***In this country it is possible to have philosophy without principle, and principle without philosophy. There is not much local difference between opportunism and entrepreneurship; one is visible, while the other is not.***

THE Bengalees are fond of social satire. It is a byproduct of the gift of the gab. in this land of running waters. flowing tongues, and addictive addas (gathering together for chatting). In the colder climates there were the autocrats at the breakfast tables. and the Johnsonian sessions in the tea rooms. Oscar Wilde was a product of the adda-khana. Lack of social mobility encourages adda.Now multiple job holders cannot sit even with al? the members of the family. Those who frequented the addas have now peripathetic preoccupations.

The distilled outputs of these simulation exercises adorned the famed Bengali magazines and books. But the Bengalees Muslim was side-tracked; and he is still carrying his grievances right upon his sleeves.

That could be one of the reasons the Bengalee mind had always been anti-Establishment; and the mindset continues today, with little erosion in this polarised outlook on life. A distinguished member at one of the addas was inclined to believe that this attitude was due to the domination of the majority by the minority community during the 200 years of the British Raj (coming so soon after 500 years of Moghul rule), which thrived on the divide-and-rule policy, so well exposed by Hunter and others.

Hence the psyche’s fondness to adopt the zamindari stance (the longing for the deprived goodies of life), and the leisure class snobbishness. ’A zamin-dar can do no wrong' is an attitude of life which can be easily detected in many niches of our present society. The changing society and the bulging wallets produce attractive chameleons.

There is another factor: the lavish gifts of indolent Nature spoiled not only the lazy, but also the industrious. The vertical layers of the society are nowadays more marked than unmarked. To turn these thick walls into thin partitions is the main goal of official 'development': first economic, followed by social osmosis. But still the leisure hours are sharply segregated.

Several types- of social changes are easily noticeable. The urge to move to seek one's fortune started several decades ago in greener pastures due to the global economic boom in

the North and the NICs countries after two decades of the end of World War II. The coinciding oil boom in the ME attracted millions of Asians since the mid-'70s (a shift from UK and Europe).

At home, the urban migration boom has hit Dhaka under the belly — the population rose from two lakhs to ninety lakhs in less than half a century. Familiarity breeds contempt; therefore thy neighbour is stranger to you. Vertical living bestows the personal freedom of anonymity, and eggs the ego into individualism’ (this virus is travelling East from the West).

The slow but steady emancipation of women is a sign at once gladdening and attractive, producing a much-needed healthy balance in social intercourse'. The social impact of the thousands of NGOs have been tremendous, and it has filtered down to the humblest villages; thanks to the development of the transport and communication sectors (one-third literacy has also helped). Now we have the world's biggest NGO. and also the biggest microcredit network. In the garment sector, the sight of thousands of female garment workers was inconceivable even a few decades earlier.

But it must be conceded that the most glamourous sector is politics. This science!?) and art(?) has been turned from a passive pastime into a frenzied passion. How and why? Because it is big business, with less sweating of the brow. The high systems loss has been diverted to the other sectors. Ever spotted an inefficient politician or political worker? He is always busy — doing others' work, voluntarily. What about toll collection, terrorism and nepotism, and godfathership? Separate the technique from the philosophy. and practise tolerance (of the negative kind), and your blood pressure would come down (the heartless have no heart attacks) .

In this country it is possible to have philosophy without principle, and principle without philosophy. There is not much local difference between opportunism and entrepreneursnip: one is visible, while the other is not. So long neutrality is maintained in 'public interest', what is the gripe?