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By:

Kiran D. Tare

21 August 2024 at 11:23:13 am

Bengal’s Ludwig Erhard

For decades, Swapan Dasgupta made a career of diagnosing India’s political ailments. As a columnist, editor, author and public intellectual, the erudite and scintillating Dasgupta dissected challenged orthodoxies and defended the intellectual traditions of the Indian Right. However, following his new appointment as the new Finance Minister of a West Bengal in economic doldrums, he perhaps faces the most demanding assignment of his career. His supporters however are confident that if there is...

Bengal’s Ludwig Erhard

For decades, Swapan Dasgupta made a career of diagnosing India’s political ailments. As a columnist, editor, author and public intellectual, the erudite and scintillating Dasgupta dissected challenged orthodoxies and defended the intellectual traditions of the Indian Right. However, following his new appointment as the new Finance Minister of a West Bengal in economic doldrums, he perhaps faces the most demanding assignment of his career. His supporters however are confident that if there is anyone most suited to sort out Bengal’s messy economy, it is Dasgupta. His appointment following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ascent to power in Bengal after overthrowing Mamata Banerjee’s TMC regime is among the more intriguing political transitions in recent Indian political memory. India has seen journalists cross into politics before. M.J. Akbar moved from the newsroom to the Ministry of External Affairs. Arun Shourie, one of India’s most formidable investigative journalists, became a reform-minded minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. Others, from Manish Sisodia to Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Chandan Mitra, have made similar journeys. Yet Dasgupta’s case is distinctive. Unlike many journalists-turned-politicians, he was never merely a ‘reporter.’ Whether in debate or through his prolific and trenchant writings, he has always been an intellectual combatant, a scholar of political ideas with a sweeping knowledge of world history by which he leavens those ideas. Dasgupta has always been one of the most articulate exponents of modern Indian conservatism. Educated at La Martiniere College in Kolkata, St Stephen’s College in Delhi and later the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where he earned a doctorate, Dasgupta cultivated a reputation for formidable scholarship. His books, including Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right and The Ayodhya Reference, revealed an uncommon ability to place contemporary political disputes within a broader historical and ideological framework. For his supporters, he was among the few intellectuals capable of articulating conservative ideas in a language usually dominated by the Left. To critics, he was a sophisticated polemicist. Yet, even his opponents seldom questioned the breadth of his reading or the sharpness of his arguments. However, the challenge facing Dasgupta now is no longer intellectual but administrative. The Bengal he inherits bears little resemblance to the state that once led India in industry, commerce and scientific innovation. As he himself quipped in trademark fashion with a sharp historical analogy, the state’s economy resembled postwar Germany. The figures are sobering. West Bengal’s state debt has ballooned to around Rs. 8 lakh crore during the TMC regime. Thousands of companies have relocated or curtailed operations over the years amid a hostile investment climate. The new BJP government has inherited not merely a fiscal challenge but a crisis of confidence. “We are left with a near-bankrupt treasury,” Dasgupta said. Equally troubling, in his view, is the erosion of trust among investors and entrepreneurs. Bengal’s relationship with business has been uneasy to say the least. First the long night of the Left, followed by the TMC’s anti-business, appeasement brand of politics has ensured that the scars of industrial disputes and land controversies remain fresh. In this dire situation, reviving private investment will require convincing businesses that Bengal has changed. In this respect, Dasgupta’s strengths may prove unexpectedly useful. Throughout his career he displayed an ability to engage with ideas, institutions and stakeholders across ideological divides. His early moves hint at a broader vision. Rather than confining pre-budget consultations to Kolkata, Dasgupta shifted the Finance Department’s attention to Siliguri in a moved suffused with deliberate symbolism. North Bengal has long complained of neglect by governments centred on the state’s southern districts. By engaging tea producers, agricultural interests, tourism operators and local business groups, the newly-minted finance minister appears eager to demonstrate that economic revival will not just be a Kolkata-centric project. That said, debt servicing consumes a substantial portion of state revenues. Welfare commitments are politically difficult to unwind and infrastructure deficits remain significant. While public intellectuals excel at identifying problems, governing demands compromises and the acceptance of imperfect solutions. Still, Bengal’s new finance minister possesses as fine an appreciation of history than any Indian politician around. He knows that states decline not just because economic mistakes but because they lose faith in their future. Restoring that confidence may be the central task of his tenure. For years Swapan Dasgupta chronicled India’s political story from the sidelines. Now he finds himself at the centre of one of its most consequential state-level experiments. Whatever the outcome of his tenure, few would deny that Bengal’s finances have acquired perhaps their most learned custodian in decades.

The Rebel Who Refused to Sing by the Rules

New Delhi: Asha Bhosle chose unpredictability in an industry that thrived on predictability. She quietly turned that into a power that could not be robbed, replicated, or replaced. She didn’t just lend her voice for playback singing; she challenged norms and redefined femininity in films. She went on to build a career spanning over eight decades on choices many wouldn’t dare to make.


She defined herself not with rebellion that shouted but with one that sang boldly, sensuously, playfully and unapologetically. While others stayed within the safe boundaries of melody and tradition, Asha broke them – note by note!


In O. P. Nayyar’s compositions, her voice discovered its fearless, untamed spirit. Songs like Aaiye Meherbaan spoke volumes about their musical chemistry.


Beyond Shadow

Coming from the legendary Mangeshkar family, she often found herself in the shadow of her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar. While others perceived that shadow to be suffocating for her, she turned that challenge in her favour and shaped her individuality. When she embarked on her career, she was offered what the industry considered “leftover” songs – cabaret numbers, club songs and bold compositions. Often picturised on vamps and bad girls! But this was the moment when she began writing her own destiny. She didn’t reject those songs, she transformed them and made them her identity.


Songs like Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja, Dum Maro Dum, and Yeh Mera Dil weren’t just chartbusters – they were cultural shifts. Asha brought a raw, uninhibited energy that the industry had never experienced before. She was never afraid to sound different, to experiment, to take risks. Asha infused a playful sensuality and attitude in these songs that made them timeless. Her voice didn’t just follow the music, it owned it. She deliberately did not limit herself to a “good girl” image – because for her music had no moral boundaries, only emotional ones. And that’s what made her a rebel.


Sound of Freedom

Her collaboration with R. D. Burman was electric. Together they created magic that still defines an era. Whether it was the intoxicating rhythm of Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyaar Tera or the hypnotic energy of O Haseena Zulfonwali, Asha owned the songs like a pro and captivated the listeners.  


To box her into just “bold songs” would be a mistake. By singing Dil Cheez Kya Hai and In Aankho Ki Masti Ke in Umrao Jaan, she silenced every critic who doubted her depth. The same voice that once defined cabaret now delivered ghazals with haunting grace and classical finesse. Her brilliance and versatility didn’t go unnoticed.


Asha has won multiple National Film Award for songs that highlighted her vigor and range! She has been conferred with the Padma Vibhushan and the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in cinema, celebrating her lifetime contribution to music. Yet awards only capture a fraction of her story!


What’s truly fascinating about Asha is her valiant evolution. With every decade trends changed, she adapted – singing pop albums, collaborating internationally, and exploring genres that many of her contemporaries hesitated to touch. She never allowed age, expectations, or labels to limit her. In a world where stars slip into oblivion with time, Asha remained relevant – because she refused to stand still.


More than Music

There is something deeply inspiring about her life. Her journey has not just been about success but also about resilience. She found her voice and her ground, when the music industry tried its best to cage her. She has silently turned every ‘no’ into a new possibility. She has often expressed that she sang for joy and not for validation.


She represents every person who has ever been underestimated, every voice that was told to stay within limits. She reminds us that sometimes, the roles we’re given are not restrictions – they are opportunities in disguise. And in every note she sang, there was a quiet rebellion…one that continues to charm generations.


At 92, time may have claimed her but it could never silence her. Somewhere between the rhythm and the silence, her voice still lingers – softly echoing, “Janam Samjha Karo”! 

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