Skip to main content

Laal Selaam, Jyoti Babu

Jyoti Basu, veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) Leader and the path finder of Communism in India has left for heavenly abode this morning. He was 95 years old. He was ailing for a long time and was fighting hard, until he lost his final fight to multiple organ failure and passed away today (Jan 17, 2010) at 11:47 AM in AMRI, Kolkata.

I never met him; I remember going to mass addresses of other leaders and Prime Ministers of India when they used to go to Agartala, but I don’t remember of going in any of his gatherings. Having said so, Jyoti Babu has always had a lasting impact on the people of Tripura. Everyone in the state always looked forward to Jyoti Basu and his contribution towards development of Tripura. The state being only the third communist state in India, was very close to Jyoti Basu’s heart.

Jyoti Babu, was the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal (and the country) and he served for a period of 23 long years, since 1977 till 2000 when he left all public appearances. In 1996, when the NDA government was going to form, he was requested to become the Prime Minister, to which the CPI(M) party disagreed. Basu later called it as, “Historical Blunder” for the communist party and the communist ideology.

I remember a childhood incidence when a child in school was asked about the chief minister of Tripura and he steadily pronounced the name of Jyoti Basu. Thus was the impact of the pragmatic leader. He had a long political career of 60 years, since he came back from London in 1940 and joined the communist party in West Bengal. He was a London returned barrister and could have earned a huge fortune for himself in those times, but he chose to serve the people and took to politics.

I know how much my father is hurt today. I talked with him the moment I heard the saddening news. He would not shed tears, but deep inside, he would cry rivers today; for he has seen Jyoti Babu from close vicinity and have known him since long. Same goes for my father in law. I talked to him too. They pretended to be sound and tough over the phone, but I know – I know what is going through their hearts and millions of communists and Bengalis in and out of Bengal.

I wish I would have known the leader more closely and could have learnt something from his ideologies, but life never gave me that opportunity. Now that he is no more with us, I would not get the opportunity ever again. I am happy that I lived during his lifetime – I’m honored more!

As a last gesture towards humanity and the cause he lived for, he left his whole body for medical and scientific research. This tells the story of a man, who lived for the people and when he died, he was only thinking of his own people.

I render a Red Salute to Comrade Jyoti Basu. May his soul rest in peace! Long live Communism! Long live Jyoti Basu’s legacy!
Labels:

Comments

Pranav Kumar V said…
Lal Salaam to Jyoti Babu!

And more respects to him as I just learnt he used to read Wodehouse to chill off at times... Now's that's really some open mind for a Marxist!!

See you when I see you... :D
January 17, 2010 at 10:04 PM
BK Chowla, said…
May his souls rest in peace
January 18, 2010 at 1:16 PM
Ayesha Parveen said…
A good write-up on the departed leader. Thanks.
January 20, 2010 at 7:28 AM
Post a Comment

Also read

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Why does Mrs Dalloway still speak to you after a hundred years? A human reading of Virginia Woolf’s novel A reflective and thoughtful review of Mrs Dalloway that explores why Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic continues to resonate. From memory and mental health to love, regret, and time, this article examines characters, themes, context, and craft while questioning whether the novel still challenges and comforts today’s reader. Why does a novel about one ordinary day linger in your mind for years? This long form review of Mrs Dalloway explores through its quiet power. You will find analysis, critique, history, and personal reflection on why this book continues to unsettle and comfort readers alike. Can a single ordinary day hold an entire life? Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it went, and more unsettlingly, where you went within it? That question sits at the heart of Mrs Dalloway , Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel that dares to suggest that the smallest moment...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spill the Tea: Noor and the Silence After Doing Everything right

Noor has done everything she was supposed to do — moved out, built a life, stayed independent. Yet beneath the neat routines and functional success lies a quiet emptiness she cannot name. Part of the Spill the Tea series, this story explores high-functioning loneliness, emotional flatness, and the unsettling fear of living a life that looks complete from the outside. The verandah was brighter than Noor expected. Morning light lay flat across the tiles, showing every faint scuff mark, every water stain from old monsoons. The air smelled of detergent from a neighbour’s washed curtains flapping overhead. On the table, the paneer patties waited in a cardboard bakery box I’d emptied onto a plate. A squeeze bottle of ketchup stood beside it, slightly sticky around the cap. Two cups of tea, steam already thinning. In one corner, a bamboo palm stood in a large terracotta planter. Thin stems. Too many leaves. Trying very hard to look like it belonged indoors. Noor sat down and pulled the chair ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why do we crave bookshops when life falls apart? A deep reading of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

This article reflects on Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, a gentle novel about burnout, healing, and second chances. Through Yeong-ju and her quiet community, the book reminds you that meaning often returns slowly, through books, people, and ordinary days that begin to feel like home again. Why do so many of us secretly dream of walking away from everything? At some point, usually on a crowded weekday morning or during yet another meeting that could have been an email, you wonder if this is all there is. You did what you were told. You studied, worked hard, built a career, stayed responsible. And yet, instead of contentment, there is exhaustion. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop begins exactly at this uncomfortable truth. Hwang Bo-reum’s novel does not shout its intentions. It does not promise transformation through grand revelations. Instead, it sits beside you quietly and asks a gentler question. What if the problem is not that you failed, but that you nev...
Post a Comment
Read more