4 bizarre reasons why Kolkata doesn’t have " work culture" !

Hey guys, how are you doing? So as promised, I'm back here with another episode of Frontline and Chai. So let me take a sip of chai before we begin this particular episode of the podcast. You guys can sit with your chai also to listen to this. This particular podcast is why Kolkataans are actually, uh, assumed to be lazy or they don't have any professional attitude. Why the people of Kolkata do not work? What is the reason? And these are 6 bizarre reasons which I'm going to explain to you, and nobody has ever talked about them, these reasons. And but me being a hardcore, being a hardcore Kolkataan, I can absolutely relate to What is what's the reason behind this? So the first reason, let's get to the point right away. The first reason behind this is every Kolkata you come across, they have some kind of a zamindari background. So it's very strange, but Kolkataans, most Kolkataans, if you come across, they will share their about their zamindari heritage. Which means during zamindari period, they were ruling over a certain section of the land which was given to them by the British. And most Kolkataans you will find, they will have this heritage. Like my background, I'll tell you, my great-grandfather had a zamindari house. I mean, we still have that house in central Calcutta. And they had in fact 7 houses all over Kolkata, which are all sold now. Before they became paupers, obviously. So there used to be a nach ghar, you know, a dance room where people, nach girls used to be invited to dance, perform dance on particular days, and people would throw money at them, you know, that kind of attitude Kolkatans have. They kind of ruled. So How do you expect their descendants to serve? Because naukri or a job for Kolkata is essentially a service or chakri means chakur. So that mentality has still been very strong even with the most unemployed youth who if you give them a job They will get that go to the job, but they are not the kinds to to obey orders. They have the mind of their own because they have that zamindari blood running through their bloodstream. I mean, if you think it that way, though there is no zamindari, no money anywhere, they need money to work and to support their families. But that streak is there still inside them. So most Kolkata, the zamindari streak comes in there, you know, obstructs them from obeying orders or taking orders from the management. Now, as you will see, I'm, I want to be a little play the devil's advocate here, and people are in the job front. Who are the ones who are most successful? The ones who obey orders, who follow orders given by the management. So the management will promote that kind of a person and make him the manager or the vice president of a company when that person is following the management orders, okay, and being able to handle everything, being a very diplomatic person, being able to handle everything. I'm not saying that all Kulkatans are not diplomatic, but essentially when you come from a zamindari background and you have that kind of heritage, you would step down your foot somewhere and not obey orders. These are the times when a Kulkatan feels— they feel the necessity to voice their own opinions, and thus they lose their jobs or they give up their jobs. You know, they leave their jobs. So most of the times this happens very much among Bengali youth and Bengalis generally. I've seen this happening so much among them. So this is one very strange and bizarre point, you know. Second point is that it's a very, very weird thing that my friend who lives in Delhi, she pointed this out that In UP and Bihar and parts of Haryana, people are always looking for money. Like I went to Delhi. I remember I was walking on the street in the morning. People are like, "पैसा पैसा पैसा पैसा" That's their attitude. You know, like they don't have anything in their mind. They just want money, money, money, money, money. And then the end of the day, they're like so dissatisfied. They're coming home tired and dissatisfied, although they have earned some money. It is very strange, but the reason behind all this is because Kolkata essentially is based on a very fertile land. This was pointed to me by a friend of mine. So this, because they didn't have the fertile Ganges Basin, worked as a very fertile land, and there is huge paddy fields. Whenever you go out of Kolkata, you will see huge paddy fields and Very fertile land. So the basic need for food, for growing food, was not very difficult. Tilling land and growing food was not very difficult because it was— West Bengal has been bestowed with this fertile land. It's another story that they haven't made full use of it, but essentially the basic need to grow food Basic the hardship to grow food, which is there in Haryana and UP and parts of Bihar. The the land is not so fertile. The basic necessity to grow food is not there. You know, like so Kolkatans have been getting food on their tables, fish on their table right from the start. So machi jhol baat is a staple diet, and they don't feel a very big necessity to acquire it because it it's It is— the land is bestowed with that gift, you know, that natural gift. So, so what happens is that when, when you start, you have that privilege with you, you do not want to go— do not think of tilling the land, growing your food, and how you're going to make that land fertile to be able to feed your— to be able to grow that particular crop. So in Kolkata, West Bengal has been bestowed with fertile land. That is very important. Like Bombay, you will find people are happy and satisfied. Why? Because Bombay is near a coastline. So I've seen this in my— I've seen this trend. The people who live near the coastline, live near water, are essentially happy people. You will not find Bombay people too dissatisfied with life, or, you know, there's kind of a grudge and they want to leave their city and go. Though in Kolkata, like, people are leaving the city, but essentially people are content over there because of the Ganges Basin. There's the huge water body which lies beside the city. It is, it is blessed with the water body. That is the second reason I can think of. And the third reason is that Kolkatans do not care about money. So it's it is very true. It is very true that Kolkataans really have to be really they have to really train their minds to be able to care about money. Like Ram Krishna Devi he said "Taka mati mati taka." Essentially most Kolkataans would believe that, like they just need the money to fulfill their wishes desires their children's education and the children going abroad children settling abroad that kind of money they don't. They need. They no don't need flashy cars. They don't need flashy houses. The cracks of Kolkata, they do not really flaunt their wealth. There are very few Kolkataans. Of course, these days, you know, you have to get competitive, and there are neighbors always flaunting their wealth, and you are always looked upon, looked down upon because you're wearing typical. Like very simple dress and going out like that. So you look down upon— the society has, has developed a perspective of looking at you with, uh, looking at you and looking at your dress first, what you're wearing, what kind of a watch you're wearing, what, uh, what car you're driving. So people have, uh, started taking that seriously and they are You know, like they're buying new flashy cars and wearing some designer watches and designer clothes just to keep up with the society and keep up with the peer pressure. But essentially, Kolkataans are not like that. Essentially, Kolkataans have when they go back to their homes and their mother is feeding them machet, jhol, and bhat, they're very happy and content. They do not need to flash. Their designer stuff, you know, like in reality. When they go out in the society and they're meeting other people from other parts of the world and other parts of the country, they have to flash all these because to keep up with the peer pressure. So that is a very big thing. Kolkatans really do not care about money, you know. For them, money is a means to achieve something, not the गोल, लाइक यू विल स्टिल फाइंड पार्ट्स ऑफ़ कोलकाता पीपल गो आउट इन अ स्मॉल थोली लाइक स्मॉल पैकेट होममेड जूट बैग एंड दे गो एंड बाय फ्रेश फिश फ्रॉम द मार्केट। दैट इस, आई रिमेम्बर आई हैड इंटरव्यूड आशीष विद्यार्थी लॉन्ग टाइम बैक एंड ही सेड दिस थिंग अबाउट कोलकाता ए He said that this you will never find in any part of the world. To get— to go out in the morning to the market and get fresh fish and vegetables daily, you will not find it anywhere in the world. So nobody cares about that kind of freshness, you know, it's that kind of a thing. And then every morning, the mother of the house is doing puja and blowing a conch shell. Every evening, a conch shell is blown. It still happens in parts of Kolkata, in the northern parts of Kolkata, central part. I mean, I'm not categorizing any parts, but essentially it happens still. And this being in touch with the spiritual part of life, the cultural part of life, makes Kolkatans believe less in the money and the material things they want to achieve, which is why Kolkatans are not driven to get money, driven to acquire money. And that's why Kolkatans, you would find, they're not ready to work for money. Okay, second point. The third point is that Kolkatans are filled with intellectuals. They are essentially very, very cultural and intellectual people. One of them, it's called— Kolkata is called the cultural capital of India. Not that they worked for money. My— I know a person who never— who was a very famous singer, and he never asked for the money when he sang. So he said that he believed that, okay, money— if they have hired me, they will send me the money themselves. Now, most of the times, the organizers forgot to send money, so he died a pauper, basically. But he was a very, very famous Rabindra Sangeet singer. And in every household, even now you will see, every household, the child of the household, the girl or the daughter or the son, they are, it's mandatory for them to learn some dance or a song or an instrument, a tabla. You will still find people taking the mothers taking their kids to a dance class, to a singing class, to a tabla class, to a culturally it is very culturally imbibed. The whole city is very culturally strong. Even in my days, like I am a Kathak dancer and I am a gold medalist. So I shouldn't be talking about it because my. Dad would be— my parents were happy that I was learning dance and I was doing so well, but I was never taught to sell my art. So I could never think that I would dance for money, dance to be— to get paid. So which is why I kept it inside me. Like this painting, you would see, I love to paint. I'm— that's my pastime, but I can never think that I'm going to sell my paintings. Which is why it's very difficult for me to sell my books because I write and I write so many books. I've written so many books. There's still one novel in my computer, but people don't read, people don't buy books. So that's a different story altogether. So, but I cannot sell my books, you know, very, very effectively. This is the reason why Kolkatans are very culturally enriched and they find it very difficult to sell their culture. Sell their talents. We have four Nobel Prize winners: Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa, Amartya Sen, and O.B. Chidambaram. There are four Nobel Prize winners from Kolkata. There's one Oscar winner from Kolkata. So all the entire Bollywood is was filled with people from Kolkata, like in songs. R.D. Burman he was Not from Kolkata, he's from Assam, but he was Bengali. So Adi Barman was Bengali. Okay, Kishore Kumar. Look at the rich culture we have. Okay, then Hemant Mukherjee. I mean, everybody I can think of, all the actresses like Rakhi and Mousumi Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, all are from Kolkata, like Bengal. It's Bengal. So, Kolkata is a rich cultural pool from where all these talents emerge. It's very, very culturally enriched, and it is very difficult for a cultural person to market himself or herself. So, they are— they only create. People are always creating something. They're doing something to create for the world. And they do not think about themselves so much. So that's why Kolkataans are not ready to make money out of it. These are the four things I can think of. Or did I say five? Okay, five. And the sixth one is very not so positive, but also very important is that because of those 27 years of left front government ruling our country, ruling West Bengal for such a long time. The concept of unions came in and it kind of obstructed development to a lot extent. So whenever the the bosses or the management would try to do some kind of a development which would which would somehow come in the way of their lifestyle, the union would be very active was very active and the unions actually always protested him. ब्रॉडडाउन डेवलपमेंट्स हैपन वेरी रिसेंटली फॉर द सिंगुर डेवलपमेंट द सिंगुर टाटा वांटेड तू स्टार्ट टाटा मोटोस इन नैनो फैक्ट्री इन सिंगुर एंड हाउ द डेवलपमेंट वी सॉव दैट दैट इज़ नॉट वेरी समथिंग यू कैन यू शुड बी प्राउड ऑफ़ बट एसेंशियली दैट इज़ अ वेरी इम्पोर When you— that's, that's like something you can see from top, but things that you cannot see are the ones I talked about. So essentially, since I am a Kolkataan, and Kolkataans actually, they carry their heritage and culture wherever they move, you know, in any part of the world. So wherever you see, like, you'll find, uh, Kolkataans moving their stuff, you know, like this bad eyebrow. Brought from Kolkata all the way because it is my heritage thing. So I brought a couple of furniture from Kolkata. So I do not want to live in Canada with their furniture, with the fine furniture available here. I want to have with them from Kolkata. So I got, and you'll see the lamp combo and everything is on top of the bed. So I hope now people will be able to understand what stops Kolkataans from working and why the work culture in Kolkata is so bad apparently. Once you know the problem, then you can definitely address it. And the Kolkataans will know why they do not want to follow orders, because they're essentially leaders. So Kolkata had been leading in everything practically. Even during the British movement, Khudiram Bose was the first Kolkataan who went— got hanged. Like he said, hang me and free my country. So Kolkataans, the Bengalis, were the first free— first people in the freedom movement. Bengalis were the first revolutionaries post-independence. The Naxalite movement was the— Bengalis were the first revolutionaries. So Kolkata was never behind. It's just that now we are complacent. We're very happy. We are okay with whatever we get. We are okay with it. We are very content. I hope I've been able to explain to you. And keep watching my channel Frontline and Chai. This is— I have renamed Musings from Afar, uh, as Frontline and Chai, and I've made another channel Musings from Afar, which is going to be a different vibe altogether. Please subscribe to both the channels and keep watching. See you when I see you next. Bye-bye.