On May 24, 1899, a ‘comet’ appeared in Churulia, a village in the Burdwan district. A rebel poet, writer, journalist, revolutionary thinker, and musician, Kazi Nazrul Islam, was born. Nazrul was deeply attracted to the traditions of folk music and poetry in rural Bengal, especially
A breathtaking sight in all its faded grandeur may be found in the Howrah region on the eastern banks of the Hooghly. Reaching the 185-year-old Andul Rajbari requires travelling 30 kilometres along the palm tree-lined Andul Road after passing over the Howrah Bridge or Rabindra
Although Kolkata is well known for being a hotspot for artistic talents, the majority of these treasures are still relatively unknown. Finding them is fascinating and enjoyable since it broadens your perspective. The City of Joy is all about finding contentment in the little things
Plastic is a versatile, lightweight, flexible and highly durable material and is used across almost every sector, but it pollutes too being non-biodegradable! Around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every
The sleepy cluster of red brick apartments tucked away on Chittaranjan Avenue is home to the last group of Anglo Indians living in Kolkata. The forlorn buildings look dilapidated without maintenance but are decked up in utmost yuletide spirit without cosmetic ado. Just adjacent to
“A pen is the tongue of the mind” Creation of pens has essentially facilitated the basis of our civilization. It is through pens that we could write and communicate information for generations to come. The greatest works of art from authors like Shakespeare or the greatest
The life of a honey collector is not an easy one, particularly for those in the Sundarbans. The reason is easy enough to pinpoint – attacks by man-eating tigers. The Royal Bengal Tiger, pride and joy of the Sundarbans, is also the biggest threat to
One movie of Ray among many other pathbreaking ones that brought two idols together was Nayak. 57 years ago in 1966, the story of a humble theatre actor turned matinee idol Arindam Mukherjee hit the screens, catapulting Uttam Kumar to a different genre of acting
For most of us, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury is a name we think of only in connection to his famous son, or even more famous grandson. But is it enough to think of him simply as the father of Sukumar Ray and grandfather of Satyajit Ray?
Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Jawaharlal Nehru are the three Indians most likely to feature in commemorative stamps released by other countries. While empirical evidence for this would be difficult to find, this is what one of Kolkata’s preeminent philatelists has to say. Sekhar Chakrabarti