The Bengal Store has long established itself as a primary source for some of Bengal’s most unique offerings, be it cultural, culinary, or decorative. However, we have not really told you about our literary range, our treasure trove of rare as well as current books
“As among the Kachharis, Bathou is the chief deity of the Meches. They worship the sijou (euphorbia) tree, which they plant in the northeast corner of the courtyard of their house. Another important deity is Mainao, whom the Meches regard as the guardian of the
This year heralds the 250th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the ‘Father of Indian Renaissance,’ founder of the "Brahmo Samaj," and a stalwart warrior against the social evils that plagued Indian society in the 18th century. The West Bengal government has planned to
As India and Bengal mourned the recent demise of Narayan Debnath and his numerous comic characters that literally ruled our childhood, one name came to the forefront – Ramdhanu. The seven colors of a rainbow gave the name to one of Bengal’s earliest illustrated monthly
When I first read a major excerpt from Meghnadbadh Kabya as part of my board examination syllabus, I felt like re-reading again. Not because Michael Madhusudan Dutta had used international poetic tools in an age when Bengali poetry could least imagine such treatment, but because
It is often said that Ashapurna Devi was a victim of a male dominated society and that’s all the more why she repeatedly wrote tales of women, subdued, yet rebellious, who went against the social norms and established their independence. Born in an era when
“Libraries always remind me that there are good things in this world.” – Lauren Ward (American singer and actress) The aristocratic Belvedere Garden House in Alipore is a holy pilgrimage for any bibliophile. Housed within the expansive Belvedere Estate is the sprawling National Library, the country’s
HThe seventh edition of India’s first Bengali literary festival, Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsab (ABSU) curated by Oxford Bookstores, ended at Oxford Bookstore on December 12. The good thing is, the end here does not necessarily mean the end, because the sessions are available digitally for
Some people make us smile simply by existing. Shibram Chakraborty, the great humorist born in Kolkata in 1903 on today's date, is one such person. Chakrabarty was born into the well-known Chanchal Raj family, and his father Shibprasad Chakrabarty would often speak of the road
It took them until 2020 to consider him for a Sahitya Akademi Award. The year his ‘Chowringhee’ turned 60, and he himself turned 86. We are of course talking about one of Bengal’s most popular, and curiously enough, perhaps one of its most underrated living