You Could have done better !

Jyoti Basu passed away sometime back and I was forced to pen down a few lines. Right from my childhood, I have seen, observed,followed, praised and loathed the march and the trajectory of the red flag. I was born in the year 1977, the very year the Communist party came roaring to power with a coalition govt at the Centre and Jyoti Basu started his never ending reign of West Bengal. My maternal side had been staunch communists and my pet name (Joy - which means victory) was influenced by the great win the Left managed during that time.Two other states, Kerala and Tripura (My State) bears testimony to the Red Brigade and the march of the comrades. There were local heroes too, Nripen Chakrabarty, Dasharat Deb Barman of Tripura were instrumental in establishing and founding the Left party in Tripura. Starting from helping and educating the local tribals and bringing them on par with the so called "intellectual Bengali" , Left was synonymous with life (and still is) in Tripura. Similar is the story of Kerala. But Jyoti da stands tall among others ... to say the least. Although I am not at all appreciative of what he (his govt) did to West Bengal, but out of sheer respect for someone who managed to hold power for so long and could influence national politics they way he has , here's my "Lal Salaam" to Jyoti Basu.