GThe Bhagirathi once flowed past a sleepy settlement called Mukhsudabad, its banks wrapped in forests, far removed from the grandeur of Delhi’s imperial court or the glittering capital of Bengal, Dhaka. Around 1704, Murshid Quli Khan arrived, shifted the capital from Dhaka, and gave the place a
Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen that was brought to screen and made into a magnum opus that has literally influenced generations, was originally taken from Satyajit Ray’s grandfather Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury’s book. Upendrakishore’s family used to live in Myemensingha in erstwhile Bangladesh. He was brought up
The Chhat revellers made Chand Paul Ghat a colourful soiree that they do almost every year. But not known to many of those revellers as well as many of the city dwellers is how important this ghat was under British India. We tend to speak
Representative image (Naskari Durga Pujo) Almost every Bonedi Durga Puja in Bengal has unique stories about how it started in the first place. Hereby GB brings to you the 480-year-old Naskari Durga Puja, an unusual tantric Durga puja held on the Bangladesh border. It is said Ma Durga appeared in
Dadar Kirti (1980) Cast: Anup Kumar, Tapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Sandhya Roy, Debashree Roy, Ayan Banerjee, Kali Banerjee, Ruma Guhathakurta Director: Tarun Majumdar Most dedicated readers are extremely wary when it comes to cinematic adaptations of the written word. With reason. Many beloved works of literature have been
Had Uttam Kumar not turned him down, Satyajit Ray would probably have made ‘Ghare Baire’ in 1956, the script for which he had written in the 1940s, based on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel. By the time Ray eventually got around to it in 1984, having quite possibly created a world
The corridors of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) have always echoed with stories—some whispered between classes, some scribbled on crumpled pages, and some that finally made their way to the big screen. This year, a few of those stories are breaking free, traveling far beyond campus
WRadhaballabhi, also known as Beshtonika in Sanskrit, is an ancient vegetarian savoury dish that is also a favourite snacking item of Bengalis. Radhaballabhis are soft, deep fried flatbread or luchis (pooris made with all-purpose flour or maida) stuffed with a spicy lentil filling. Radhaballabhi is essentially
At a busy tea stall in North Kolkata, a group of strays nap lazily in the shade. One of them, a caramel-coated dog with gentle eyes, stretches and ambles towards a man sipping tea. Instead of shooing him away, the man tears off a piece of biscuit and
"I t was 1955–56. My childhood days. Girls would play hopscotch on the rooftop, and a few of us boys played ‘cops and robbers’ (Chor-Police). That game had a strange kind of thrill. Gunfire was raging across the world and we used to chant a rhyme—“Saregamapadhani