It is that time of year, when the blue heavens are decorated with colourful, geometric blobs, and the air is rife with ecstatic screams of "Bho-katta!" Crowds form on the roofs of houses, and the children, nay, warriors, wage the ancient battle to be the
Far from the maddening crowds of Kolkata’s Puja revelers and dazzling pandals, lies Shyamdaspur, a tiny hamlet, tucked in Bankura’s hinterland. The Shali River flows gently by this idyllic village. Unending stretches of green fields sway in the gentle breeze and hurried barren feet of
Our colonisers have left the country long back, but India’s colonial hangover remains as strong as ever, and is a discourse in itself. However, that is not the case with the Durga idol worshipped by the De family of Bhowanipore. How? Well, their Mahishasura just
Durga Puja is here! You’ve already decided on your outfits (bought months ago, of course), which pandals you’ll visit with your friends on the days of the puja, and of course, celebrate Calcutta by gorging on street food! However, will all of us spend Durga Puja
The skies are more blue than usual, and the sharply lined cotton clouds seem straight out of a baroque painting. There are an unusual number of advertisement posters being put up on the sides of the main roads, and the skeletons of temporary stages are
The ancient Thakurdalan at Girish Bhavan in Bhowanipore still stands erect -- a silent testament to the changing times. As the annual preparations for Durga Puja begin, the age-old Thakurdalan is given a makeover. A temporary stage is still erected for holding the Mukherjee family’s
If you thought your kids are safe by shunning the do-doma or kali patka and taking to fuljhuris, charki and rangmashal, then think twice. The apparently harmless fire crackers are in reality, more harmful. The Supreme Court in 2015,had banned the use of sound-emitting crackers