Victoria Ocampo had read the French translation of Gitanjali, shortly after her own marriage to a famous Argentinian lawyer in 1912 broke off. Interestingly, her marriage broke off on the very night of her honeymoon. Ocampo, born in 1890, was so moved by reading Gitanjali
Ranjan Ghosh’s debut film Hrid Majharey (2014) created waves in various quarters as one of the best adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Othello, never mind the disastrous box-office response to it in his home state. While the reaction was amazing in academic circles beyond Indian shores,
Early in the 1960s, Bengali film producer Bijoy Chattopadhyay decided to commission a film based on Tarashankar Bandopadhyay’s novel, Abhijan. The story centred around a proud and hot-tempered Rajput taxi driver, Narsingh, with a passion for his car. Uttam Kumar was at the height of
As evening descends the skyline of Kolkata turns resplendent. The Hooghly River meanders slowly and shimmers like molten gold as the last rays of the setting sun fall on the water. Sound of temple bells and conch shells reverberate in the air against the river
It all started a year ago in Tianjin, China, when the next meeting of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) was announced to be scheduled in Buenos Aires. The acronym TWAS has an added suffix that reads: ‘for the developing world.’ TWAS was established by
Call it a Bong food connection of a Thai woman or Bong-Thai food connect, you have it all from Sirattiya Bora’s kitchen in Ghaziabad. And that’s where starts the marriage of authentic Thai cuisine to a bouquet of Bengali food. From Koraishutir Kochuri, Kasha Mansho
Every artist has his/her own style of expression but there are gifted ones whose signature styles set them apart from the hoi polloi and one such virtuoso was Ordhendra Coomar Gangopadhyay aka ‘O.C. Ganguly’, who is renowned simply as ‘OC’ in the world of advertisement.
Every year during the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February) Kumortuli, the traditional hub of Kolkata’s idol makers and potters wakes up to a flurry of activities putting last-minute finishing touches to innumerable idols of Devi Saraswati. This is the time when Saraswati, the Goddess
Modar/Palva, Pallo Machhi, Pulasa, Ulla Meen. Nope, not gibberish. All valid words, all describing that one object that any Bengali could write a poem (or several) about, an object of veneration, an icon, an emotion –the hilsa or, to use its Bengali name, ilish. To all
Annapurna, Anna, Nalini… call her by any name, she would have always remained Rabindranath Tagore’s first love. And it’s always said ‘First Loves’ can never be forgotten, they are like the waft of the first Spring breeze, like the innocence of the first sapling that