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
Few outside West Bengal, or even inside the state, are aware that Rabindranath Tagore directed a film based on Notir Puja, a dramatized version of his long poem Pujarini, written in 1899. Notir Puja or its original long poem offer different perspectives on death in
PThe Indian knowledge-based social media platform Dialoguein is a relative newcomer to the digital world. And yet, it is already preparing to launch its first virtual international event, the ‘Dialoguein Global Bengali Lit-Fest’, supported by Bongodorshon.com and The Bengal Store, from May 6-8, featuring more
WHunger finds a prominent place in three films by Satyajit Ray, reflecting three completely different backdrops, though hunger is a significant sub-plot in all three narratives, each one a ‘period’ piece in a manner of speaking. One is Pather Panchali, the second is Goopy Gyne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6YYkKI4hzg Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates ‘rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular’, performed or chanted in a variety of ways, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The recent Bollywood film Gully Boy directed by Zoya
Of all the residents of Dhaka, 99 percent are from various corners, districts, villages, and towns of Bangladesh. On the first meeting, the commonest question is, ‘So where do you come from originally?’ I’ve heard elderly people in Kolkata say the same thing about the
Farha Khatun was only 10 when she first heard of ‘triple talaq’ (the Islamic practise of instant divorce by the husband saying ‘talaq’ thrice). It was a summer morning, and one of her aunts had come visiting their home in Medinipur. “She was very disturbed
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
On May 10, 1902, The Gramophone and Typewriter Limited, Germany, established their office at 8/02 Dalhousie Square, Calcutta. Their recording engineer, William Fredrick Gaisberg sailed for India and arrived in October, 1902 with the newly found technology of sound recording and reproduction. Little did he