An apple tree on a rooftop? It may sound unbelievable, but Pulak Jowardar, a science teacher at Bardakanta Vidyapith in Siliguri, has made it a reality. More than just a teacher, he is a true plant enthusiast. For the past two decades, he has been growing a wide variety
“Elephants belonged in their stables, horses in theirs” – that is how royal palaces are often described in Bengali folktales, right? Or even in mythological stories, the king of the gods, Indra, rides a mighty elephant named Airavata. Again, just before the festival season, the divine
On July 4, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) celebrated the birthday of the iconic Toy Train. Now in its 144th year, the Toy Train was honoured with a special celebration for the first time at Sukna Railway Station. This event, called ‘Toy Train Day,’ was organised jointly by
In Satyajit Ray's Nayak, Arindam, played by Uttam Kumar, said, “Shankar-da used to say that unless there is a dramatic backdrop, an ornate frame, and those wide, glazed eyes, true devotion doesn’t quite arise.” And indeed, when we think of Durga, we remember the grand
TJuly 15 2013, was a momentous day in the annals of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), the government-owned telecommunications service provider in India. The day knelled the death toll of one of India’s oldest communication services — the telegram. From that day, the term “Post
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, India’s Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw. Though many in India’s sports community were hoping he would join the elite league of legends like Eric Lemming (Sweden), Jonni Myyrä (Finland), Jan Železný (Czech Republic), and
Bengalis and tea share an unbreakable bond. The whole world is enamoured with the charm of Darjeeling tea. However, coffee cultivation has also been taking place in North Bengal for quite some time. Due to a lack of proper initiatives, it had not gained commercial
International Tiger Day As a child vacationing in Sariya (now in Jharkhand) in the 1960s, Biswajit Roy Chowdhury was captivated by Santhal music and the Santhal way of life. Most notably, he was entranced by the wild animals that the Santhals kept as pets, and clearly remembers two
Doesn't it feel good to know that Kolkata, a city renowned for its vibrant Bengali culture and intellectual life, hosted the publication of the first Urdu-language newspaper, Jam-i-Jahan-Numa, rather than northern India? Even more interesting is the fact that this publication was founded in March
Calcutta had seen a huge influx of British entrepreneurs, like trade agents engaged in commercial transactions, traders, shopkeepers, and labourers looking for earning opportunities in the middle of the city’s expansion. From only eight brick-built (described as ‘pucca’ in contemporary records) houses in 1706, the