Khatola Tribune

Another Bengali cries buckets over the demise of the fatherland.

For Calcutta intellectual Ashok Mitra, the this following chain of thought is but the work of a monet: death of communism ==> death of ideology ==> death of ideas and ideals ==> death of idealism ==> death of principles ==> death of conscience ==> “deaths and pestilence befouling the neighbourhood”.

The ideology Moscow was notorious for attempting to implant in susceptible minds is, by the reckoning of wise ones, a closed chapter in human history. It has ceased to be relevant to travel either to Moscow or to anywhere else, China included, to drink in the fountain of ideas and ideology. Idealism as such is, we are being told, dead. And once ideals are defunct, holding on to principles is an equally invalid proposition. The only ideal that has survived the tumult of the past few decades is that of hedonism. Forget talking about the past, forget speculating over the future, concentrate on enjoying the present. With idealism buried seven fathoms deep, conscience too has become an inert item. It is no longer necessary to debate a thought, or an about-to-be-embarked-upon act, with one?s conscience. Hedonism in fact implies man?s total victory over conscience. Conscience is no longer capable of restraining you from drifting in whichever direction you, whether mindlessly or with deliberation, want to proceed. The world?s innumerable problems will cease to be for you, none will be around to remind you of the hunger, deaths and pestilence befouling the neighbourhood.

Can this intellectual diagnose his own constipation before he drowns in it?