In 1907, Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar (1877-1956) compiled a number of Bengali folk tales and fairy tales he had been listening to since childhood, into a book he called ‘Thakumar Jhuli’ (also referred to as Thakurmar Jhuli). It was quite possibly the first time that the
At times photographs can start a lifetime bond! It was the year of 1914, when Rabindranath Tagore went to Allahabad and stayed for about three weeks with Pyarilal Bandyopadhyay, the son-in-law of his nephew, Satyaprasad Gangopadhyay. During his stay there, he spotted a photograph hanging
For the home of a living legend, Narayan Debnath’s house on a narrow by-lane in Shibpur, Howrah is surprisingly nondescript. As we walk up to the gate and push it open, a bright-eyed stray dog greets us happily. An ordinary dog in an ordinary lane,
Chittaranjan Das had tried his hands even in poetry. But we hardly know of that aspect of this genius and mentor to many revolutionaries during India’s freedom movement. He established his reputation as a great poet in 1913 after the publication of the first two
সিংহাসনে বসল রাজা বাজল কাঁসর ঘন্টা, ছট্ফটিয়ে উঠল কেঁপে মন্ত্রীবুড়োর মনটা৷ বললে রাজা, মন্ত্রী তোমার জামায় কেন গন্ধ? মন্ত্রী বলে, এসেন্স দিছি - গন্ধ তো নয় মন্দ! (Rough translation: The king takes his throne, the fanfare we hear/ The old minister’s mind fidgets and quakes in fear/ Says the
It was the year of Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India movement. 1942. It was also the year when poet Jibanananda Das created the ultimate mystery woman – Banalata Sen, the poem that ruled romantics down generations. Natorer Banalata Sen became the emblem of feminine charm and
Not every Bengali will be on the streets this year pandal hopping, for there are many of us who love to spend a quiet Pujo, back home in the middle of books. GB recommends this particular book that features the man whose smile has swept
‘Among contemporary writers of Bengali – nobody could write a historical fiction quite like him. Who can create that atmosphere, who else has the wit and humour…his prose had a different taste altogether – I am rather fond of it
Down generations Ei poth jodi na shesh hoy, has inspired the romantic soul, pure unadulterated emotions swinging over a two-wheeler with Krishnendu and Rina Brown enjoying the whiff of the wind and a journey that never ends. Who can ever forget that iconic ride of
