SOWMEN MITTER | সৌমেন মিটার

I grew fond of Nana Patekar after I saw Prahaar: The Final Attack. Following that, I sought out some more of his films, in which he played either the protagonist or an important character. An actor extraordinaire, he had almost acquired the status of a cult figure during those days when we were barely out of college. There was something unusual about his screen presence. He was not the conventional Bollywood hero: he did not depend upon glamour, romance or physical perfection. His appeal came from somewhere else—from intensity, authenticity and an ability to embody the anger and anxieties of ordinary people. That is perhaps the most interesting way of understanding Nana Patekar sociologically. His career coincided with a period when Indian society was undergoing enormous transformation: rapid urbanisation, economic liberalisation, political instability, communal tensions, the growth of organised crime, weakening traditional institutions and the emergence of a more assertive middle clas...

🟥 There is a striking paradox in contemporary India. At a time when politics across the world is increasingly associated with aggression, polarisation, instant outrage and the relentless battle for attention, a section of India’s youngest citizens appears to be rediscovering an older vocabulary of politics: truth, peaceful resistance, moral courage, collective action and accountability. In this sense, one may argue—without claiming that every young Indian consciously follows Mahatma Gandhi—that the political instincts visible in India’s recent Gen Z movements bear a remarkable resemblance to the path shown by Gandhi. The comparison has acquired particular force in 2026. India has witnessed a major youth-led protest movement emerging around examination irregularities, unemployment and questions of governmental accountability. The movement subsequently broadened into concerns about democratic participation and electoral rolls. Reports describe the protests as largely peacefu...

🟦 Rabindranath Tagore’s understanding of nationalism is one of the most intellectually complex and important aspects of his thought. He was deeply involved in the political and cultural life of colonial India, participated in the Swadeshi movement, wrote patriotic songs, supported indigenous industry and education, and eventually renounced his knighthood after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Yet Tagore became increasingly critical of nationalism when it developed into an ideology of collective pride, political domination, exclusion and mechanical organisation. His position was therefore neither a simple rejection of patriotism nor an acceptance of nationalism in its European, state-centred form. Rather, he sought to place the love of one’s country within a larger ethical commitment to humanity. This distinction is essential for understanding works such as Nationalism, Gora, The Home and the World (Ghare-Baire), Swadeshi Samaj, and several of his poems and essays. Tagore’s p...

🟥 Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar presents a tragedy of political idealism colliding with pragmatic realism. The conspiracy against Caesar succeeds in the act of assassination but collapses in its aftermath. At the heart of this collapse lies the contrast between Cassius’s shrewd foresight and Brutus’s rigid, idealistic honour. Cassius repeatedly anticipates dangers and proposes practical countermeasures; Brutus repeatedly overrides those measures with lofty principles that prove disastrous. The essay argues, point by point, that Cassius’s foresight could have secured the conspirators’ position, but Brutus’s idealistic idiocy systematically nullified that advantage. 1. Cassius’s Early Perception of Caesar’s Ambition and the Necessity of Brutus   Cassius is the first to recognise that Caesar’s growing power threatens the Republic. In Act I, Scene ii, he delivers the famous “lean and hungry” speech, recalling how he once saved Caesar from drowning and how Caesar cried “...

My Dearest Sanjhbati , Though this wish comes a little later than Daughter's Day, I hope you will accept it with the same warmth and love with which it is written. Love does not keep a calendar; it simply finds its way to the people who matter most. Watching you grow from a little child into a thoughtful adolescent has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Every stage of your journey has taught me something about hope, courage, and the beauty of becoming your own person. You are no longer the tiny hand I once held all the time, but you will always be the little girl who holds a permanent place in my heart. As you step into the exciting and sometimes confusing years of adolescence, remember that you do not have to be perfect. You only have to be honest, kind, and true to yourself. There will be days when life feels difficult, when you may doubt your abilities or feel misunderstood. On those days, never forget that your family believes in you, and I believe in you more than words...

It's the new normal now. Once you have a son, or a daughter, or a brother killed, you get to become an MLA, courtesy of the ruling party or the party that's likely to grab power. The trend was set by Mamata Banerjee whose insatiable lust for power set such a kind of series of precedents as can only be matched by a prodigal son who is already known by the very vile company he keeps. Nobody will ever know which circumstances allegedly led to Rizwanur Rahman dying by suicide, even though that's precisely what his elder brother Rukbanur and the TMC, which fielded him as a candidate, capitalised on to evoke the sympathy of the electorate and thereby, secure the mandate.  Then, came Mrs Debnath, who is still, and continually, clamouring for justice for her slain daughter, but in vain. Politically naive as she is, she is yet to realise that she must keep mum. Maybe, a few 'snubs' would do that, and I'm afraid she's already got the necessary 'hint'.  And now...