Celebrities pondered over some of the perennial imponderables of the Bengali persona and came up with fascinating interpretations in a spectacular and glittering event during the TV9 Bangla Baithak on March 25, Friday.

Organized to discuss Bangaliana, the umbrella theme to celebrate the first anniversary of TV9 Bangla from the country’s number one television network TV9, a cross-section of Bengali achievers converged at ITC Sonar in a day-long deliberation of some of the questions that have come to encapsulate some of the core characteristics of Bengalis, a race that led the country in diverse fields for well over a century but has somewhat lost its way over the past few decades, the channel said in a press release.

Literature Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay said, Bengali bhadrolok underwent a transformation and learned to sweat only after the partition. “In my childhood, I did not see Bengali porters, cab drivers, or tonga wallahs, But Partition changed all that and pushed Bengalis towards a severe struggle for survival and hard physical labor.”

Mukhopadhyay added, “Bengalis think themselves to be superior to other races but are afraid to compete with them. He also said organizations such as Bandhan Bank are examples of Bengalis getting rid of old baggage and immersing themselves in hard work.”

Actor Ashish Vidyarthi, who was brought up by a Bengali mother, thought leaders extend the horizon of their minds. One remains intellectually alert, and innovation follows in different fields. Vidyarthi whose oeuvre spans 11 languages said events such as the TV9 Bangla Baithak can encourage people to dream.

Entrepreneur and managing director of Techno India group Satyam Roychowdhury said that he does not agree that Bengalis are not capable of setting up and running successful businesses. “I have been running a venture that harnesses the strengths of both goddess Saraswati and Lakshmi.”

Ace summiteer Basanta Singha Roy pointed out that Bengalis are not idle and have frequently demonstrated their love for adventure.

One of the shortcomings of the Bengalis that was discussed was their inability to beat their drums.

Outlining the need for publicity, singer Shilajit said that more people want to click a picture with him than those that want to hear him sing, and therefore, publicity had its utility.

“One has to walk out of isolation and reach out to the people. But then one should do it with finesse,” said singer-lyricist-filmmaker Anindyo Chattopadhyay.

Veteran journalist Sankarlal Bhattacharya expressed a nuanced opinion about being absorbed in creative/intellectual pursuits. He flayed the craze for social media and said that it packs the power of publicity but lacks the touch of creativity.

Predictably the session that began with the question “Are Bengalis every inch a political animal?” generated the most heat.

While discussing the rather tongue-in-cheek proposition, politicians such as former governor Tathagata Roy, Minister Shashi Panja, Nirbed Roy, and Shatarup Ghosh agreed that Bengalis are perhaps more politically aware and conscious compared to other races but could not agree on the point of whether that did them good or harm.

While Tathagata Roy thought this “political consciousness” was essentially a Left contribution that placed political awareness above other virtues and even made Bengalis forget the dividing line between what is fair and unfair, Ghosh said it made Bengalis a far more responsible and socially aware lot.

Actor Arpita Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh, and filmmakers Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Anik Dutta said that Bengali films have to rise to their earlier quality and pointed out that the government has to come forward to help the industry with halls and grants/subsidies somewhat in the lines of what Kerala has done.

Commenting on the event, TV9 Network CEO Barun Das said, “Organisational politicking is a trait that cuts across all segments of the population and is not necessarily a defining trait of the Bengalis. Ïf an individual feels what he/she got is not what he/she deserves, politicking is frequently the result.”

Speaking during the session titled ‘Kathabarta’ with managing editor Amritanshu Bhattacharya, Barun Das also observed that if Bengalis have become risk-averse, it is mainly because their aspirations have gone down. But he also said that the young generation feels at home with his/her counterpart in the developed West and in that sense, the young adults have become global citizens.