. It was such a shame.

Dharmatala is no doubt the ugliest place in Kolkata now. The time has come to clean up the mess and reinvent Dharmatala.

Are You a Red Piller?

We all remember the famous scene from the film ‘The Matrix’ where Mr. Anderson is asked to choose between a red pill and a blue pill. Choosing the blue pill meant for him to stay in the matrix and be blissfully ignorant. On the other hand, choosing the red pill meant for him to going into the real world, filled with unpleasant truths. In the film, Mr. Anderson chose the red pill and witnessed the ‘real’ world. His struggle at the ‘real’ world made him Neo, the hero of the film.

However, in the world of Reddit, the red pill suggests something else. The subreddit, /theredpill, is dedicated to those men who don’t understand women. The people in the community talk about the way system undervalues men and overvalues women. It may sound innocuous at first, but the subreddit has become a cult community in Reddit. It has over 17K members and growing at a rapid pace. These members believe female oppression is a myth and women get away with just being the virtue of women. Barring women-loathing, the community members also discuss chick-banging strategies.

The prime candidates in the community are those men who had a bad experience with women. In short, the men who have a lot of misplaced anger towards women. They also rant against feminism. If you want to read in detail about the Red Pill community then visit this link https://bit.ly/2RSj2dd.

                                               (Image source: commons.wikimedia.org)

West Bengal – A Political Madhouse

I don't know whether politics trumps West Bengal or West Bengal trumps politics. But one thing you all will agree with me that everyone in West Bengal has strong political opinions. West Bengal has a history of political turbulence. But here, I am not going to talk about what happened in the past. I will try to cover the current political hotchpotch situation in West Bengal.

All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) is in power since 2011. But in the 2019 Lokshabha Election, they have taken a blow from the Hindu nationalist party BJP. Ideology wise, BJP is also anti-communism like TMC. According to Wikipedia, the political ideology of TMC is anti-communism. In the West Bengal perspective, the party that follows the tenets of communism is the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM). However, in the last election, according to the election experts, a large chunk of CPIM voters voted for BJP irrespective of CPIM's oppose against BJP's right-wing politics. After the election results, one of the senior leaders from TMC said about the ideological degradation of the communist party voters who voted for BJP. Funny, right! I wondered since when TMC has become sympathetic to communist ideology. Aren’t they the ones who toppled the CPIM in 2011?

There is no doubt that a large chunk of voters who used to vote for CPIM had voted for BJP. They see Modi as a face to counter Mamata Banerjee's TMC. These people are seeking revenge for the 2011 debacle in which Mamata Banerjee single-handedly toppled a regimented left-front government. They believe by not allowing factories at Singur and Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee has halted the economic growth of West Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee, once in a meeting, professed herself as a liberal. TMC, the brainchild of Mamata Banerjee, is a rebel faction of the Congress. Mamata Banerjee’s fall out with Congress had created the path for TMC's birth. That fight halted when TMC & Congress had a coalition during the 2011 Assembly election to remove CPIM from the power. But their friendship didn’t last long even though Congress being a liberal party.

Congress, on the other hand, had suffered back to back blows in two Lokshabha elections from BJP.  In West Bengal, they are out of power since 1977. Lack of teeth in West Bengal Congress has put BJP as the main opposition party against TMC.

BJP has also been successful in hijacking a few of TMC’s old guards. Their rise in the last Lokshabha election is commendable. They not only diverted the CPIM voter's attention but also the TMC voters.

However, they once had an understanding with Mamata Banerjee. TMC used to be in the NDA but now BJP is its arch-rival. 

On the other hand, CPIM has a coalition with Congress in West Bengal. Congress in the Centre projects itself as the main opposition party to BJP. However, in West Bengal, Congress’s fight is more against TMC than BJP. They also say that TMC and BJP are the two sides of the same coin. But, West Bengal Congress is mostly vocal against TMC which is a liberal party voice for democracy.

With so many equations, it is not easy for the people of West Bengal to choose a party to vote for in next year's election. It's a hotchpotch that turns West Bengal into a political madhouse. 

Turn It into Blue, Kolkata Metro!

 I was reading an article on color psychology and accidentally found an interesting story concerning blue lights at the railway stations. The title of the piece reads (https://bbc.in/3knOCLY) - can blue lights prevent suicide at the train station? In 2013, a scientific paper revealed that blue lamps at the train stations stop suicide. The Paper also showed that the suicide rate fell by as much as 84%.

It all started in late 2000 when a Japanese railway company installed blue lamps above the train station. It was an attempt to deter people from committing suicides at train stations. The idea was to bring change in the psychology of passengers using blue light. One study showed that people with a stressed mind returned more quickly to relaxation when they lay in a room bathed in blue light.

Now the main reason behind writing this piece is that Kolkata Metro is the unspoken suicide point in Kolkata. Before COVID-19, when everything was normal, suicide attempts were rampant at Kolkata Metro. Suicide attempts at Kolkata Metro were regular. Death by suicides at Kolkata Metro kept on increasing before the lockdown days. The rail authority failed to stop suicides while having armed personnel at the platforms. The attempters found ways to commit suicide at Kolkata Metro.

As we live in a pandemic-hit world and busy to navigate the deadly virus, we've forgotten the cases of suicide at Kolkata Metro. Is the Metro Authority prepared to stop suicide when Kolkata Metro services become fully operational? Did Metro authorities analyze why they failed to prevent suicide, and what went wrong? Are they preparing for the future? Regular metro commuters get pissed off when services get halted because of suicide attempts. I even heard them saying that there are so many places to commit suicide in Kolkata, why disrupt the metro service.

I think railway authority should give a thought on the 'nudge' technique applied by the Japanese railway companies. The lights at platforms in Kolkata Metro are predominantly white. If the railway authority is at least able to run a pilot project by installing blue lights at the stations where suicide attempts are rampant, that would be a good step in showing that the Metro Authority is a responsible citizen and cares about its fellow citizen.

                                                        (Image Source:Freepik)

Thought Leadership Shouldn’t Lead To Thought Policing

 According to Wikipedia, a thought leader is an individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded. In short, thought leaders are those who change the mindset and behavior of a particular group of people with their expertise. Thought leaders work in bettering human lives with their knowledge and skill. As thought leaders can subtly change the behavioral pattern of people, it makes them responsible for what service they offer. Thought leaders can mesmerize people in the right way. But here is the catch!

Thought leaders should not become thought police. The idea of thought leadership should never lead to thought policing. Thought policing is surveillance. Thought policing is done by firms, big corporate houses, and even the government to control our minds. We, ordinary individuals, need thought leadership, not thought policing. Our behavioral patterns are already lying with Facebook or Google. So, we need guidance from the thought leaders on how to navigate thought police.

We don't need surveillance on what we're thinking. We need thought leaders who will guide us on how to beat the menace named thought policing. Thought leaders should help us to lead a quality life. So when we go to sleep at night, we should be able to de-clutter our minds from the provocations that haunted us throughout the day. The role of a thought leader is to demean or dismantle the thought police.

4Bs – Bengali, Bhadralok, Brahmin, & Bamponthi

Marketers believe in 4Ps- Product, Price, Place, & Promotion; People from Bengal believe in 4Bs- Bengali, Bhadralok, Brahmin, & Bamponthi. Let me explain this mix in detail.

We, Bengalis, take pride in thinking that we’re intelligent than any other ethnic group in India. We brag that our understanding relating to politics, economics, and society is higher than Marathis or Punjabis. In short, we think Bengalis are intellectually superior to any other ethnic group in India.

The word Bhadralok in English means Gentleman. The template of a perfect Bengali Bhadralok is who wears kurta-pajama and carries a jhola bag when going out. He should be soft-spoken, implying he had a good education. During my childhood and teenage days, I noticed that almost all Bengali Bhadraloks favors left-wing politics. I even once thought that all intelligent people are Bamponthi (leftist) by nature.

Indian caste system positions Brahmins on top of the caste hierarchy. The mark of a Brahmin person is who wears a sacred thread. In India, Brahmins hold the top positions though they’re less in numbers.

Now, let me explain the Bengal situation or the 4B. Here I’m going to about a section of Bengali Brahmin Bhadralok who acquired wealth during the left rule irrespective of having a communist government in power. Communists came in power in West Bengal in 1977 and ruled till 2011. Understanding the importance of being adaptable, Bengali Brahmin Bhadralok turned Bamponthi. They sensed that the days of Jamindari are over, so they changed their stance.

However, they didn’t stop offering their ‘service’ as priests. They sensed that god-fearing people will require their service because of their caste as Brahmin. It is now quite clear that communists completely failed to turn Bengalis into an agnostic race which they should have. Now, you can imagine the advantage of these Brahmins had during communist rule- first; they were close to the communist party which gave them the power to accumulate wealth, and second, they offered their service as priests in return for money.

These Bengali Bhadralok Brahmin Bamponthis also used to hold a good position in para (neighborhood) because of their connection to the communist party. Durga puja is always a grand affair in Bengal. Having a good rapport with the communist party meant easy access to the Durga puja committee. The same rule applied to the Para clubs. In short, both power and money were secured.

Now when BJP is trying to come in power in West Bengal, imagine the advantage these Bengali Bhadraloks will have. BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, will quite naturally lean towards the Brahmins to intact the ethos of Hinduism. When I'm writing this, BJP has already started luring Brahmin Bamponthis to join their party. I just wonder how much advantage these Bengali Bhadralok will have if BJP comes to power in Bengal.

My Grandfather, American Soldier & Icecream

 My maternal grandfather told me this story. I was just ten years old when he told me. The incident took place in 1945. The reason I’m not going to verify it because I trusted him. He passed away in 2007. But before going into the story, let me give you a brief on my grandfather. He was born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in British India. He was raised there by his parents with his two sisters and a younger brother. He got his education at a school which was 5-6 kilometers from his home. He used to walk every day to reach there. He failed to complete his matriculation exam as his family had not the means to tender the fee required to sit in the test examination. That forced him to leave his education and came to Calcutta in search of work. 

Bengal famine of the 1940s had hit his family hard. He had no other option to leave his education. However, this piece is not on his life but rather a story involving him and Calcutta.

He came to Calcutta in the mid-1940s and got the job of a tram conductor. Calcutta was the jewel in the crown of British India. He was fascinated by the enormity and extent of Calcutta. The city exposed him to a lot of new things that he never experienced before. One thing that caught his attention was ice cream. It was new to him. Before coming to Calcutta, he never tasted ice cream. He became so addicted to ice cream; he used to have one ice cream every day after his shift. Ice cream was part of his daily routine.

Second World War was at its fag end, and allied forces were liberating the world from the clutches of Nazism. During that time, the American army had a camp in Bengal too. Chowranghee (a place in Kolkata) used to remain filled with American soldiers. Though my grandfather was an extrovert, but he never developed any friendship with the whites. He always maintained the gap, created by the Englishmen, between natives and whites. All of his friends were natives. But this story explores how that gap dissolved, for a short period, with the help of ice cream.

One day, after work, he was busy with his favorite thing, that was ice cream, at Chowranghee before returning to his Bhowanipore ‘mess’ where he was living as a boarder. While having the ice cream, he noticed from the corner of his eye that an American soldier was watching him from a distance. My grandfather felt a bit uneasiness. It was a time when crazy things were happening. World War II was coming to an end, and everyone was under the watch of the British government.

My grandfather started to think whether unknowingly he had done anything wrong. He was unsure of what to do. So, he decided not to pay any heeds to the soldier. After a minute, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw that the American soldier, standing beside him. The soldier was smiling. (My grandfather identified him as an American via his uniform). The soldier asked him, pointing at the ice cream, ‘where did you get this from?’ He had no idea how to speak to a soldier. He couldn’t speak for the first few seconds. Then he showed him the way, by hand gesture, from where he got the ice cream.

The American soldier smiled but didn’t leave. Then the unthinkable happened, according to my grandfather. The soldier asked my grandfather whether he would like to accompany him to the ice-cream seller. My grandfather was unable to decide what to say. He never chatted with a white with such details before. During the interview, he had a chat with his British boss. But after a moment of thought, he decided to accompany him to the ice-cream seller.

At the ice-cream seller, the soldier didn’t buy ice cream for him only but also bought an ice-cream for my grandfather too. That broke the barrier. While having the ice-cream, they chatted about various things.  The soldier asked my grandfather which side he was at the start of the war. My grandfather, a staunch Gandhi supporter, told the soldier that he was always on India’s side.

After the ice cream affair, the American soldier offered my grandfather a lift to Bhowanipore in his jeep. Initially, he was unsure in accepting it, but the ice cream affair broke the barrier between both of them. He finally took the lift and reached Bhowanipore safe and happy.

Was God a Legislator?

I started the headline with the word ‘was’. I’ve used the word ‘was’ with the hope that God is dead. I know that many people will get furious just to read that God is dead. I also know that they will keep on performing rite to keep their god happy. They require the guidance set by their beloved god to perform their daily chores.

A large chunk of the world population follows rules set by God to lead a peaceful and happy life. Long back, god along with his men, created a rule book in the name of scripture which believers consider the most important book to lead a good life. You take any sacred book; you’ll find it filled with instructions of leading a good life. Hence, the big question- was god a legislator?

What made him draft so many highly-coded rules for ordinary humans? Were people not following any rules before the formation of any sacred books? Or god was just trying to create his clan which will follow his ideas. I wonder, what made him draft so many rules? Were people unruly?

There shouldn’t be any doubt that God was a master legislator. He understood people's psyche well. The legislation he drafted is still being in use. People still use them in their everyday life without thinking much. It is not the rules that haunt me; the idea to control so many people in the name of religion troubles me. Were not people aware of their good? Were they unruly?  I believe people were careful about their well being. Why they require a rule book which is detrimental to creativity and innovation? Weren’t they capable enough? Men created society; they do business; they’ve built ports; they use technology to innovate and the list is long. But when it’s come to rule, why they first head to god.

You might be saying, ‘those are not rules; they’re instructions. You may either follow them or don’t follow them at all. The choice is yours. Nothing is going to happen to you.’ If nothing is going to happen to anyone because of not following god’s rules (or instructions) then what is the purpose of having such a book. However, I’m also not in favor of those who believe a non-follower will get punished by god. If we’re doing fine then what’s the purpose of having a book that enchains us rather than liberating. God somehow understood that this particular animal can be ruled. He gauged our nature first then precisely drafted those rules.

Human history is battered with shame because of the atrocities in the name of religion. Men also have created their laws. In a 21st century world, every country has its laws. Most people follow such laws; few break them too. The funniest part is, along with the law of a land, we also have rules set by god. How come a society function properly with the existence of two different laws? Aren't these two different laws getting overlap with each other? Aren't these creating confusion which leads to friction? Do we need both of them? Only God knows!

Why Kolkatans Should Start Developing A Friendship With Mosquitoes?

 Aedes aegypti is a blood-sucking b**ch. You must be wondering who the hell this Aedes aegypti is. Let me educate you, it’s a type of female mosquito that principally spread the dengue fever. No, I’m not going to present here a research piece filled with scientific jargon on dengue fever. Rather, I’m going to give you the best possible solution (a bit bizarre too) to tackle this disease. I hope the people of Kolkata will embrace it, if not the entire world.

West Bengal records quite a ‘good’ number of deaths due to dengue every year. According to a news report, (https://bit.ly/2Z9idkj) in 2019, 23 people died in West Bengal after affecting over 40,000. This has been happening for the last 2-3 years. The government is trying their best to reduce the rate but it seems the mighty mosquito brigade is way better than our beloved government. The growing number of deaths proves that the ministers of Aedes aegypti are performing better than our ministers. The same logic applies to their bureaucrats also. It is apparent that the dengue spreading mosquitoes are much more agile, strong, committed, and forceful in fulfilling their desires than the ordinary Kolkatans.

So what is the solution? How to stop the tiny monsters let this happen year after year? The solution is simple- we, humans, need to develop a friendship with mosquitoes. Now, this may sound bizarre to you. But the plan is grand in size. Like our government take every year to stop spreading dengue. Remember, if we don’t colonize (disguised as friendship) them, they (mosquitoes) will colonize us. Those tiny flying b**ches will not only continue sucking our blood but will also continue releasing the deadly virus.

Now, let’s get straight to the point. Ministers need to find out a way to develop a friendship with mosquitoes. They may take help from relationship consultants to find away. As responsible citizens, they need to lure the mosquitoes towards the Blood Booth. What is this Blood Booth? Blood Booths are the reservoirs of fake human blood. Yes, fake human blood that looks like real and tastes like original for the mosquitoes. Those Blood Booths will also accommodate fake humans which will host the fake blood. How to attract the mosquitoes should be left to the virologist. It’s going to be an affair in mammoth size. The government may run out of money. They may introduce Dengue Tax to keep the project financially solvent. This approach may not radically change the dengue situation in Kolkata but we have to wait. It’s time to act and stop the virus from entering into our body.