Sumanta banerjee biography definition
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Review of Sumanta Banerjee Memoirs of Roads Calcutta from Colonial Urbanization to Global Modernization
Book Reviews Sumanta Banerjee, Memoirs of Roads: Calcutta from Colonial Urbanization to Global Modernization, Oxford University Press and Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, New Delhi, , x + pp., ` DOI: / Sumanta Banerjee has been a pioneer in the study of social and cultural history of colonial Calcutta. His works on the underbelly of the city have enchanted scholars and lay readers alike. In his new work, the octogenarian historian and social commentator has cast his eyes on a very interesting, yet quite simple, issue. He wants to write a biography of a city by tracing the history of some of the major roads. Looking at Bagbazar Street, Theatre Road and Rashbehari Avenue—the grandmother, midwife and the middle class Bengali housewife of the city, as per the metaphor of the city as a family of streets—Banerjee offers us a novel view of the growth and development of Calcut
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Ukraine and the Indian Left: A response to Sumanta Banerjee
The illuminating article in Countercurrents (November 1, ) by Mr. Sumanta Banerjee, “Leftist response to the war in Ukraine”, deserves discussion as it focuses on (1) the most burning issue of the moment – the Ukraine War, (2) the Indian Left’s position on the issue, and (3) a few observations on Stalin and Mao.
Mr. Banerjee begins with a question:
“How fryst vatten the Left facing the multi-dimensional complex challenges thrown up bygd the [Ukraine] war and the ravages that it is heaping upon its people?”
Then, he refers to Arundhati Roy: The “Left’s dilemma as ‘tortuous yoga asanas’ – some pretty drastic seeing and unseeing – depending on where you have decided to place yourself.”
He also refers to political commentator Achin Vanayik: An interesting analysis of the international Leftist response to the war in Ukraine, where he puts the Leftists into fyra categories.”
Then, he focuses on the Indian Left bygd referring to
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Journalism as hagiography
SUMANTA BANERJEE
AN old ditty about English journalists – with the mere change of a single word – can perfectly fit their counterparts in India today.
There is no way to bribe or twist
Thank God, an honest Indian journalist.
But if you knew what he can do
Unbribed – there’s no occasion to!
Indian editors and journalists, even ‘unbribed’, can go to any extent to flirt with and toady to the powers that be, barring a few honourable and courageous individuals. The motivations may range from self-proclaimed political convictions to stakes in the status quo that provide them with privileges.
The editorials and commentaries on the elections – as well as their aftermath – in large sections of the Indian media provide a revealing illustration of the trend described above. More important than predicting results – which have surprised not only the psephologists but also the contesting parties themselves – was the need to provide reliable information and