Pi-rated

Piracy has taken deep roots Kolakata. Repeated police raids in the pirated CD den in Chandni Chowk has led the pirated CD and DVD sellers to infiltrate into the numerous crossings of the city. It won’t really be an exaggeration to say that the more important and busier crossings of Kolkata are occupied by at least one such seller in each point. From Hrishikesh to Himesh, Suchitra Sen to Shreya Pandey, De Sica to DiCaprio, with a fair sprinkling of Ravi Kissen, Shakeela and Uttam Mohanty, as also – all available within twenty to sixty bucks set the crossings on fire. Dreamweaver and Delta Force might just be a bit harder on the pocket – but then again, just by the odd bit. That doesn’t mean print piracy has been relegated to a backseat. Pirated booksellers occupy the pavements between such important crossings, with Peter Drucker, J.K. Rowling, Dutta-Pal-Chowdury, Sayajit Ray lying in happy congregation. The arm of law isn’t that long after all.