The weekend spilled over onto Monday--today being Saraswati Pujo,all schools and offices were closed.The day began on an unsteady note,as if people were afraid to take the day off and celebrate,only a week after the bandh called by the Forward Bloc...

Too many disasters over the last month or so,the fire at Burrabazar,rising cases of accidents,killing of innocents by police firing,rogue elements on the run,the unprecedented cold--all this and more was just too much for even the hardened Kolkatan..so the morning was unusually quiet...

But conch shells grew louder and bells tinkled harder as the day grew on--the Goddess was here and Kolkatans would worship her...khichurhi bhog with begun bhaja and aloo bhaja and of course kuler chutney!!The Bengali,the diehard foodie would never miss an opportunity to sit down and have gorom khichurhi with spoonfuls of ghee in it,slurping and licking his fingers to show his appreciation!He would never let go of such an occasion...damn the government and damn the weather!!

Otherwise the day was uneventful-overworked housewives tried to make a case out of the burden of household chores while their overfed husbands simply watched television-but the day itself passed by without mcuh happening-nobody killed or looted anybody.

The newspapers carried reports of a teenager in Highland Park jumping to his death after being rebuked by his dad over his choice of girlfriend....the traumatised parents,too shocked to give their version of events to the police.....

The national media is of course busy reporting the expose` of Dr.Amit Kumar,the man charged with conducting 500 or more illegal kidney transplants.

The Sunday Statesman drew an interesting parallel between the Nithari killings and the kidney racket-the two crimes occurred in close proximity to each other!!Could it be that Pandher Singh,the man behind the Nithari killings and Amit Kumar were in collusion and jointly involved in organ trade??The killing of innocent children by Pandher Singh has not been explained and it is a known fact that organs of children are good for transplants as they are less contaminated than that of adults.

Gruesome practices and horrific truths!!We live in civilized times where barbarism is a fact of our lives!

Tomorrow,a gruelling week awaits....