With the COVID-19 second wave, we have seen death at its diabolical worst, when all allegories of life appeared to be devoured by the sheer annihilation of human life, dreadful spectacles of which kept circulating in the media, mainstream and alternative. Political pundits continue to
Some roadside city taps still have sculpted lion heads. However, the once flowing mouth of the lion have dried up. The body of such taps resembles Greco-Roman styled pillars. Before they were installed, Calcuttans had only one source of water for drinking and bathing ----
The beginning of this story goes back nearly 135 years, to the year 1888. At Shimla, perhaps the most British of all Indian hill stations, Sir Mortimer Durand, the Foreign Secretary in charge of India from 1884-94, was recovering from illness. As he lay in
Within weeks of coming to power for a third term, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has officially inaugurated the second phase of the West Bengal government’s ‘Krishak Bandhu’ scheme, intended as a boost to the state’s agricultural sector. On Thursday itself, several farmers received the stipulated
Baranti (or Barhanti) is a small tribal village in Raghunathpur subdivision of Purulia district. Situated beside Baranti Lake, it is a still growing, and quiet, tourist destination. Not too far from Asansol (about 38 km), Baranti is located amidst the Panchet (Panchakot), Gorongi, and Biharinath
A recent letter stirred the hornet’s nest, not above the world’s highest peak, but down below in the world of mountaineering. Kalyan Chakraborty, Secretary of the Radhanath Sikdar Himalayan Museum, wrote a letter to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) Principal that said: ‘At the order
On August 16, 1897, Hridaynath Ghosh, manager of Kathalguri Tea Estate in what is now Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal, was found brutally murdered in his bungalow, his throat slit wide open. Topping the list of suspects was his former domestic help Ranjan Singh alias
Travellers to and from Sikkim have long been aware of the hardships involved in covering the last mile from West Bengal to Sikkim in particular, from Sevoke (or Sivok) onward. The entire burden of traffic is borne by a single road route, which sometimes becomes
In the world’s largest democracy, gender equality is still a distant dream. A patriarchal mindset is still evident, and derogatory comments about women in politics are rife on social media, Sexist remarks are regularly directed at women who contest elections, whether about their appearance, clothing
OWhen was India’s National Anthem first sung in British India? Rabindranath Tagore’s poem/song “Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka” was sung publicly at the 26th annual national convention of Indian National Congress, held in Calcutta between December 26 and 28, 1911. The song became mired in controversy