On May 10, 1902, The Gramophone and Typewriter Limited, Germany, established their office at 8/02 Dalhousie Square, Calcutta. Their recording engineer, William Fredrick Gaisberg sailed for India and arrived in October, 1902 with the newly found technology of sound recording and reproduction. Little did he
This is a story that goes back more than 20 years. With no satisfactory ending in sight as of now. And World Heritage Day (International Day For Monuments and Sites, to give it its proper name), celebrated every year on April 18, is a perfect
What exactly does one do in Diamond Harbour? You may well ask if you have never been there. As is fairly common with people in general, we often end up ignoring attractions to which we have easy access. And since Diamond Harbour is a mere
In the middle of a temple courtyard, a sweat-soaked human figure dances in a frenzy, his face beautifully painted in the most vivid hues of orange, red and green, wearing an incredibly ornate and elaborate headdress that would seem way too large for a single
While the world of Bengali sweets is expansive, there are few that have attained ‘cult’ status not only among Bengalis, but in other parts of the country and the world as well. The ‘mishti’ (sweetmeat) that made Bengal famous on the global map, was created
Social reformer and freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale had once remarked, “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.” This was enough to invoke Bengalis’ pride and since then, they have been swearing by it. A century ago, Bengal was in the forefront in every sphere
In September 2020, six travel agents from Gujarat embarked on a road trip around India to promote domestic travel as a way for the sector to recover from the crippling effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. When the group reached Kolkata, travel agent Rajiv Sethi told
The word ‘kirtan’ may conjure up different kinds of music for people from different parts of India. For most Bengalis, a kirtan is inextricably linked to the Vaishnava tradition as propagated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, musically speaking, most people probably wouldn’t link a kirtan to
Mangal Shobhajatra in Dhaka History records that the Emperor Akbar harboured no rigid views on religion or community. In fact, quite the reverse. In recent years, however, a few extremist Hindu outfits have begun dragging his name into various issues. Last year, someone from Kolkata told
“You think Rs 37 would buy the three of us dinner at Blue Fox?” asks Lalmohan Ganguli alias Jatayu in Satyajit Ray’s immortal Feluda story, Gorosthane Sabdhan, as he picks up a wallet at South Park Street Cemetery, which becomes a clue to solving a