In 1988, the foppish Anglo-Bengali writer Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri published a book called ‘Atmaghati Bangali’ – literally, ‘The Suicidal Bengali’. Like most of his writing in Bangla and English, it was intended to provoke, rather than entertain or illuminate.
Nirod babu’s book was a rant against Bengalis: he felt they had an overweening sense of self-importance, couldn’t see beyond short-term interests, were nihilistic and – horror of horrors – couldn’t appreciate the genius coiled within the tiny frame of Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri. At the time, his book was laughed out of bookstores by readers and critics.
Today, 17 years after Nirod babu’s death, the title of that book is an apt description of Bengal’s voters. On Thursday, when results of an epic, seven-phase assembly poll in Bengal was announced, it emerged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, had won 72% of Bengal’s 294 seats, bettering her 2011 tally of 184.