EDITORIAL FOR 16TH AND 17TH ISSUES.

Editorial

It was the year 2020. The entire world was in an aghast of fear about the existence of human life. Everyone was affected in one way or other. My wife and I were living in my Siliguri home. I was busy with my Institute and work schedule. All of a sudden, India, a vast country, was locked down on 8 hours’ notice. It was impossible for us to come back to Kolkata, where my beloveds were waiting anxiously. I had to shut down my Institute next morning and suspended my regular activities. I became jobless and confined at home. I endeavoured to acquire our daily needs.

At that time, I had a lot of vacant hours. I was in an inanition state and used to talk continuously with my relatives and acquaintances spending a lot on phone calls and video calls. Some of my friends even avoided video calls, as if they were going to be infected by viruses on such modes of communication.  So many unbelievable incidents were happening all around.

However, during that locked down period of staying all day long within home it led to the growth of a few good things too. Weather became pleasant and relatively pollution-free. The Kanchenjungha was clearly visible almost throughout the day. I looked at the huge snow-clad Peak and searched for a way out towards positivity to overcome the untoward situation.

I had a deep intension in mind toward publishing a bilingual magazine readable for all age-groups. It didn’t materialize, as the required time for the work was lacking.So, I grabbed the situation to utilize my spare time for a creative pursuit, instead of watching the TV news of scary information from all over the world. But that was not all. Whenever my wife and I called to Kolkata, our hearts were craving to meet our near and dear ones, though we were never sure if it would ever happen. On the other hand, TV channels were competing to create an appalling situation in their viewers’ minds.

I was desperately asking for positive vibes from my relatives and friends, but most of the responses were negative and nonchalant. I seriously thought that the magazine would take over the dismayed situation and would rejuvenate my energy towards an active habit. However, my intension was to publish the English magazine first, as truly speaking, there was not a single English magazine in our country to satisfy the cultural and literary thirst of all age-groups. The mode chosen during those days of maintaining physical distance was obviously soft and electronic. Very few people responded to my call, but with their invaluable cooperation the journey of EXPRESSION started across the hurdles of time and lack of communication. Finally EXPRESSION first published on 29th January 2021.

Tirtha Basu 

­­ These issues assisted in editing by Goutam Chakraborty and SujanmoSarothi 

All photographs snapped by  Parthapriyo Basu .

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