& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

reflections

The Middle Class Bengalee

By Alif Zabr
***Secularism was acceptable on paper and as a topic for the Bengalee adda sessions, but in real life it was neither black and white nor displayed in any colour except tones of grey. The author analysed the Bengalee psyche as cultivated by the Bengalee middle class, then represented by the Hindus during the days of the Raj, followed by the sporadic rise of the Muslim middle class in Bengal. The middle class in Bangladesh is a product of the formative process; and it is interesting to touch on some nuances of the Bangladeshi middle class mind in the year of the millennium.***
RECENTLY there was an illuminative essay on secularism and the role of the Bengalee middle class (DS Oct 2. Saturday Lit page) which traced, through the pages of literature and history, the rise and subsequent dormancy of secularism in the Bengalee society.
Secularism was acceptable on paper and as a topic for the Bengalee adda sessions, but in real life it was neither black and white nor displayed in any colour except tones of grey. The author analysed the Bengalee psyche as cultivated by the Bengalee middle class, then represented by the Hindus during the days of the Raj. followed by the sporadic rise of the Muslim middle class in Bengal. The middle class in Bangladesh is a product of the formative process: and it is interesting to touch on some nuances of the Bangladeshi middle class mind in the year of the millennium.
Today the middle class has pockets in other areas, mainly the middle class business community: in contrast to the former confinement to intellec(ual pursuits, which engaged in the famous adda sessions of leisure time activity. The leisure in the upper classes sprouted from the feudal za-mindari system.
When some section from the labour and agricultural tiers started enjoying slightly better economic freedom, due to more opportunities in the expanding and competitive market place, the budding mini-entrepreneurs were more inclined to indulge in rentseeking pursuits, perhaps subconsciously following the zamindari image of the leisured class. Today we see a large number of small shops or centres of-
fering various services such as fax. telephone, and photo-copy facilities. What is this symptom?
The attitude was to sit and collect; instead of work hard and create, to enter the market with a new or unusual product. Adulteration and fake goods is another symptom of the short-cut philosophy; which involves the prin ciple of getting something with shortpayment. The negative peak is toll col lection, at other's expense. The disease is mental laziness. Fertility of the soil also promotes laziness and indolence. The deltaic region of Bengal has rich fertile soil and plenty of water. Rais-
ing a crop is much easier here than in parched lands with scanty water. Agriculture dominates the economic activities, reducing the attraction for other types of culture. Fish, which is rich in phosphorous, is said to be good for brain power. The success of the Bangladeshi expatriates working abroad emphasizes the adaptability of the fertile Bengalee mind. But the mental humour is rather phlegmatic when concentration and the sense of responsibility are evaluated in the local cultural environment. Thus tolerance is also affected, remembering that the average Bengalee is ruled
more by the heart than by the head.
This trait brings up the cynical ac cusation that the brilliant Bengalee mind cannot use the brain as colourful as he uses his imagination and emotional encounters. Cold rationality is not the Bengalee s forte. He must wann up to the subject, and take it to heart, heat up, and burst. Emotional outlet is his easiest means of ventilation. One British sahib (of the colonial days) likened the average Bengalee to a bot tie of soda water. Open the bottle, and water remains after the gas is gone.
This alleged soda water energy and enthusiasm got us Bangladesh, but
now, with water only, we cannot run the country even after 28 years! Now. in reverse gear, we got arsenic poisoning through the water! Before independence. we were known In the other Wing as the Insects of water (fish eaters), but they had distant, and distinct, respect for our upper chamber. Now the chambers to be filed in are located further below, at the pocket level. Money In circulation creates electromagnetic waves; resulting In other kinds of waves (toll collection, hijacking, ransom, politicization, indiscipline. unionism, gangsterism, highway blockades, drug addiction, and a host of allied social distortions). We are fast thinkers, hence the intolerance in the society.
The only consolation Is that this is a passing phase. The nation is ready to take-off economically. The plane is revving at the runway, ready to be airborne if the bug does not hit us again. We got a virus inside our system. and the anti-virus cure is still under development. Till then, we will meet again, as there is nowhere else to go.