সাঁতার সংক্রান্ত যেসব চলচ্চিত্র আমরা দেখেছি

 1. Koni (1986)

2. The Swimmers (2022)

3. Nyad (2023)

4. Young Woman and the Sea (2024)

My favourite teachers

My mother, for teaching me the letters and inculcating in me the idea that studying is important.

Bengali

• Susanta Das Chowdhury, in class 4. He was the music teacher but he taught us Bengali for a year. He was much better than all the other Bengali teachers I had throughout school. He was the only teacher who emphasised on the difference between shadhu Bangla and cholit Bangla.
• Asim Chakraborty. I took private lessons from him in classes 9 and 10. He used to stay in Kalindi behind Lake Town. He used to be a former teacher of history and Bengali in my school but he retired much before I was in middle school, He greatly improved my Bengali spellings, and also helped me reinforce my ideas about atheism.

English

• Mr. Sengupta, in middle school. He did not teach either English language or English literature. Rather the period was called 'Spelling and Dictation'. What happened in those classes were games with English letters and words.
• Stephen D'Souza, throughout middle school. Taught me English grammar.
• Peter Sidney, in classes 9 and 10. Used to do a really detailed study of Merchant of Venice.
• Sujata Goswami, in classes 11 and 12. Improved my grammar.
• Amlan Das Gupta, at university. For focussing on the smaller picture while dealing with a text.
• Supriya Chaudhuri, at university. For focussing on the larger picture while dealing with a text.
• Paromita Chakravarti, at university. For teaching me about feminism.
• Sukanta Chaudhuri, at university, For keeping texts simple and focussing on the central tenets of a text rather than its long history of criticism.

Physics

• Shampali Mukherjee. She taught us science in middle school and physics in classes 9 and 10. After that, she was no longer our teacher, and my marks in physics reduced from the 90s to the 10s before recovering to the 60s. It is not as if I was fascinated by physics and I wanted to explore the subject further but that is perhaps because of my own disinclinations.

Chemistry

• Mr. Pakrasi. He taught us chemistry in classes 9 and 10. We were also introduced to the chemistry lab in class 9. The idea of liquids changing into other colours seemed fascinating at that age. In classes 11 and 12, he was no longer our teacher, and chemistry lab remained associated with the smell of H2S in my memory after that.
• Bijoy Sir. A private chemistry teacher I went to in classes 11 and 12. He stayed in Salt Lake, looked quite old and had spent some time in the USA earlier. He at least kept my interest in chemistry from flagging to drastic levels and had a simple method for teaching. Just as I was not fascinated by physics, my interest in chemistry drooped soon after but then again, it was perhaps because of my own disinclinations.

Computer Science

• My elder brother. He bought a computer after completing class 10 and when I was in class 7. Before class 10, he had written a 200-page computer programme of the board game Battleship that we had at home. This was for a school assignment when his classmates were writing 10-15 page computer programmes. He was a boy genius at computers. Some of it rubbed off on me and I had created my first HTML website within six months of getting an internet connection at home. It wasn't surprising that he decided to study computer science as an undergraduate.
• Shampa Ghosh. I went to her for private tuitions in classes 11 and 12. Primarily because my school teacher was an explicitly corrupt person. She not only made computer science fun and interesting for me but her son taught me Scrabble and I finished runners-up in the only two Scrabble competitions I have ever participated in (the winner was her son). She taught at Calcutta Girls’ High School, stayed in Chakraberia near Minto Park and also near Seven Tanks in Cossipore.

I initially wanted to study computer science after school just like my elder brother. But my grasp on physics and mathematics was not strong enough to get through to good institutions. Good teachers and good classmates are as important for sustaining interest in a subject as any other factor. I had learnt that from my experience at school. So I bunked the idea of computer science and decided to study English literature instead.

Given the number of English teachers from school who feature in this list, I guess it isn't surprising that I had more role models in English than in any other subject.

Most loved 100 English poems in the UK in 1995

 In 1995, the BBC's television programme 'Bookworm' conducted a poll to find out the most loved poems in the UK. The results were as follows.

1 If -, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936

2 The Lady of Shalott, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92

3 The Listeners, Walter de la Mare; 1873-1956

4 Not Waving but Drowning, Stevie Smith; 1903-1971

5 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth; 1770-1850

6 To Autumn, John Keats; 1795-1821

7 The Lake Isle of Innisfree, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939

8 Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918

9 Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats; 1795-1821

10 Aedh: He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939

11 Remember, Christina Rossetti; 1830-94

12 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray; 1716-71

13 Fern Hill, Dylan Thomas; 1914-53

14 Leisure, William Henry Davies; 1871-1940

15 The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes; 1880-1959

16 To His Coy Mistress, Andrew Marvell; 1621-78

17 Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold; 1822-88

18 The Tyger, William Blake; 1757-1827

19 Twelve Songs: IX ('Stop all the clocks'), W.H. Auden; 1907-73

20 Adlestrop (the place), Edward Thomas; 1878-1917

21 The Soldier, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915

22 Warning, Jenny Joseph; 1932-

23 Sea-Fever, John Masefield; 1878-1967

24 Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, William Wordsworth; 1770-1850

25 Sonnets from the Portuguese XLIII, Elizabeth Barrett Browning; 1806-61

26 The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965

27 Cargoes, John Masefield; 1878-1967

28 Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll; 1832-98

29 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 1772-1834

30 Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley; 1792-1822

31 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost; 1874-1963

32 Abou Ben Adhem, Leigh Hunt; 1784-1859

33 Everyone Sang, Siegfried Sassoon; 1886-1967

34 The Windhover, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89

35 Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas; 1914-53

36 Sonnet 18, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?', William Shakespeare; 1564-1616

37 When You Are Old, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939

38 Naming of Parts, Henry Reed; 1914-86

39 The Darkling Thrush, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928

40 Please Mrs Butler, Allan Ahlberg; 1938-

41 Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 1772-1834

42 Home-Thoughts, from Abroad, Robert Browning; 1812-89

43 High Flight (An Airman’s Ecstasy), John Gillespie Magee; 1922-41

44 Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965

45 The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, Edward Lear; 1812-88

46 The Glory of the Garden, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936

47 The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost; 1874-1963

48 The Way through the Woods, Rudyard Kipling; 1865-1936

49 Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918

50 Bloody Men, Wendy Cope; 1945-

51 Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter, John Clare; 1793-1864

52 La Figlia Che Piange, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965

53 The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin; 1922-80

54 The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde; 1854-1900

55 I Remember, I Remember, Thomas Hood; 1799-1845

56 This Be the Verse, Philip Larkin; 1922-80

57 Snake, D.H. Lawrence; 1885-1930

58 The Great Lover, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915

59 A Red, Red Rose, Robert Burns; 1759-1796

60 The Sunlight on the Garden, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63

61 The Old Vicarage, Grantchester, Rupert Brooke; 1887-1915

62 Diary of a Church Mouse, John Betjeman; 1906-84

63 Silver, Walter de la Mare; 1873-1956

64 Pied Beauty, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89

65 Prayer before Birth, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63

66 Macavity: The Mystery Cat, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965

67 Afterwards, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928

68 The Donkey, G.K. Chesterton; 1874-1936

69 My Last Duchess, Robert Browning; 1812-89

70 Christmas, John Betjeman; 1906-84

71 The Thought-Fox, Ted Hughes; 1930-98

72 Preludes, T.S. Eliot; 1885-1965

73 Love (III), George Herbert; 1593-1633

74 The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92

75 I Am, John Clare; 1793-1864

76 The Hound of Heaven, Francis Thompson; 1859-1907

77 The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Christopher Marlowe; 1564-93

78 The Song of Wandering Aengus, W.B. Yeats; 1865-1939

79 She Walks in Beauty, George Gordon, Lord Byron; 1788-1824

80 Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now, A.E. Housman; 1859-1936

81 The Flea, John Donne; 1572-1631

82 Ducks, F.W. Harvey; 1888-1957

83 An Arundel Tomb, Philip Larkin; 1922-80

84 Sonnet 116, 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds', William Shakespeare; 1564-1616

85 Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1809-92

86 Snow, Louis MacNeice; 1907-63

87 Let Me Die a Youngman’s Death, Roger McGough; 1937-

88 The Ruined Maid, Thomas Hardy; 1840-1928

89 Toilet, Hugo Williams; 1942-

90 Futility, Wilfred Owen; 1893-1918

91 The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe; 1809-49

92 Tam o’ Shanter, Robert Burns; 1759-1796

93 Love’s Philosophy, Percy Bysshe Shelley; 1792-1822

94 The Song of Hiawatha, H.W. Longfellow; 1807-82

95 God’s Grandeur, Gerard Manley Hopkins; 1844-89

96 Chocolate Cake, Michael Rosen; 1954-

97 Jenny Kissed Me, Leigh Hunt; 1784-1859

98 Blackberry-Picking, Seamus Heaney; 1939-2013

99 The Prelude, William Wordsworth; 1770-1850

100 Warming Her Pearls, Carol Ann Duffy; 1955-

Writers and self-promotion

 Daphne du Maurier supposedly said 'Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard'.

Tom Rachman, 'On the Pitfalls of Book Promotion in the Internet Age,' LitHub, 26 June 2023, https://lithub.com/on-the-pitfalls-of-book-promotion-in-the-internet-age/

My favourite Western Classical composers

• Bach
• Vivaldi
• Mozart
• Beethoven
• Chopin
• Tchaikovsky

Comics strips I read regularly

In The Telegraph, Kolkata:

• Blondie (in the Dean Young era)

• Hagar the Horrible (in the Chris Browne era)

• Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

• Garfield by Jim Davis

• Dennis the Menace

• The Wizard of Id

• Ziggy (in the Tom Wilson II era)

• I read all Calvin and Hobbes (by Bill Watterson) chronologically through a set of illegally obtained digital images I acquired way back in 2005. The strip was published from 1985 to 1995, a much smaller run than the other ones, so one can actually read all of it over a small period of time. It is a pity that  I read Calvin and Hobbes through piracy given that Watterson went at great lengths to prevent greater commercialisation of his work. Sad and ironic. 

• Either The Statesman, Kolkata or The Telegraph used to publish Beetle Bailey at one point of time. I remember reading that regularly as well.

• I never read Henry in English as neither The Statesman  nor The Telegraph carried it when I read them but I read a Bengali translation of it called Gablu/ গাবলু which used to be published in Anandamela/ আনন্দমেলা. Wikipedia says that now it is no longer syndicated.

Political issues

 The issues which I believe are most important in India today (in decreasing order of priority) are:

1. Increasing communal harmony
2. Decreasing income inequality
3. Reducing unemployment
4. Improving access to health facilities
5. Improving quality of education
6. Reducing corruption in politics
7. Ecological sustainability
8. Improving caste, gender, sexual orientation equality