The great Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay once wrote that Bengalis as a race looked to their rulers for even the history of their own race, and were experts at forgetting their past achievements. Even if we were to set that aside, we can say with certainty
To put it blandly, food and Bengal, or food and the Bengali, have always shared a special relationship. The popular theory is that Bengali cuisine is the only traditionally developed ‘multi-course service’ in the Indian subcontinent, similar in structure to the modern ‘service à la
In these horrific times, looking for help on social media for a friend whose elderly father urgently needed oxygen, I came upon a post by Kolkata Police, detailing how they had busted an oxygen and Covid drugs racket, and were on the hunt for all
In a 2018 paper by Richard Thompson in the journal Clinical Medicine, published by Britain’s Royal College of Physicians, the abstract stated, “There is increasing evidence that exposure to plants and green space, and particularly to gardening, is beneficial to mental and physical health, and
Even if you don’t know it by name, the nearly 100-foot tall, graceful white tower is instantly recognisable to any Kolkatan as a BBD Bag landmark, next to Writers’ Building, and looking straight down Old Court House Street. Visible from a long distance even today,
Sibtainbad Imambara. Not a very familiar name even in its native Kolkata, leave alone the rest of India, which is unusual for one of the few surviving remnants of an unforgettable chapter in the city’s history. An edifice which was created in the likeness of Lucknow’s
This is a story that goes back more than 20 years. With no satisfactory ending in sight as of now. And World Heritage Day (International Day For Monuments and Sites, to give it its proper name), celebrated every year on April 18, is a perfect
In the middle of a temple courtyard, a sweat-soaked human figure dances in a frenzy, his face beautifully painted in the most vivid hues of orange, red and green, wearing an incredibly ornate and elaborate headdress that would seem way too large for a single
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10P4X1iBHbQ The word ‘kirtan’ may conjure up different kinds of music for people from different parts of India. For most Bengalis, a kirtan is inextricably linked to the Vaishnava tradition as propagated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, musically speaking, most people probably wouldn’t link a kirtan to
“You think Rs 37 would buy the three of us dinner at Blue Fox?” asks Lalmohan Ganguli alias Jatayu in Satyajit Ray’s immortal Feluda story, Gorosthane Sabdhan, as he picks up a wallet at South Park Street Cemetery, which becomes a clue to solving a