Perceptions'n'Reflections

 My wife's and my Great Escape on January 17th, 2026 was nothing short of Netaji's great escape from Calcutta to Berlin through #Uttarpara.  Image Courtesy: Sandipan Chatterjee Let me start with a famous picture of Dr. Bidhan Roy in our family. Not sure about the exact date but the year was 1952. The government passed as act on land ceiling and like many other royal/zamindar families were asked to either buy back all the real estate from the government or hand it back at an agreed price. On this day a certain terms and conditions were agreed upon with Dr. Roy. The amount agreed upon for ~50 lakh acre across Bengal (including the Sunderbans) was ~Rs. 10 lakhs. I could be wrong.  If you read my blog https://kpax72.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-untold-truth-what-liberals-dont.html , the gory details are provided how Roy cheated my grandfather. L-R - Raja Bhupendranath Mukherjee, BC Roy, Governer Harendra Coomar Mukherjee My father bought the house on Gariahat Road, one of the pri...

 While reviewing e xcerpt from the History of British India vol.2 at the British Library, some important revelations emerge. We were taught that the British built the Indian railway system to develop trade. True but what is also true is they accelerated the work because they were shocked to witness the unimaginable death across the country from famines and natural disasters. They had not witnessed anything like this before. Collectively, the British and the intellectual natives, realized for the first time that the Mughals had simply looted the country and never invested in any developmental activities like building new methods of travel and transport. Did you know that in 1899, 475,000 sq miles of India was prone to drought and 69,500,00 human lives were affected by it while only 6,500,000 could be provided relief? Imagine the colossal loss of life.    Despite coming from the land of Aryabhatta, Patanjali, Brahmagupta, Charaka, Bhaskara, Kanada & Varahamihira we In...

While at the onset of Covid 19 with the lockdown dropped on us like a bomb, many retailers scrambled to keep the lights on. Several organizations globally went belly up while others showed renewed vigor. According to McKinsey Global Fashion Index (MGFI), in the retail sector itself, a record 69% of companies were value destroyers in 2020 compared with 61%in 2019. About 7% of companies left the market entirely, either due to financial distress or because they were acquired by rivals. Organizations that had consistently invested in innovative ways to keep the channels of interaction open with their customers, are now reaping the benefits as the markets ease out. As Covid restrictions were easing out most unvaccinated people were still not comfortable physically shopping. Brands that invested in Live Commerce technologies started emerging out the dark much faster. Live steaming of events, ability to speak with a preferred store associate who helped in guided selling & social shopp...