THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE OF CALCUTTA

Shortly after Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew is said to have remarked that he wanted his city-state to be like Calcutta. Bereft of any mineral wealth and in a hostile neighborhood, few would have given Singapore, a then-poor island nation covering an area of less than 1,000 square kilometers, any chance of surviving, let alone thriving. But today, Singapore frequently ranks among the top echelons of economic and human development indices. Last year, it ranked first in the World Bank’s Doing Business study, receiving high marks for being supportive of entrepreneurial businesses.

Mr. Lee’s comment may be apocryphal and sounds absurd in the present day context, but it nevertheless has a historical basis. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Calcutta was arguably India’s most important city, ahead of Bombay and Delhi. As early as the 1970s, Calcutta started contemplating the construction of a mass rapid transit system, and India’s first underground metro started operating in 1984. Those who lived through those decades recall the cleanliness—all streets were washed every morning—and the efficiency of the civic administration. Calcutta was the base of India’s largest business groups, and had thriving heavy industry nearby.

Calcutta also had a long and distinguished history of producing titans in arts, culture, science and politics. It gave India luminaries of the independence movement like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and cultural icons like Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in 1913. India’s most renowned filmmaker and Oscar winner Satyajit Ray also hailed from Calcutta. Scientists like Satyendranath Bose and Jagadish Chandra Bose made seminal contributions to quantum physics and wireless radio transmission, respectively. Calcutta has been home to world-class institutions such as the Indian Institute of Management and the Indian Statistical Institute. India’s first IIT was established nearby at Kharagpur in 1951.

Recent Bollywood period films set in Calcutta, such as 2005’s “Parineeta,” showcase the city’s nightlife and vibrancy. On all counts, Calcutta was way ahead of other Indian cities until the tide turned dramatically. The population growth of a city is a reasonable indicator of its standing – people vote with their feet, and human capital flows to cities that deliver economic opportunity, and on this indicator alone, Calcutta’s long-term decline seems to be conclusive and terminal.

In 1950, the city had a population of over 4.5 million. Bombay’s population stood at 2.6 million and Delhi’s at 1.4 million. Bangalore had just 0.8 million people. By 2007, Bombay’s population was nearly 19 million, Delhi and Bangalore had 16.7 million and 7 million people respectively, while Calcutta’s population was 14.8 million. While other cities have successfully projected themselves as offering economic opportunity and upward social mobility, Calcutta is a shadow of its former self and wouldn’t even be counted among the top four cities in India. 

It has long been surpassed not just by Bombay and Delhi, but arguably even Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. When was the last time you heard somebody say they are moving to Calcutta to “make it in life”?

Calcutta had it all. How could a city with such a rich heritage, that had so much going for it not so long ago, fall into this morass of stagnation and seemingly perennial economic decline?

In 1977, a coalition of Left parties led by Communist Jyoti Basu (he had trained in economics under Harold Laski at London School of Economics) came to power in West Bengal and failed to recognize and prepare for the competition for financial and human capital that Calcutta and the state were already beginning to face from other parts of India.

The Left Front government proceeded to defile West Bengal’s business climate and de-industrialize the state in the ensuing decades. In response, businesses simply shifted to other states, notably Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The flight of business and talent has reduced West Bengal to an economic wasteland, and the short-sighted, self-serving policies pursued by the Leftists have severely curtailed the prosperity of at least two generations of Bengalis, besides damaging Calcutta’s brand.

The negative impact of the Left Front coalition’s economic policy should also be seen in the context of India’s rise since 1991 in particular, which only underscores how abysmal the economic performance has been. Calcutta and West Bengal are monuments to the failures of Leftist economic thinking.

Calcutta and West Bengal have failed miserably to capitalize on natural advantages such as availability of mineral resources and geographical proximity to the fast-growing economies of China, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan — all of which are much closer to Calcutta than they are to Bombay and Delhi. Direct transportation links to those regions would facilitate trade and commerce. The responsibility for this colossal failure lies squarely at the door of the political leadership.

The paths of Singapore and Calcutta have diverged so dramatically that, in 2002, when India’s Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Singapore, he expressed amazement at its development, saying Singapore “used to be like Calcutta” and terming its transformation ”chamatkar“ or a miracle. Mr. Vajpayee had last been to Singapore in 1967, and was referring to the Calcutta of 2002, of course.

On being asked what the second world war should be called, Winston Churchill had said “The Unnecessary War”. The same can be said for Calcutta’s economic decline. 

HISTORY IS HOWEVER WITH CALCUTTA SO IS THE FUTURE!

CALCUTTA IS AT THE EPICENTRE OF THE LARGEST DELTA OF THIS PLANET , THE BENGAL DELTA, BORNE BY ITS HOLIEST RIVERS, THE GANGES, FLOWING DOWN FROM THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN RANGE IN THE WORLD,THE HIMALAYAS, CARRYING IN HER BOSOM THE UNBROKEN THREADS OF THE OLDEST LIVING CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD, THE HINDUISM.

THIS IS WHERE THE STORIES OF ALL HUMAN PASTS ARE STILL ALIVE,YET WHICH IS MOST RECENT IS THE STORY OF THE SECOND CITY OF THE LARGEST EMPIRE ON THIS PLANET.

AS THE BRIEF LULL OF THE EBB AND FLOW OF THE HUGE EVENTS IS COMING TO AN END ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD HISTORY, CALCUTTA IS RISING AGAIN AND RUSHING HEADLONG INTO THE FUTURE RIDING ON THE IMAGINATIVE SKILLS OF THE KNOWLEDGE WORKERS OF 21ST CENTURY.

IF INDIA BECOMES THE WORLD'S TEACHER IN THE 21ST CENTURY AS PROPHESIED BY MANY SEERS THEN CALCUTTA WILL BE THE CENTRE FROM WHERE ALL WILL BEGIN, SWAMI VIVEKANANDA 'S PROPHECY OF BELUR BECOMING A WORLD CENTRE OF LEARNING AS A UNIVERSITY HAS ALREADY FRUCTIFIED AND LORD CHAITANYA'S BIRTHPLACE NABADWIP HAS ALREADY BECOME THE GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS OF ISKCON DRAWING GLOBAL TALENTS AND RENAISSANCE OF PRESIDENCY COLLEGE,ST.XAVIER'S COLLEGE, IIEST SHIBPUR AND IIT KHARAGPUR HAVE ALREADY BEGUN IN REAL EARNEST!

THESE CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE WILL PRODUCE BRILLIANT IDEATORS AS PROPHESIED BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA IN THE EAST OF CALCUTTA WHERE SECTOR -V AND RAJARHAT HAVE ALSO HAPPENED!

IT IS THEREFORE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE A MODERN DREAM OF AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION WILL MATERIALIZE RIGHT HERE IN THE HEART OF CALCUTTA WITH WONDERFUL AND FOREVER NEW TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN FUTURE ENTERPRISES MESMERIZING THE WHOLE WORLD!