Most Indians have never heard of Dukoribala Devi nor are aware of her daring exploits a century ago, but it will suffice to say that there was a time when this lone lady’s daring acts had terrorized the British regime. She was born in a
37th Indian Brigade in Basra World War I, the first truly global war. Between 1914 and 1918, this terrible conflict accounted for a total of around 40 million military and civilian deaths, including 9.7 million military personnel, of whom at least 74,187 were Indian. Yes, over
Barisal is a major city of Bangladesh on the banks of Kirtankhola river. It is one of the oldest municipalities and river ports of the country, established in 1876 under the British. The ancient city of Barisal was known as Bacola in Europe. Ralph Fitch,
Beth-El Synagogue We have now arrived at the fifth episode of our customised walk around Kolkata, though there’s a long way more to go. For those who have been following the walk, we ended last week at the Saifi Mosque on Brabourne Road, and our walk
The helpless humiliation of lower castes in the ecosystem of a derogatory caste system in India, had been aptly captured in one movie that will be remembered forever --- Goutam Ghose’s Paar. Only a director like Ghose could do justice to a subject matter which
Wish to visit a war memorial built by the British? This one is unique. It was built by the British, but inspired by Mughal architecture. The war memorial of Pepper Pot built in 1847, incidentally had no connection to any war fought in Kolkata. Entrance gate(left)
For a long time, Mirik was only a location you checked into on your way to Darjeeling. Beautiful and scenic, yes, but essentially good for a meal and perhaps a boat ride on the famous lake, but not for an overnight stay. However, that picture
It was a warm afternoon in 1982 in Kolkata, when legendary film maker Satyajit Ray received a phone call from none other than legendary science fiction writer, Arthur C Clarke. He called up Ray after a screening of Steven Spielberg’s ET that sent waves across
No more Potato Chips, the battle is now on a new turf --- Potato Biscuits. Yes, you heard it right. And the centre of this battle is linked to Kolkata with city based Indian giant ITC launching Potato All Rounder Biscuits to give PRAN’s Potata,
Hawa lagey gaaner paley / Majhi amaar bosho haaley (The breeze makes the song-sails flutter / O boatman, be on the radar). None other than Rabindranath Tagore felt the charm of being on a boat for days, sailing on a river. His annual boat trips