Bangla Language and Literature – and Role of Desh Patrika in its Ninety Years of Existence

| continue from page 3 nalistic and literary materials have dealt death blows to many magazines globally. To counter this trend Desh has taken bold steps to protect the ownership of the published articles by the magazine in the form of an official announcement that states, in paraphrase, that ‘no article published in Desh, be published partially or in full in the social media’.

A reasonable question to ask: how does this copyrighted ownership work?

Most literary magazines pay nothing or almost nothing to their writers, while Desh pays them fairly handsomely. When my first fiction was published in Desh, I received a follow-up e. mail about paying me a sum that I felt was quite reasonable. Therefore, the magazine protects its ownership of the published articles from the ever-aggressive social media.

Getting to publish in Desh is an arduous and time-consuming task. Today it takes eight months for a decision, and that is only if a submission is accepted. Therefore, getting the first prose or poet- graphics coupled with absurd story lines, sometimes dubbed as “science fiction”. The entire justification for a successful movie these days lies in the box office gross. The same is true of TV situation comedies; I do not watch any current sitcoms. When I watch TV, I mostly watch reruns of old shows from the eighties and nineties even though I have seen all these reruns multiple times already. thoughts. I have started to feel a kinship with God. I pray to him every single day. I pray to him mostly to guide me. The essence of my prayer are the two lines: “I have surrendered to you completely and unconditionally. Just show me the way and I will follow”. I feel that He has dictated my entire life. When I made wrong choices, He brought me back on the right track. ry accepted by the magazine is almost like falling in love for the first time. It is simply ecstatic. This feeling is echoed by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Binayak Bandopadhayay and Samaresh Majumder as they reminisced in the 90th Anniversary issue of the magazine (17th November 2022, accompanying picture). Earlier I read about the same sentiment echoed by the eminent poet Joy Goswamy.

I do not watch news on TV anymore. All the news items seem to be biased –mostly towards the left and spun according to the political propaganda of the day. To fill the 24/7 timespan and to boost their ratings cable networks bring people with all kinds of twisted and biased views which really do not serve any purpose.

English, Bengali, Hindi and some even in Spanish and Punjabi and in all varieties and genres. One of my favorite pastimes used to be listening to these CDs for hours. That urge is gone.

Facebook gave me an exciting way to spend time by tracking down long-lost friends. However, I realized after the first few exchanges that there was not a whole lot of information to share with them, especially since our lives had probably progressed on entirely different paths. I was basically giving away all kinds of personal information to Mark Zuckerberg and the crew in the process. I dropped out of Facebook.

Regarding my own experience, a few years ago I almost fell off my chair when I learned from then editor Harsha Dutta that my fiction, ‘Namesake’ was accepted for publication. That was my first, and the feeling has mellowed down considerably after several publications. Yet I get a thump in my heart each time I hear the good news after an exceptionally long wait. And long wait it is, like a mother’s joyous feeling after giving birth to a child after ten months of gestation and anticipation.

In conclusion, reiterating the sentiment of the prominent writers of today, mentioned earlier, I wish Desh Patrika a century and beyond.

I do not keep up with the advances in technology. Whether it is the introduction of the latest version of the I-phone or some innovative new concept such as Uber or a smart home with complete security, I do not share the excitement. Necessity is no longer the mother of invention. Now new inventions are shoved down our throat whether we need them or not. As someone said “now, making a buck is the father of invention”.

I do not feel like going to fancy restaurants. By now I have probably tasted food from all over the world and there is no element of novelty left. Since I am not chasing women, I do not have the need for fine dining from a dating point of view. Occasional dining with close friends and family members is always good but even that seems to be more of a chore or a duty rather than something I look forward to.

I have traveled all over the world for business and pleasure. Even though there are many countries and interesting sights that I have not seen, I feel that I have a pretty good idea about the beauty of the earth and do not feel an urge to travel. Those long check-in lines at security and related hassles are certainly a deterrent.

I have a decent Hi-Fi system – a Bose surroundsound system with a subwoofer and five speakers along with a large collection of CDs with songs in

Now I even shun social interactions in person. Whether it is a party given by a friend or neighbor or some festive community occasion it seems that everyone I meet wants to project themselves as “happy” by bragging about all kinds of good events in their life; an exotic vacation or purchase of a new car or a big promotion in the job or attendance of the kids at some Ivy league school. I remain silent even though I have plenty of reasons to brag about myself.

On social or political issues, I hesitate to participate because my views are often unique. I avoid discussion on sports partly because of the lack of passion needed to know the names and statistics of individual players or obsession with items like “fantasy football” or “NCAA basketball pool”.

I used to present an image of a cool guy with designer clothes, fancy ties, late model cars, exotic colognes. Now I do not see the point anymore.

To make matters worse, I do not get excited about some romantic escapade or even going to a strip club. I do not even ogle at bikiniclad beauties on the beach or lust after some voluptuous woman in a tight miniskirt. The idea of taking those little blue pills does not appeal to me. I would not mind spending the rest of my life as a celibate.

Do not get me wrong. I am very peaceful and content. I am a private person and spend most of my time painting, writing, walking/ exercising, tutoring and yes being immersed in spiritual

Unfortunately, I cannot discuss God with others. I encounter two types of people when I bring up the subject of God. One group, made mostly of scientists and engineers, made fun of me. They say God does not exist and it is just a “crutch” for people when they are in trouble. The other group gives me all kinds of lectures and advice, quoting various scriptures; they have encouraged me to attend gatherings to listen to different “swamis” whether at the local Hindu temple or the Vedanta society. I do not want to argue with anyone about the existence of God or what is the right religious practice to follow. I want to experience Him in a very personal one on one interaction.

I am in reasonably good health. I am certainly not depressed and feel that I still have a lot to learn. I am still looking for my purpose in life.

An audio clip from a lecture by Paramhansa Yogananda on YouTube channel finally resolved my conundrum. He said “do not be a slave to your senses. You must win over your senses”. He emphasized that our senses are powerful enemies to overcome; but defeating them would make us strong just like a wrestler gets stronger by wrestling with strong opponents. He further said “when the only thing you desire is God, you have reached self-realization”

His message gave me fresh optimism. Perhaps finally I have overcome addictions to my senses. Recreation or entertainment is nothing but catering to one’s senses. I never received “diksha” in Kriya Yoga or any other discipline but Yogananda’s teaching always resonates with me. I hope that I am on my way to self-realization.