Janam Mukherjee

4 Published Works

Author · Contributor

Janam Mukherjee is a Professor of History at Ryerson University, Canada. He’s also known as an anti-war activist and a creative writer. His published research book is Hungry Bengal: War, Famine, Riots and the end of Empire (2015).

Published Works

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Mahāmārī1 Fragments of Life under Lockdown

“Rations did come, but who did they go to? Those who live in flats. Those who live in houses. Those who have some connection, those who make themselves known, they were getting the rations. They were getting 5 kilos or 10 kilos of ration — chal, dal, etc. But how many are there who are living in this small room or that - who have nothing much of an address? They survive from day to day. They work, and they eat. Day by day, they earn something and they eat. They have no ration cards. Those families who in the past might have spent 150 or 200 at the market, they now have nothing. From day to day, they are eating nothing. And then what happens to them? They are dying also. When someone would come to give out food — those people who from there own pockest would come to give – people from all around would come running. For their stomachs, all people will sacrifice their shame. Who knows if people are dying of corona or dying of hunger? When people are dying, their loved ones do not even see the bodies. They are packing up the dead bodies, wrapping them in white plastic sheets, and taking them away. No one knows where they are taking those bodies. Or maybe they are admitted to the hospital? Maybe it is corona? People only hear that they have died. Where they are taking the bodies, or who has taken the body, they don’t know. Whether they burned the body, or just tossed it somewhere, or buried the body – who knows? They are just packing them up and then they are taken away. Who knows how many are dying and why they are dying? You can’t count how many people have been dying all around, the way that you can sit and count money.”

Appears in 230121134036 (2022) Read Article →

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Cloud-covered Stars: Patriarchy in a Bangali Household

The lower middle class in Bengal is a community the likes of which I can draw no comparison. There is a kind of psychic violence to life that is impossible to describe; it must be witnessed. The precarity of life is harrowing, and the disappointments--educationally, politically, environmentally and otherwise--pile up so high, that they can become simply overwhelming. The educational system is riddled with injustice, hypocrisy and spite, and the degrees garnered at considerable family expense, outnumber opportunities ten to one. Suicide around exam times is common, and the very classification of “middle-class” is also somewhat deceiving; for many the distinction pertains only to living in a brick-built structure (a pakabari) owned or rented, and being of an upper caste.

Appears in 250302105332 (2024) Read Article →

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Walls

Today a serious storm has descended. At six a.m. the windows above my bed flew open. Before I could secure them, it had begun to rain, a sudden torrent cascading from the towering monsoon sky.

Appears in 220508123438 (2016) Read Article →

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Kolkata Bhor-bela

I awoke again too early this morning The young boy with whom I share a room was still asleep.

Appears in 220508123438 (2016) Read Article →