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New Delhi: Sourav Ganguly is back in the Indian cricket team and almost every Bengali in Kolkata and across India is celebrating. The reactions to the recall of Saurav have been stupendous. The Bengali politicians of the Left front have always maintained the Indian cricket team simply cannot succeed unless Ganguly is brought back in it.

When Ganguly was left out of the squad, none other than the Chief Minister of Bengal called it ‘grave injustice’. Now that Ganguly is back in the team, he has brought festivities back in Kolkata and smiles on the face of the politicians and cricket fans.

In fact, no Bengali today - not even perhaps noble laureates like Amartya Sen or film actress Bipasha Basu - would probably gain the kind of adulation from masses as well as classes that Sourav Ganguly seems to have won among Bengalis.

The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was - Is Sourav Ganguly Bengal's last icon?

On the panel of experts were ad-guru Suhel Seth, actor Rahul Bose, Editor-in-Chief The Pioneer Chandan Mitra and Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta.

The 20th and 21st century a historian has said has dealt with a series of blows to the self-esteem of the Bengalis. They were once the leaders of India’s freedom movement before they lost out to Mahatma Gandhi. Post-independence, the Bengalis lost out in terms of industrial development, politics and perhaps even in Bollywood where once they were very eminent.

The Big Bong Theory: Is Sourav Ganguly Bengal's last icon?

According to Chandan Mitra, Bengal has produced very few cricketers of international standard and therefore Sourav Ganguly - with his determination, grace, aggression and the capability to leading from the front - is someone who every Bengali looks up to. "He scores runs and gives an inspiring leadership to Indian team. Bengal hasn’t had anybody like that in cricket.”

If you look at those who have done India proud today, among the kind ones like Ratan Tata, N R Narayana Murthy, Sachin Tendular—there is hardly any Bengali name that comes into picture.

“Its happens once in a while that someone manages to capture the attention of so many people. Bengal has always generated icons. Aparna Sen the greatest Bengali actress of her times did not appear in mainstream Hindi movies but her presence has remained massive in Bengal. It's interesting to note that the way Sachin has done India proud, Sourav has done Bengal proud,” says Rahul Bose.

It’s interesting to note that Bengal had once produced leaders and reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Subhash Chandra Bose in the past, has suddenly got left behind in the energies of modern India.

Flash, flamboyance and star-like achievements - “not my cup of tea,” say Bengalis

Perhaps the kind of culture that India now has - a culture of flash, flamboyance and star like achievements - is a culture where perhaps Bengalis can play less and less of a role.

Ad guru Suhel Seth however disagrees completely. “I feel extremely disillusioned that people have chosen to mock a state that has produced so many greats and continues to do so even today. Amartya Sen is a Bengali and is perhaps the greatest economist of this century. Manmohan Singh listens to him more than he listens to his wife. On a more serious note it’s unfair to say that Sourav Ganguly is the last of the Bengali icons. Bengal has more values and has more integrity. Today, India’s finest capitalist - Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - is a communist, India’s finest filmmaker Rituperno Ghosh is a Bengali. Today, India’s finest actor is Rahul Bose. He made even made a Mallika Sherawat look good and decent on the celluloid screen. How many more examples do you want?”

But still in the creative field, in IT, art, business, politics - in all these areas Bengalis are making significant contributions tough at the grass root level, they are not doing anything grand enough to make heads turn. The fact is that there has never been a Bengali Prime Minister, not a single Bengali top-notch industrialist and no particular great Bengali civil servant - the civil services remains to a certain extent, dominated by people from UP and Bihar. The only place where they seem to be doing a little well is perhaps the private sector.

“I think there is no point in singling out Bengal or even looking at Sourav Ganguly as this ‘Bengal specific phenomenon’. I think he is a great cricketer. And the fact that he took off his shirt and waved it in the ground shows that the gentility that you tend to associate Bengalis with, is a nineteenth century phenomenon and has been done away with now,” says Chandan Mitra.

So, do Bengalis need drop the gentility that they have so long been associated with?

“To the question if Bengalis need to be less passive and more aggressive, I would only say the world moves in cycles. Passiveness might again be in vogue some day who knows?” quipped Rahul Bose.

Is Sourav Ganguly - Bengal’s only national figure?

Leading Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta says, “He is one of the most eminent figures in Bengal. Since he is back in the team, I think he is the most important person right now.”

So, why do the young men and women across Bengal admire him so much?

“His determination, his representation as the youth icon of Bengal sets him class apart. He is quite vigorous, disciplined and hard working,” she says.

But do Bengalis look up to him because he doesn’t exhibit those atypical Bengali characteristics. He is not overly intellectual, shy or retiring but on the contrary is someone who is out-and-out aggressive, brawny and someone who can look at the white man in the eye. Are those the kind of characteristics that people increasingly admire nowadays, even among Bengalis?

“I wont say that being aggressive is the only way to be liked. Of course values have changed and people think in a different way now a days. But at the same time, Bengalis are known for being traditional and down-to-earth. I think it is the right combination that strikes the chord,” says Sengupta.

Is the accent of Sourav Ganguly all about throwing off the shackles of the Left. Perhaps getting rid of the old, intellectual Leftist mentality and moving on to a new Bengal, which is going to be all about capitalism led by an industrious Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?

“I’m surprised to hear the term ‘intellectual Left’. Left parties have never been intellectual at all. The first thing they did was to de-intellectualise and de-industrialisation over the past 30-years until Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee started making amends,” says Chandan Mitra.

“Hundreds of Bengalis have gone out of Bengal to show their accomplishment in various fields. Look at Amar Bose - the creator of the Bose sound system. He has been single-handedly making the best sound system in the world. There are so many Bengalis all over the world who are doing great in their respective fields,” says he.

“Koena Mitra is a Bengali and she is a famous item girl. There was a time when Sharmila Tagore wearing a Bikini in the film An evening in Paris created outrage and outcry in Bengal. So there are Bengalis who have accomplished big things, but most of them had to go out of the purview of Bengal to show what they truly are."

According to Rahul Bose, Calcutta is a bedrock of tremendous mental stimulation. Bengalis get an all round development in their upbringing, and it remains with them even when they go outside Bengal or outside country.

The doing away of English language by the Left front in 1981 was something that was considered to have ruined Bengal. Now, the present Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is making amends for the vital tool that was English which Bengal then lost out on.

“Bengal produces more civilised people in a day than Delhi will produce till 2012 - if and when we host the Commonwealth Games. Bengal has produced several unsung heroes. I still remember the finest debater in India ever was a guy called Sudhanshu Dasgupta,” says Seth.

Calcutta is still the only city where men become gentlemen and instead of sending their wives to shop for fish early in the morning, they go themselves. That means true gentlemanliness.

A unanimous verdict that comes from the panelist says if Bengal doesn’t have icons then perhaps we should rethink the definition of the word icon.

Final verdict: Is Sourav Ganguly Bengal's last icon?

The final result of the nationwide SMS poll showed that 85 per cent of the viewers believe there is nothing much to Bengal than Sourav Ganguly while 15 per cent said there certainly are more heroes that Bengal has part from Ganguly.

Results a little depressing for the Bengalis but certainly elating for Sourav Ganguly fans.

More on: Face the nation, sourav ganguly, bengali, bengali icon, buddhadeb bhattacharjee, rahul bose, suhel seth, chandan mitra, rituparna sengupta