Kolkata is all set to join the big club of international cities like Berlin, London, Munich, Moscow and Istanbul, thanks to the Kolkata’s metro railway. Kolkata was the first city in India to have had the underground transit system and though in subsequent years, many
To the people of Charida, a sleepy village of Bengal, masks mean ancient tribal Chhau masks, that are colourful and a work of art. It is believed Chhau dance originated in the soldiers’ barracks (chhauni) of the past when Rarh (part of Bengal, Bihar and
Trees are the oldest friends of humans; human civilization itself thrived upon the fruits, flowers, shade, and other offerings that trees provided. In recent times, as humans are deviating away from the greenery and getting involved in the machinery-dominated world, the cries of nature seem
When it comes to sweet delicacies, none can beat Bengalis. However, in the recent past with introduction of many North Indian sweets on the Bengali platter, many of our indigenous sweets are missing and some are on way of extinction. This is primarily because many
Are you missing Bengal’s favourite Phoolkopir Shingara? Or even the Maacher or Fish Shingaras on a monsoon afternoon? Well, this favourite tea-time snack of every Bengali has an exotic history attached to it. The neatly folded, tightly packed savoury goodness that we thought belonged to
Kolkata’s celebrated identifiers include, among other things, the legendary yellow taxis that have been a staple of our streets since they were introduced in 1958. The legacy of those tough yellow mean machines lives on, albeit fighting a losing battle, among the people who grew
Chandrayaan-3 camera designer Anuj Nandi While the world and India celebrated yesterday's space miracle with Chandrayaan 3 successfully landing on the moon’s south pole, making India the first country in the world to land there, a family in West Bengal’s Islampur was ecstatic. Their son and
Sea Explorers Institute, Kolkata In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan tried to determine the depth of the Pacific Ocean. Far from shore, he dropped a cannon ball attached to a rope into the ocean. When, at 732 meters, it had still not hit bottom, Magellan declared
One of the most popular dictionary definitions of a tote bag, or simply tote, is ‘a large and strong bag’, thus focusing on its sturdiness and utilitarian nature. However, there is nothing that says a tote bag cannot be fashionable or stylish, without losing any
The Union government launched the MISHTI scheme to protect mangrove ecosystems. When Cyclone Yaas slammed into the coastal areas of West Bengal on May 26, 2021, it inundated several villages in the Sundarbans region. Jharkhali, a low-lying village in South 24 Parganas district, however, did not