Meghnad Desai, professor at the London School of Economics and a member of the House of Lords, is setting up a liberal arts college which will offer an integrated four-year B.Phil course.

But guess why Desai chose Kolkata instead of any other metro? Apparently, he is so much under the influence of his namesake, the great Meghnad Saha, that he chose Saha's city for the Harvard-type project.

One of India's greatest scientists, Saha was elected as a fellow of London's Royal Society. He wanted to set up a modern research laboratory in Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, but was not very successful. He moved to Allahabad University but returned in 1938.

He got so interested in nuclear Physics that in 1947 he established Institute of Nuclear Physics which later was named after him as Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. He took the first step to include nuclear Physics in the higher studies of science. In order to develop and popularise science, he even jumped into politics and was elected Member of Parliament before his untimely death in 1951.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya has already shown the green signal. His officers are helping Desai to find a sprawling plot of land close to the city. Kalyani might bag the prestigious project. Rajarhat is another hot contender. "It will not be another run-of-the mill college aping the IITs or IIMs. I want to introduce a free-standing liberal arts college instead of a straitjacketed science or arts curriculum", he said.

"Students can take their pick from a host of subjects ranging from physics to anthropology. The idea is to stretch their ability to explore, assimilate, and think independently. That's what global employers are now looking for."

According to the British MP and well-known NRI, the graduates will not be a drag on the market. "Corporate houses are not too bothered about which stream you are from - arts, commerce or science. They will have no qualms about hiring a student of anthropology! They are looking for people who can think independently and learn quickly", he added.

Desai is in favour of a residential complex. He is a firm believer in teacher-student interaction after classes. So he is looking at a residential college of about 400 boys and girls. And the student-teacher ratio he wants is 15:1.

Playground battleground

A PITCHED battle is being fought in Deshapriya Park, one of the biggest public parks in the city, between Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and ordinary people who use it as a playground.

Locals are angry with KMC, which incidentally owns the park, for giving permission for a khadi fair in the park from 24 December to 14 January. They are aghast at the commercial exploitation of the grounds. They say that the khadi expo will disrupt a cricket tournament, destroy the pitch and hamper sporting activities. But mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who belongs to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has shrugged of all objections and vowed not to retreat.

But the local councillor is on a hunger strike. Debashish Kumar belongs to the opposition Trinamool Congress. He has also filed a public interest case in the Calcutta High Court. Moreover, locals, including school-children, have held several protest marches.

But the mayor refuses to budge an inch. He said: "Any sporting activity in a park is not desirable. So the khadi mela is on come what may." Ironically, at the park's entrance hangs a notice issued by ex-municipal commissioner Debashish Som. It says: "Holding of fairs or any other commercial activity is not permitted." Kumar says that Rs five million recently spent by KMC on beautifying Deshapriya park will go down the drain if the expo is held. He has appealed to the mayor not to make the khadi fair a prestige issue but to appreciate the sentiments of so many aggrieved locals.

The issue has galvanised green activists fighting for what they call the city's lungs. They have also petitioned the Pollution Control Board which is empowered by the high court to keep an eye on the city's fast-vanishing open spaces.

A prominent actor close to the CPM living near the park said: "When there is a clear order by the municipal commissioner himself, who happens to be a senior civil servant, that the park cannot be used for commercial purposes, why must a fair be held there at all? I don't understand why the mayor is bent upon killing the park."