This year heralds the 250th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the ‘Father of Indian Renaissance,’ founder of the "Brahmo Samaj," and a stalwart warrior against the social evils that plagued Indian society in the 18th century. The West Bengal government has planned to
A small Saraswati Puja pandal in a south Kolkata neighbourhood. Sunday morning has begun with the nth rendition of Chikni Chameli blaring from loudspeakers. Suddenly, silence descends. Everything is switched off. In a hushed voice, one young man tells another, “Bhai, Lata mara gechhe ektu aage
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, with annual production amounting to 400 billion square meters of textiles, leading to cutting room floor waste of 60 billion square meters. With terms like ‘fast-fashion’, and mass production fuelling the craze,
As India and Bengal mourned the recent demise of Narayan Debnath and his numerous comic characters that literally ruled our childhood, one name came to the forefront – Ramdhanu. The seven colors of a rainbow gave the name to one of Bengal’s earliest illustrated monthly
A critically endangered resident of the Sundarbans is all set to get a new home, beginning a slow journey to recovery from a disastrous decline in the wild. It is more threatened than the Bengal Tiger but far less known. Batagur Baska turtle is presumed extinct
This is a classic case of one old-timer felicitating fellow old-timers, all of them flag bearers of a proud mercantile tradition. The BCCI (Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, not the other one) is a “non-governmental trade association and advocacy group”, as it describes itself.
The new covid SOP dated from February 1ST has brought in many eases in restrictions, one of them including the timings and services of Kolkata Metro. From Wednesday, i.e. February 2ND, Metro services have been extended by 30 minutes all seven days of the week
Epicurus’ paradoxical attitude towards religious observances is fascinating. Although he dismissed most of the popular notions about gods and their involvement in human affairs, he still encouraged his followers to participate in the traditional cults of their countries. He believed that, by engaging in popular
Have you recently come across something in the supermarket or local markets that look like cauliflower but instead of the traditional white, the heads are purple, orange, and green? Colorful cauliflowers have been popping up in the markets for the last couple of years and
The year was 1919. A 34-year-old Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India’s Western Circle was visiting the Sindh region (of what was to become Pakistan) in search of the ruins of Greek pillars. As he began work on unearthing a Buddhist vihara on