The Left, clearly, was not prepared to swallow the caustic pill forced down its throat in its own sacred ground. And several others weren’t also prepared to find their favourite dartboard tattered beyond belief. While the euphoria that followed took several forms — from abir khela and sombre ‘we-thank-the-children-of-the-soil’ speeches to wacky G-Talk status updates — there were others who found ways to raise a toast not essentially to a certain victory, but to a defeat they had dreamt of for long. One of them being B Tech student Saptarshi Chakraborty who created the blog Raja Khaye Byang Bhaja (to be found at www.eibarerajashono.blogspot.com). “Events at Singur, Nandigram over the past couple of years had left many of us horrified, if not shocked. I had the opportunity to understand the pathetic situation of the Singur residents, who had lost their lands, from close quarters when I started working with the Citizens’ Initiative last year,” says Chakraborty.

When the poll results came out, Chakraborty like several of his friends were happy with the left being shaken up in the state. “We had all been blogging about the need for change. I realised there was too much to say- put in words. And a picture was what could get closest to expressing what we felt. Plus, the idea was subtle and yet poignant,” he says. And that’s how, Raja Khaye Byang Bhaja (a phrase taken from the popular folktale, Tuntunir Golpo which narrates how a tiny, quick-thinking bird beats a despotic king at his own game) fell into place. The blog invites people to express their feelings post the elections through pictures. It could be an artwork, a self portrait, a snap, anything. A digitally created artwork, made by Chakraborty himself catches your eye as does a version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

... contd.