Bengali Culture...

Although I am an Andhraite, I consider myself half Bengali ( please don't confuse it with half Girlfriend and half Boyfriend ). Being in Army for 33 long years I lived in almost every corner of India and my childhood was spent in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa since my father was working for FCI with a transferable job. As a child, I studied at Calcutta and Durgapur. Frankly, I consider, culture of West Bengal to be one of the richest cultures in India. Well, let me explain, the culture of West Bengal is an Indian Culture which has its roots in the Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama and cinema. I strongly believe in the famous saying What Bengal thinks today, Rest of the India will think tomorrow. Bengalis have deep affinity towards art, craft and music and they mainly believe in socialism. Needless to say, great social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Vidyasagar and great saint Ram Krishna Param Hans and Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore had their roots in Bengal. Bengali literature is considered as one of the richest in the world. Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Dinabandhu Mitra, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Sharat Chandra and Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyaya are some of the names I can recall in Bengali literature. Being a music lover, I must say, the music of West Bengal compliments and adorns its culture. There is a lot of variety within Bengali music, from Bangla classic to Banga folk and even rock. Bengali people are considered to be great foodies ... Hilsa, Bhekti, Magur, Rui and Prawns ( Chingri maach ) are some common verieties of fish cooked on a regular basis. They love to have machcher jhol on a daily basis and of course, Mishti Dohee. Needless to say, Bengali sweets are very famous which I need not mention. Bengalis love reading books and various newspapers... Statesman, Anandabazar Patrika, Aajkaal, Bartaman are very popular in the state. Cricket is played in every gali ( street ) and para ( locality) without break...their love for Football and cricket is just amazing...and they love travelling a lot....next time, you meet a stranger in your town...it could be a Bengali...Col Pendyala Pradeep, Anaesthesiologist.