Another Bandh

The speculations started yesterday with people asking each other - will the bandh be successful; though actually they wanted to know whether they are getting a paid holiday or not.
I have been flouting bandhs since I can remember; not because I was a well-informed or concerned about the ill effects of badh, but mainly because I couldn't and still cannot accept a few people with their own agenda restricting my free will and movement; how hard they try to rationalise their act. I still think bandhs do not serve any fruitful purpose are a tool for show of strength only.

Three years ago a few bandh 'enforcers' (who were the inventor of bandhs in this part of the country) smashed the windscreen of my car. That cost me a lot of hard-earned money and hassles. This time I decided not to take my car to office. May be I am growing old, or may be I am becoming wise.
The attendence in my office was 100% as always. Train movements were affected at Rangiya in Assam where the MLA is from CPM; the party which is sponsoring the bandh. I called up my uncle who is a CPM's MLA from Sarbhog and jokingly asked why was he lagging behind while his collegue from Rangiya can show such a strength. He missed the cue and started seriously explaining how they have planned to block rail movement at major stations like Bongaigaon and Rangiya only. I did not press hard to explain him the joke.
This bandh, he said was against the price rise and failure of the Central Govt (of which CPM was a part till a few days ago) to check inflation. I could not understand how a bandh is going to help in checking inflation or price rise; probably because we were not tought this kind of economics in college. We were taught, lack of production and income generation typical of a bandh day actually creats inflationary pressure affecting the supply chain. But then, CPM's economics is different and taught only to party whole-timers only.