in kolkata it is still cold drinks only an executive of a corporate house complained that the firm had spent a lot of money to book special boxes to entertain special guests but they could not offer them beer we are offering drinks to our guests in mumbai and bangalore but here we cannot he said in fact spectators sipping from beer cans is a common site in any cricket ground in australia south africa or west indies it was a strict nono in india till ipl changed the definition of entertainment in the country but kolkata did not accept the change like many metro counterpartsdance of democracyshall we dance that wonderful phrase has some other connotation when it comes to the elections the state election office recently received a letter from a staterun cultural body asking them to clarify if a dance festival could be organized and whether it would go against the model code of conduct aghast at the plea the state election office too has forwarded the request to the election commission in new delhiriding high on englishwhile travelling through the noisy stretches of central kolkata from new market to lohapool after a long day at work one hardly notices the driver while getting into an auto but here was one you could not help but take note of madam are you a regular passenger he asked wow such fluency in english from a threewheeler driver was surprising indeed but didnt they say autorickshaw drivers in south india spoke fluent english they are however rare in our city it has to be conceded though that the number of englishspeaking people is going uprecently at the writers buildings a lady working in a ministers office requested her boss for a photo with her she was all dolled up and ready for a shoot but the minister was not one to give in so easily what do you think you will not see us again we are not returning to power he thundered a wee bit embarrassed the lady said sir i thought i might get transferred elsewhere and hence wanted a photo with you a bit soft now he said all photo sessions would be held after the elections but no one knows if the minister will return to the secretariat after the polls