NRIPEN CHAKRABARTY

The life of Nripen Chakrabarty, a veteran communist and former chief minster of Tripura, is an interesting saga with a bitter, almost ironical end.

The party had him take up different jobs at different times according to its need: from a manual worker at a jute mill to an editor of a bourgeois daily newspaper. Finally, it sent him to Tripura to work amnogst the tribals. Not only he won over these tribals, he made Tripura his new home, and had lived since there as the most respected leader of the people. Though a chief minister, he lived a very simple life, and being a batchelor, had no problem living in his own spartan way.

Then in 1995, he involved himself in a row with Jyoti Basu, the Marxist moghul. So far as I remember, he questioned about the propriety of some of Basu's activities. He was summarily dismissed from the party. And there was little hue and cry.

I was surprised when I heard two days ago on the telly that he had been taken back in the party after nine long years. And the 101-year old man was here in Kolkata for treatment.

The man died the next day.

How do you explain the Marxists' gesture? Were they really sorry for what they did to an honest man? Or was it just an effort to protect theit image?
MRINAL BOSE

WEB MASTER IN POLICE NET

CEO of Baazee.com Avnish Bajaj, an India-born US citizen, has been arrested by the Delhi police for transmission of obscene material, in this case school sex clip. The Police summoned him from the US, and arrested him after it was established that eight CDs of the lewd clip were sold on the site.

Baazee.com is owned by eBay, the world's biggest auctioneer.

What do you think of such websites? Do they really sell anything besides these sleazy things? Have they got any guidelines regarding their sale policy? Or,is money the only motive?

The bottomline: sex and only sex sells on the net And when had a businessman ever had high moral ground?
MRINAL BOSE

SALMAN RUSHDIE IN KOLKATA

Rushdie comes to the city after twenty four years to inaugurate a retrospective of Satyajit Roy, the great maestro, of whom he has been a known fan. Unfortunately, the film festival was cancelled due to some technical glitch.

But Rushdie being Rushdie did not waste time sightseeing and partying. He went to artist and painter Paritosh Sen's residence to update his knowledge about contemporary art. On Thursday evening he even regaled an enthusiastic audience at GD Birla Sabhaghar with his views on myriad things in his unique style of wordplay.

Here're some of Rushdiespeak:

On Satyajit Roy: "Perhaps the great artiste this country has ever produced."

On terrorism: "I am against terrorism. I think it's regrettable."

On prophets: "On the whole, the role of the prophet is not one that I have applied for ..I have had some trouble with prophets."

On Private life: "Private lives today can't exist in isolation from public events."

On George W Bush: "In America, we have to deal with strange growths called Bush."

On Nobel Prize: "There is only one prize and there are many writers. I'm not holding my breath for it."
MRINAL BOSE

BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE CRICKET

Kolkata is among the top cricket-crazy cities in the world, and has always stood by and supported the game in a big way. A match at Eden Gardens always ensured a stadium-ful of audience.

Not any more. In the ongoing match between South Africa and India, the stadium remains empty for the most part. Even star-cricketers like Sachin, Saurabh and Shehbag, by whom the cricket-fans swear, have failed to draw the crowd.

Few people are watching the match even on TV. The marketers' new pin-up girl is of course seductive, but what an ugly face!

So, is this a sign of the beginning of the end of the game?
MRINAL BOSE