Calcutta Diary

September 13, 1986 Calcutta Diary AM THE upper class Bengalis, that is, those possessing television sets, have one advantage over the rest of the nation. As soon as Doordarshan's 'national' programme is on, they can switch over to Bangladesh television and watch programmes in their own language. Thereby, they can escape from the infinite boredom of fuzzy patriotism, which these days has been capsuled into, a, undying loyalty to the ruling family and, b, single- minded determination to see the last of the Khalistani terrorists. Both noble sentiments perhaps, but the more you seek to din them in, the greater is the urge to make fun of them. The Bengalis, with their umpteen angularities, are not exactly lovable creatures, but, have a heart, one cannot blame them much if they want to escape to Bangladesh television. The latter too poses one or two problems; there too, the ruling general and his wife pre-empt a considerable lot of prime time. But at least the language is your own, and the general cultural ambience is much more proximate to your taste than the fare served by New Delhi. Besides, a general sitting on the shoulder of your neighbour rather than on yours is seemingly much less of a nuisance. It ought not to be so if you go by strictly moral principles. Human psychology defies such principles'.