‘Bosonto eshe gechhe’/The Spring has arrived

''Bosonto eshe gechhe' (The Spring has arrived) is a song from the national award-winning Bengali film 'Chatushkone' directed by Srijit Mukherjee. But here I am not going to discuss this film. Rather I am going to discuss the particular sentence/phrase: "The spring has arrived".

Readers! What do you feel when you hear this particular phrase? What impression comes to your mind? I am sure 90% of the readers would mention about flowers, butterflies and other beautiful things. Many of the readers would also write 1000-word essay with brilliant quotations on the spring, which is known as the king of all seasons ('rituraj').

But in West Bengal, there are some people who shudder to hear this particular phrase. This phrase doesn't bring any joy in their heart; instead they start thinking about blood, gore, killing and destruction. Yes, it is true!

Way back in 1967, the Naxalite movement started in Naxalbari, an obscure village of North Bengal. The small fire gradually engulfed the entire state and many brilliant students from top-level academic institutions of West Bengal joined this violent movement aiming to change the system of governance of the state and the country.

This movement was initiated and encouraged by the Communist Government of China. The People's Daily of China hailed the movement as 'A Peal of Spring Thunder' in the sky of India.

However, this Naxalbari movement later proved to be an extremely toxic and destructive movement. Mindless destruction and wanton killing of Bengali intelligentsia became essential parts of this so-called peasant revolution. On the other hand, the Bengal police also resorted to wanton killing and brutal torture of those who joined this movement.

Those who grew up in West Bengal during the period of 1967 to 1972, still shudder when they hear this phrase "Bosonto eshe gechhe" or "The Spring has arrived". The Naxalites of that period often used to give green signal for murder/destruction by using this particular phrase.

(Competition entry: March 2024 Topic-based contest - Spring)