The Observer
The Observer An IIJNM publication
Vol 18, Issue 6
Bengaluru police to install CCTV cameras under Nirbhaya Fund | P 2
@theweeklyobserver On the Web: issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs/ the_observer
Thursday, October 4, 2018
People who are sexually abused are in need of counseling | P 2
Bescom reports spike in Commuters worried as electricity thefts this year BBMP plans a flyover Sahana S
Most theft cases reported from commercial areas: Bescom
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Yajush Gupta
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he number of arrests for power thefts in Bengaluru has increased significantly this year. Bescom says that it has reported thefts from many areas. “In the first six months of 2018, the Bescom vigilance department arrested 72 persons from the Urban and Rural districts for power theft. The number has increased significantly this year. Only four people were arrested in 2016, and 35 in 2017,” Ravi Mohitey, an assistant executive engineer at Bescom’s vigilance department, Rajajinagar, informed The Observer. As per the Tariff application filed by the BESCOM, there is a projected revenue gap of Rs.2302 Crores for Fiscal Year 2019, which also includes the gap in revenue of Rs.1028 Crores for Fiscal Year 2017. “We have been able to track a number of offenders.However, power theft has increased especially in the commercial areas of Bengaluru. These thefts affects everyone…,”said Rajashekar M, an accounts officer from the vigilance department. Bescom permits temporary connections to commercial establishments on a pro rata basis at Rs 6
Wire tapping at K.gollahalli Village,Kanakapura Taluk Credit: Yajush Gupta per unit. Sagar K, the owner of a food truck at Global Village, said: “To take power directly from a pole, we need a letter of approvalfrom Bescom. For temporary connections (3-4 days), we only have to pay for those days (at Rs 6 per unit); but for a longer duration, registration for a regular connection is required.” However,people illegally tappower from existing connections and electric poles for their commercial establishments. “The number of illegal tapping has increased mainly due to the carelessness of the authorities,” Sagar added. The Bescom vigilance department has registered most power
theftsfrom Rajajinagar jurisdiction this year. The company has 11 vigilance sub-divisions that work to track thefts, which are punishable by both imprisonment and fines. Of late, Bescom has come up with a scheme to curb power thefts. It rewardsan informant with a minimum of Rs 10,000 and maximum of 1% of the penalty. Part 14 of the Electricity Act, 2003, prescribes penalties for people who tapwires, tamper with or damage meters. “There are 11 police stations in the city that work with the Bescom vigilance sectionto track down electricity thefts within the city”,Mr.Mohitey added. yajush.g@iijnm.org
ommuters are unhappy with the upcoming flyover between the Koramangala water tank and Krupanidhi Junction. They fear the construction work will create more chaos and trouble for them. “The upcoming flyover on this route will create more traffic and it will be difficult to reach the passenger’s destination on time,” Raja B.N., an autorickshaw rickshaw driver, told The Observer. Work on the four-lane flyover is supposed to be completed within 30 months. The flyover will cover three important intersections: Ejipura Main Road-Inner Ring Road junction, Sony World junction and Kendriya junction. Commuters are wary, having faced traffic congestion during soil testing on September 1. Venkatesh C, a gardener said: “This is not the right time for building the flyover as there is a lot of traffic chaos over the route. The construction will increase traffic jams. Commuters will have to take different routes.” “It will now take me four hours to reach my destination,” Kumar P, driver of a private bus, said. Chandrakanth, student of Amity College, said: “Roads are already congested here; if they build a flyover, it will be difficult to travel to college.” But BBMP executive engineer S. Ramesh had a different opinion. “This is a 2.4-km elevated Ejipura flyover and 2+2 lane which are bi-directional covering three major intersections and four minor intersections. The en-
Whitefield residents, workers await more BMTC buses
R Yohanjali
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hough Whitefield residents sent it petitions for more buses four years ago, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has still not increased the frequency of ordinary buses in the area. The area houses multinationals like IBM, SAP Labs and Mphasis. “They should increase the frequency at least during peak hours. The existing buses carry more than their capacity,” Senovia Rodriquez,a software engi-
neer at Capgemini, informed The Observer. “They load more people to earn more money.” The official Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation website (mybmtc.com) has been under maintenance for several months, making it tougher for commuters to find bus routes. According to another website, travel2karnataka.com, there are only 25 BMTC buses from the Kempegowda Bus Station to Whitefield. The most frequent one is Volvo AC bus 335AA to Vydehi Hospital, doing the 24-km,
90-minute journey 16 times a day. There are 22 BMTC buses connecting Whitefield to KR Market. There are 31 buses from HAL main gate. Lack of direct connections to major destinations forces commuters to change buses. “Private operators have more vehicles; even then, the number of people boarding the buses is more. The government buses are air-conditioned that adds to our expenses and is notfeasable,” said Harshini,a software engineer. Bhoomitra, an A4 analyst who
uses private transport, said: “The best part is that private buses are more during the peak hours, i.e. from 8 to 11 in the morning and from 9 to 11 at night. Other than that, we don’t see private buses.” Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport said they cannot provide frequent buses till Whitefield because it lacks enough vehicles. The available buses are used within Bengaluru Urban. Volvo buses are deployed in Whitefield because employees of IT companies earn well and can afford it. yohanjali.r@iijnm.org
Bus drivers and college students are unhappy with the construction | Courtesy: Police tire part will be signal-free from eastern part of the Bengaluru to the southern part. It will be a major relief to people going towards Electronics City and BTM Layout,” he said. As per data available with The Observer, the budget allotted for the flyover is Rs 214 crore. The work is assigned to Simplex Infrastructure Limited a construction company in Bengaluru. sahana.s@iijnm.com
News Briefs Karnataka: BDA may reduce land acquisition cost for the Peripheral Ring Road leading to reduction of 40% of the land required for the project. National: UN High Commissioner of Refugees requests Indian government to not deport the seven “Rohingya” to Myanmar as it may endanger their lives. International: United Nations Court has ordered United States to remove sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran making a setback for US President Donald Trump.
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CITY
The Observer Thursday, October 4, 2018
Police yet to receive nod from Govt to install CCTV cameras
Work slated to start in Nov., be over in 3 years Shrabona Ghosh
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engaluru City Police (BCP) are to receive a commitment letter from the state government to be able to installCCTV cameras under the Nirbhaya Fund. “BCP wrote to the state government two months ago for a commitment letter.The finance department is working on it, and as soon as a commitment letter is obtained, BCP will revert to the Centre,” an official, who did not wished to be named informed The Observer. A commitment letter means a formal bonding between the Centre and a state government. Unless police, the implementing authority, receive a commitment letter, no work can begin. The BBMP was sanctioned Rs 667 crore under the Nirbhaya Fund. The Centre will bear 60% of the cost and the state government 40%. Installation of CCTV cameras is slated to start in November and finish within three years. The cameras will be installed
Citizen’s Voice Unstable power supply Unstable power supply in Kumbalgodu has disrupted businesses, causing them huge losses. It has also led to loss of connectivity as mobile services are taken down. Unavailability of streetlights affects the safety of pedestrians. Bescom must take the issue seriously. R Yohanjali,IIJNM student
Delayed construction
A resident of Coconut Grove Layout near Horamavu road, Bengaluru, I write to complain about a delay in the construction of the railway underpass near the SBI ATM on Horamavu road. There are traffic jams for hours every day. Workers don’t show up on certain days, adding to the mess. Authorities concerned should look into the matter, as our daily commute is affected. Shashank Dipankar, IIJNM student
Wars & refugees I write to express my views on Khaled Hosseini’s recent book ‘Sea Prayer’, through which the writer pays a tribute to Syrian refugees, including Alan Kurdi, a three-year- old boy whose body was found lying near a beach in Turkey. The Observer can cover such issues. Surbhi Jain, IIJNM student
Representative image:CCTV cameras will be installed in Bengaluru to ensure women safety | Credit: Pexels under the Centre’s safe city project. “Surveillance camera will help decrease crime rates if there is proper monitoring.Immediate help can be provided and crime can be avoided,” said Purnima, a college student. A proper plan is required to address the violation of law by per-
petrators.Mere installation of CCTV cameras will not help to address women safety issues until all the functionaries have their roles defined correctly, said Brinda Adige, a woman and child right activist. Upkeep of the cameras is another issue. “It won’t be of much
help.Maintaining the cameras is a greater task than installing them,” MC Ramesh, founder,Vidyaranya, an NGO said. The December 16, 2012,gangrape in Delhi prompted the Centre to announce measures to protect women and girls. The incident led to changes in the rape law. Nirbhaya Fund was setup in the aftermath of the atrocious Delhi gang rape. Adige said: “The Nirbhaya Fund should be used to have a proper hi-tech one-stop crisis centre and a helpline for women that collaborates with all departments and NGOs to extend support to survivor. We must not stop with installation of CCTV cameras on roads, buses and elsewhere. BBMP is using this money for a technology that will not support the Nirbhaya scheme in the manner it was envisaged. The fund could be optimally utilized to appointsocial workers and give compensation to rape survivors who are unable to pay their hospital bills.” Installation of CCTV cameras might help, but the main objective should be to make would-be sex offenders scared.Only a proper plan to address and monitor violence will help create an environment that will ensure women safety. shrabona.g@iijnm.org
Counselling plays a big role in restoring mental health of sexual abuse victims ‘Self-defence tecniques are not same for all’ Sindhuja Michael
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ost victims of sexual abuse or assault do not file complaints because the attacker is an acquaintance. Minors are often not aware that they are being abused. Even males are assaulted, but these incidents don’t attract media attention. “The child or an adult who has gone through sexual abuse needs counseling. In the case of minors, parents are not much interested in taking them for counseling as they think it they would be too sensitive. Minor boys and girls who undergo sexual abuse must be given proper counseling. It is necessary to attend the whole session, which may take two years or more,” Dr.Hemalatha, a psychiatrist, told The Observer. Franklin Joseph, CEO of the Indian Institute of Special Tactics and Combat Science, said victims must be aware of the environment around them. People differ in their physical and mental strength. Hence teaching Martial Arts are not applicable for everyone in real life, hence Krav Maga, is designed for real life crime scenario according to their personality.
Awareness is important | Credit: Pexels
“Rather than kicks and punches, a woman has to be courageous enough to keep her assaulter away as he could take advantage of her only if she is weak and shy.When a victim speaks up against their assaulter, majority of the domestic abuse can be avoided,” Joseph said. Many victims commit suicide after being sexually molested or raped. “Only a few get proper medical attention; some rape victims die on the spot. Out of fear and anxiety, many rape survivors commit suicide," Michael Nathan, chief nursing assistance, said. Xavier Dixion, a registered nurse who has specialized in mental health, said: “Counseling is just a rehabilitation measure; it is just a stress relief strategy.” He spoke of a destitute who was gang-raped. She took nearly four
months to recover from her physical condition, but the mental scars remained. She was given counseling, but her condition did not improve. Then she was given vocational training. She now runs a textile unit under the PM’s Skill India project. Giving victims a better environment always helps, he said. Deepanwita Roy, a psychologist from the Mind Research Foundation, said: “The counseling session differs from person to person. A person who comes in immediately after the incident is treated differently from people who come in 4-5 years later. Both men and women undergo same sort of stress and anxiety; but men have anger issues. Abused children become slow learners; they develop the sense of sexual pleasure as they were abused even before they are fully developed.” It is essential to create awareness among minors about sexual abuse. Apart from teching children the difference between good touch and bad touch, they need firsthand help and awareness, which involve any untoward incident relating to molestation, Priscila Mary, a government school teacher, has stated. sindhuja.m@iijnm.org
Around the City • Reimagining UX for Big data, October 5, 2pm-6pm, Qubole, HSR Layout • Brand Stories-Panel, October 5, 7pm-9pm, The courtyard, Whitefield • The Art of Designing virtual World, October 5, 10am-4pm, Asian Institute of Design, Jeevanbheema Nagar • Decathlon India Run, October 6, 5:30am-9am, Sarjapur • Mixed Media WorkshopBuddha, October 6, 3pm-6pm, Studio Pepperfry, Whitefield • Theatre Workshop for Children, October 6, 11am-1pm, LaheLahe, Indiranagar • 2nd Income: Workshop on Art of Makin Money Online, October7, 9:30am-4:30pm, Digitalshala, Indiranagar • Strategize your Resume and Linkedln Profile-An Interactive Session, October 7, 10am1pm, GreenBubblesStartup Services, HSR Layout • Prologue to Digital Marketing Masterclass, October 7, 11am-12pm, Dialogues Koramangala • Workshop on Machine Learning Using Python, October 7, 10am-7pm, Excelvisor Technologies, Hulimavu • Stand-up Comedy, October 9, 7pm-8pm, The Namakh Store N Cafe, Mathikere • Know the Power of Food, October 9, 10am-12pm, Cook and Bake With Deepali, Bellandur • LOL @Urban SolaceStand Up Comedy,October 10, 8pm-9:30 pm, Urban Solace Café, Ulsoor
City Weather Forecast: Scattered thunderstorms Maximum: 27 degree celsius. Minimum: 21 degree celsius Humidity: 77% Precipitation: 80%
Observer Team Editor-Sayantan Sarkar Page Layout- Yajush Gupta, Shrabona Ghosh, Sounak Das, Sahana S Photo Editor- Renuka Thakare Desk- Shashank Dipankar, Sindhuja M, Yohanjali R Reporters- Shrabona Ghosh, Yajush Gupta, Sindhuja M, Yohanjali R,Sahana S
Sports
The Observer SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, October 4, 2018
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Soccer’s Living Legends Is the rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi the greatest of all time, asks Sayantan Sarkar
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ver the years, the world of sport has seen some fierce rivalries. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in boxing, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in tennis and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in basketball all spring to mind.Does the rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi belong to this list? Ronaldo and Messi are considered as the best football players of their generation and also theamong the greatest of all time. Ronaldo, themore physical of the two, has transitioned himself in the past couple of years from a flying winger to an excellent striker. He is a fast sprinter who likes to take on the defenders one on one. One of the striking things about Ronaldo,33, is his movements on the field without the ball. He creates time and space for himself and utilises open spaces like nobody else in the game. Gianluigi Buffon, the great Italian goalkeeper, said earlier this year that Ronaldo has shifted his concentration from dribbling to scoring more goals, which is quite visible in his goal tally. On the other hand, Messi of
These two giants have dominated world football since 2008, and have 10 Ballon d’Ors between themselves I Credit: Goal.com
Argentina is one of the best with the ball. His style of play is more dribbling and passing. It is important to note that Messi plays much deeper than Ronaldo and still scores as many goals for his teams. Messi also provides a lot of killer passes which pierces through the opposition defence. As he is an exceptional technical player, it allows him to have better ball control. This is evident in his statistics over the years. He provides more assists than anyone in his club, Barcelona and also for his country, Argentina. Recently he also crossed the 150 mark,which is a record for the most assists in La Liga. “Though Messi is technically
gifted and very talented, Ronaldo’s greatest strength is his will power and his desire to become the best. I believe that Messi is definitely a better player than Ronaldo, but (Ronaldo’s) records and achievements are unquestionable,” concludes Arun Ghosh, a former Indian footballer. Comparing the styles of Ronaldo and Messi makes more sense than comparing their statistics and records. Says ATK (formerly Atlético de Kolkata) goalkeeper, Debjit Majumder, “Ronaldo is a more direct player than Messi and he decides the matches. Messi on the other hand controls the game through the midfield and has a higher impact on
the matches.” Overall statistics show that Ronaldo throughout his career has provided 209 assists compared to Messi who has 255. If we take La Liga and Champions League into consideration, Ronaldo has 92 assists in 317 games and 40 assists in 160 appearances in the Champions League. In La Liga, Messi has 151 assists in more than 400 games and has 27 assists in 126 appearances in Champions League.
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onaldo has scored 661 career goals compared to 625 for Messi. It is important to mention the goal ratio for both players which are 0.72 and 0.81 per game respectively. If we completely overlook the statistics, Messi and Ronaldo both push each other to excel and perform at the highest level every week. Playing and competing in the same league for 10 years also helped La Liga to become one of the best domestic leagues in the world. Ronaldo, who has joined Juventus from Real Madrid after nine successful seasons, is still competing with his eternal rival from Barcelona. Ronaldo has the ability to
turn around the most important matches. He helped Real Madrid win 4 Champions League trophies in 5 years. He has also been the top scorer in the competition for the last 5 years. Messi, who has won 4 Champions League, had struggled in the last few years. Barcelona had not been able to reach the semi finals since winning the competition in 2015. Messi has won fiveGolden Shoe awards, which is given for finishing a club season with most goals. Ronaldo has won four of them. But, Argentina has failed to win any significant trophies under Messi’s leadership despite reaching two Copa America finals and one World Cup final. He is constantly criticised for lack of stellar performance while playing for Argentina. The only significant difference between the two is that Ronaldo has won a major international trophy, the European Championship with Portugal in 2016. To drive each other for so long is remarkable. As Mesut Ozil, German WC winner says, it’s pointless to compare Ronaldo and Messi. Simply enjoy watching them play.
Lords of the Ring The growing popularity of boxing is one of the brightest spots in the future of Indian sport, says Webley Prabodh
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ven if boxing has never gained mass popularity in India, our boxers have performed well on the world stage. From Mohammad Ali Qamar winning a gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester to Mary Kom, the first Indian woman to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea, the list is growing.Kom, the subject of a popular film, is also a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion and the only woman boxer in the world to have won a medal in each of the six world championships. One among the many such notable boxers is Vijender Singh who won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and at the 2008 Olympic Games at Beijing, making him the first Indian boxer to win a medal in the Olympics. He was also ranked World number 1 in the middle weight (75 kg) category class in 2009. After turning professional in 2015, he has won 7 fights by knockout and 3 by
quickly. Boxing and other martial arts bring new challenges and they get to do something different every day. They also learn for self-defense and to protect their loved ones and not just compete to win," he says.
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Mary Kom is the first Indian Woman Boxer to win Bronze at the 2012 Olympics I Credit: India Today
decision but hasn’t lost a single one. At the recent Asian Games in Indonesia, Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan Yadav won a gold and bronze respectively. The 2018 Commonwealth Games saw a notable number of Indian boxers winning such as Gaurav Solanki, Vikas Krishan Yadav, Amit Panghal, Manish Kaushik, Satish Kumar, Naman Tanwar, Hus-
samuddin Mohammed and Manoj Kumar. Judging by the number of recent champions, boxing looks to have a promising future in the country. The sport is seeing a slow rise, Sourav the head coach at Boxing Association Bangalore points out. "People are looking at new ways to stay fit because lifting weights in the gym seems to be very boring and they tend to lose interest
n a particularly telling instance, Tejas, a teenager affected by autism, was advised to take up boxing to help develop his motor skills, strength, reflexes and especially,to build confidence. In just four to five months the results were spectacular. His parents are thrilled at how learning the sport has changed him. He now interacts with people and is becoming more independent,even doing simple chores around the house. That is precisely the transformative power of learning how to box. In the history of boxing, nobody has had a bigger impact than Muhammad Ali. His name is now synonymous with the sport,but he has come to be known as the ultimate athlete, one who contin-
ues to inspire people to this day. From becoming a world champion at the age of 22 to being ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, he took the sport to all corners of the world. India wasn't left behind in recognizing the sport and Ali as well. In 1980 Ali paid a visit to India at the behest of then PM Rajiv Gandhi to participate in exhibition matches in Delhi, Bombay and Chennai. On January 27, 1980 Ali sparred with Kaur Singh, the only Indian to ever spar or fight with Ali. More than 50,000 people attended the four-round match. Kaur Singh was one of the first Olympic boxers to represent India and, at the peak of his career, had won a gold medal in the men's heavyweight category at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. That Bollywood has chosen to showcase the sport in films like Mukkabaaz, showing the difficulties faced by an Indian boxer, and Mary Kom, the biopic is a good indication that the sport is gaining the recognition it so rightly deserves.
Culture & Society
The Observer SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, October 4, 2018
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Our Own Worst Enemies We overthink and become anxious because we don’t know how to discipline our minds, says Raveena Bhati
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onstantly feeling nervous and paranoid around people and wanting to come back home and stay in my room 24/7 was so self-destructive,” remembers Princi Verma, a second-year Masters’student of political science in Delhi. “When I was around people, I kept constantly wondering what they might be thinking about me.” Not only did she have no mental peace but Princi started feeling physically sick. Even the medicines she took left her feeling empty in the pit in her stomach, causing shivering and headaches. After struggling with all this, she realized it wasn’t just a phase she was going through but something she needed help to deal with. ‘Overthinking issues, usually personal matters, causes thoughts to pile up, breeds negativity and anxiety. According to the World Health Organisation, 7.5%of Indians suffer from major and minor mental problems. But most of us don’t understand that mental problems are as natural as any other disease and can be dealt with professionally.
rg),“People suffering from issues related to mental health are usually in denial, isolated and are not in acceptance of any kind of change.” She says it sometimes takes as long as six years for a person to realize they are suffering from mental problems. The reason behind it is that patients tend to hide their symptoms and don’t feel the need to share their problems. Fear plays a major role in hiding and not accepting the problem. Even after a person realises they need help, they have to overcome the shame and social stigma of being judged by society. Depression has a miserable array of misguided stigmas and criticism. Credit: Unsplash
In a fast-changing world, everything happens in the blink of an eye with little time for consultation. We tend to depend on no one but ourselves. Expecting so much from oneself, trying to be the best in every situation whether it’s small or large, takes a toll. Being anxious about things isn’t bad in itself, as it shows a level of involvement. But overthinking, ob-
sessing about small things, breeds negativity and creates a mental imbalance that leads to physical disorders like headaches, stomach disorders and mood swings. Says Patrecia Preetham, head of community outreach at White Swan Foundation, a Bangalore-based non-profit that offers knowledge services on mental health (www.whiteswanfoundation.o
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lot of young people, especially those over-exposed to social media, are particularly vulnerable to peer pressure. As Ms. Preetham explains, the disapproval by total strangers of a single picture can create selfdoubt. If they do not get attention and approval they start wondering if they are somehow at fault and a negative thought process starts building up inside them and it becomes self-reinforcing. Princi’s experience is illus-
trative. When she was going through her anxiety attacks, even small things like joining a conversation or making the effort to come out of her room became difficult, with uncontrollable thoughts crowding her mind. All it took was one small incident or memory to trigger the feeling. Often, we tend to ignore these persistent negative thoughts and move on and treat them as a passing phase, one youngsters call ‘adulting’. But we live in a society where mental-health issues are taboo, so there exist few opportunities to understand what exactly we are going through and fewer chances to do anything positive about it. The motivation provided by a therapist or family and friends could prove hugely beneficial in helping deal with overthinking and becoming anxious. In Princi’s case, her therapist helped to turn her against her own thoughts and make her see that she was mentally stronger than she imagined. Most important, she finally understood that what was happening in her brain could only be controlled by herself and no one else.
A Cultural Ambassador Dr Chinmoy Guha has bridged the worlds of French, English and Bengali literature like no one before, writes Sounak Das
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iterature is life, they say. But to Dr Chinmoy Guha, it means much more! Fondly called ‘CG’ by students and peers alike, this great critic, essayist, and translator has shaped the way the academic world perceives literature.His works on literary criticism have bridged cultural gaps. No wonder Sunil Gangopadhya, the famous Bengali author,hailed him as the “pride of our time”. “From my childhood I was fascinated by the written word,” says Dr Guha. “My mother was, I believe, the greatest influence on me. She encouraged me to read all sorts of books from a very early age. And I started falling in love with literature, especially English literature.” Dr Guha teaches English literature at the University of Calcutta where he headed the department of English until 2012. He was subsequently the vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He is a French scholar and has taught at the Alliance Française for over a
est,” he says. “I was standing in front of a 300-strong audience and was about to give a lecture on Eliot. I panicked but then somehow regained my composure.’’
Professor Guha at the Dhaka Literature Festival, Bangladesh in 2015. Source: Alchetron.com
decade. He was also the director of publications at the French Embassy in New Delhi. He has translated several books including La Rochefoucauld's Maxims, Flaubert’s Le Dictionnaire des idées recues, and André Gide’s La Porte Étroite into Bengali. He has tried to bring these translations as close as possible to the original texts and has received praise for being able to do so.. ‘’I was at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, where the great Puroshottam Lal used to teach us Romanticism and Modernism. One day, he was discussing Charles Baudelaire
and the advent of modernism. He spoke some lines in French, and I was mesmerised with the language. It was more of a teenage crush which became a lifelong love,” recalls Dr Guha. ‘’Later in life Arun Mitra, the French scholar, helped me to take my passion further. A burning desire grew inside me to understand the language better and teach the same to others.’’ He has lectured at the universities of Paris, Oxford and Manchester, EcoleNormaleSupérieure of Lyon, and Institute of European Studies, Belgrade. “The University of Oxford was probably the scari-
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is contributions to literary criticism, especially in modernist and postmodernist literature, are renowned. His PhD thesis, published as Where The Dreams Cross: T S Eliot and French Poetry explores the influence of the French poets like Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Verlaine on Eliot’s writing. ‘’I somehow found Eliot to be closer to my disposition than any other modern English poet,’’ says Dr Guha. As Frank Kermode, the great British literary critic, remarked of Dr Guha’s erudition and scholarship, “He has gone deeper into the French origins or sources of T S Eliot than any other commentator I have encountered.’’ His collection of essays on world literature was compiled into a book in 2016 titled Ghumer Darja Thele. “I al-
ways write a book keeping in mind the layperson. I don’t want to baffle my readers with abstruse ideas like many scholars do. I try to explain, as well as give my opinion, in a lucid language,’’ he says. “What hard work and labour! What expanse of knowledge, what discipline! Young people have so much to learn from him,” Mahasweta Devi, the renowned Bengali novelist and poet, once said of him. Says celebrated British educationist and translator, Joe Winter, “In the field of criticism it is as if Dr Chinmoy Guha had unearthed a Rosetta stone and cracked its code, all in one.’’ In recognition of his accomplishments, the French government bestowed the honours of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Ordre des Palmes Académiques upon him in 2010 and 2013 respectively. Among other awards, he received the Government of West Bengal’s prestigious Lila Ray Award for Translation in 2008 and Vidyasagar Puroshkar in 2017.