Devotee:
Pranam, Gurudev.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Pranam, son. Pranam.
Devotee:
Gurudev, our topic for today is the current employment situation in our country. Unemployment has risen significantly, and the overall situation is quite dire. Could you share your thoughts on this? Many people are studying hard, yet they see no future ahead of them.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
No, no... no matter what people study, whether it is engineering or anything else, it doesn't seem to work anymore, son. What kind of work is even available? So many engineers come to me, but there are no jobs. They come to me asking if I can arrange something for them. I have become discouraged and fed up. Where are the jobs in the market? No matter what you study, there is no work. Yes, there are jobs for those who are into flattery or party politics; I see them getting small jobs here and there.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
However, if I tell you the whole story, you will be surprised. It all started around 1988—the shrinkage of employment opportunities. At that time, I used to practice law. I handled Income Tax, Sales Tax, ESIC, Provident Fund, Central Excise, and Bank Projects/Loans. I handled so many things that I barely had time to eat. Every day, someone would come to me with issues regarding their taxes or funds. I had 35 to 40 employees working under me back then.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
But in 1988, the government changed its policy. They declared that businesses with a turnover below 5 lakhs didn't need to pay Income Tax or Sales Tax. That is where it began. Slowly, we started letting go of our staff. I had 300 files from Canning to Kolkata; there were so many factories here that I didn't even have time to eat.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Then, those factories started closing down. We became very disheartened. We had to let go of the employees we had trained. I told them to take whatever opportunities they could find. I helped them with interviews and certificates.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
After 1988, businesses started to decline. Extortion (Tolabaji) became so rampant that many owners told me they couldn't pay so much and that it was better to just close the factories. They were told they had to pay a certain amount every month just to keep the factories running, otherwise, they would be disturbed. This led to the closure of almost all the small and medium factories right before my eyes. Only a few large ones remained, but they didn't need us as they had their own barristers. Small companies depended on us, and we on them.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I remember one day, I was sitting at my table feeling very low. A boy came and asked me where all the other employees had gone. I told him I had let them go because I couldn't afford them anymore and the companies were closing. He told me a story—well, it was more of a satirical tale. He said that a lot of "unaccounted" money from extortion was flowing into the government's coffers. The story goes that Biman Babu (Biman Basu) went to Jyoti Basu and asked what to do with all that money. Jyoti Basu allegedly told him to keep it in his own fund or personal account, because if the party fell, the money would be lost.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Then there was another story involving Mohammad Salim. He talked about a "Green Revolution" (Sabuj Biplab) during meetings. Jyoti Basu allegedly asked someone to bring a donkey and said, "Tie this 'revolution' to the donkey's tail. What is more important, money or revolution?" This was the kind of environment we were in.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Later, I went to a senior leader and asked what would happen if factories continued to close. He said, "Nothing can be done. These factories have grown 'old.' It's better to sell them off. New technology is coming, and that's what will work. Just wait and see; the state will be filled with factories again."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I waited with hope. Then "Didi" (Mamata Banerjee) came in 2011. I was thrilled! There was a lot of shouting and promises—"Why is this closed? Why is that closed? I will see to it!" We thought something would finally change.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
But that hope was washed away. My firm, S.K. Chatterjee & Co., still exists, but I only have one or two boys working now. I can't afford more. And now, the situation is even worse. Every day, 150 young men come to me asking for work. I tell them, "What work is there in this graveyard? West Bengal has become a graveyard."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
It is our misfortune. One by one, every company closed. We thought Didi would change things, but instead, money started being siphoned from sand mines, coal mines, and through various scams. Meanwhile, Didi occasionally roars like a lion about planting trees or catching sand thieves, but we went from the "mouth of a tiger" into the "mouth of a lion."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Then came the scams: Narada, Sarada, Rose Valley, Alchemist. All these big companies got involved and collapsed. But the "lion's roar" never stopped. "Move him from here! Transfer him there!" There was no real punishment, just "eye-wash" transfers.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
This makes me deeply concerned for the future. Every year, 15 to 20 lakh students graduate. Where will they go? Maybe 2-5% will leave for America or Russia, but what about the rest? Then you saw the case of that fake IAS officer, Debanjan Deb. He duped everyone right under the nose of the administration. He took crores of rupees. People on TV were saying they hadn't seen such a smooth con artist since 1827! He fooled everyone—claiming to be a corporation manager, a bank official, or a high-ranking party member.
Devotee:
Gurudev, an IAS officer is a pillar of the country. How is it possible for someone to fake that so easily?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
There is no answer to that. We have the "lion's roar," but no substance. If you want a job, you can work in a shopping mall. Plenty of malls have opened. Or you can work in small shops. But the government can't provide jobs. They announce 24,000 jobs, people get their hopes up, and the next day it's cancelled.
Devotee:
So many exams like the SSC and Municipal Corporation exams have been marred by corruption and results are withheld for years. People pay 500 rupees for a form, lakhs of people apply, and then the money is just embezzled.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
What can you say to such a government? People are just sitting and waiting. They are happy if they get some free rations—rice and pulses. The government has made people dependent and weak.
Devotee:
By giving freebies, they are destroying people's productivity and crippling the state.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Exactly. The state is crippled. Young people are just counting the days. There is no path left except for despair or worse. They can't get married because they have no jobs.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Back in the CPM days, things were bad, and we hoped this government would fix it. But I remember some young men coming to me with bags of food items to sell. They said their factory, Dunlop, had closed, and now they were selling things door-to-door just to survive. It is truly a tragedy. We have seen engineers in Kerala driving rickshaws and M.Tech graduates in Bengal applying for manual labor jobs. Even for those jobs, you need to be a "party man" to get in.
Devotee:
Even the few jobs that come out of the Municipal Corporation are often fixed in advance.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Yes, that's right. And regarding the Central and State governments—they follow the same policy. "Modi-bhai" and "Didi-bhai" might have different banners, but they sit at the same table. One kisses the other's face. Out of 10,000 people, not even one gets a job. And those 9,999 people aren't uneducated; their families spent 5 lakhs on their engineering degrees. This leads to nothing but jealousy and social unrest.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
If the factories were still there, people could have at least earned a living. As a lawyer, I saw it all. I had 300 files and 35 employees, and I had to let them all go.
Devotee:
So, viewers, you heard from Gurudev how the country is heading toward a dark future.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
There is no "goal" anymore. A country runs on goals. If the government had a goal to build industries, people would have a goal to work in them.
Devotee:
In the old days, there were "Five-Year Plans."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Yes, those are gone now. Now it's just about getting through tomorrow. There is no foundation, no vision. The government thinks, "I am here for five years, let me loot what I can," just like the CPM did towards the end. That is why the CPM didn't even get a single seat in the last election. People are following the same path now. West Bengal has become a graveyard.
Devotee:
Gurudev, is there still time to turn things around?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
No, the time to turn around is gone. That opportunity has ended. This government is just following what the CPM started. They won't move for industry. There is no vision for West Bengal, only gimmicks—"Fix the lights here, do this, do that." But do not expect employment.
Devotee:
We have discussed many things today, both political and social. Please don't take this as political bias; this is simply the frustration felt by everyone regarding the current employment situation.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
This isn't about parties. It's about what I have seen. I am 75 years old. I have seen the CPM government and the Trinamool government. I have shared my honest observations. If I have offended anyone, I apologize.
Devotee:
Thank you, Gurudev. Pranam.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Pranam, son.
Spiritual Insight
Guru Shyama Khyapa delivers a devastating firsthand account of economic devastation witnessed over decades—from a thriving legal practice with 35 employees and 300 files to an office where 150 job seekers arrive daily with no hope. The Guru's testimony reveals how the 1988 policy change marked the beginning of West Bengal's industrial collapse, accelerated by systematic extortion that forced factory closures. His comparison between the CPM's "tiger" era and the Trinamool's "lion" era demonstrates that regardless of political symbol, the same predatory dynamic prevailed. The spiritual lesson here transcends politics: a society without productive goals becomes a "graveyard" where human potential is buried. When a 75-year-old spiritual master who has seen governments come and go declares that "the time to turn around is gone," his words carry the weight of prophetic witness—seeing what others refuse to see, speaking what others fear to speak.