There’s something about a plate of steaming rice and fish curry that defines who we are. For a Bengali, food is not just sustenance — it’s an emotion, a piece of home served on a steel plate. And maybe it is in their unassuming pice
Faith doesn't simply exist in temples in Bengal; it also moves through forests, rivers, and red earth. The divine feminine is not an abstract idea here; it is something that exists. Her breath lingers in the air, fierce and tender, eternal. This region is the land of the Shaktipeeths—sacred
“Pete Khele Pithe Shoy” — almost everyone in Bengal has heard this proverb, but the question is, how many can truly relate to it in real life? Food is not just something we eat to fill our stomachs. For Bengalis, it is an emotion, a
In 1972, at the time of his last film Jukti, Takko aar Gappo, when Ritwik Ghatak himself would say, “I have no theory” or “I don’t believe in slogans in cinema,” it is remarkable that the very same person’s first film as a director was an unmistakably leftist,
Maybe it’s because of the traditional mindset about music that most Bengalis still don’t know Rupa Biswas. Many couldn’t imagine that boogie style music could exist in Bengali — especially in the 1980s. But back then, Rupa did something extraordinary. Had she not disappeared from
In Kailash, Lakshmi is believed to be the beloved daughter of the ever-poor Lord Shiva; if Lakshmi is not present, then a household cannot be reconciled as use have to happen when the son and daughter have to sit together with Lord Shiva. Shiva gets
"Bhogobaaner guptochor, mrityu eshe baandhuk ghor/ chhonde ami kobita chharbo na!" Alokranjan Dasgupta seemed to have learned rhythm from the womb itself. He wanted to bind the whole world through the magic of words. His childhood was spent in Santiniketan. With his classmate Amartya Sen, he published a
Letters have long disappeared from our everyday lives. Once, there were messages. Now, we just “text.” With a single tap, we can send words instantly, and with another tap, erase them forever. In such a time, it feels necessary to pause and think about the
In Kolkata, Durga Puja is much more than a festival, it is an emotion that engulfs the city in joy, light and devotion. The bonedi bari pujas are the type of pujas hosted by rich, old families and are a testament to our history, culture, and tradition - in a
Cinema has always been visually oriented, a desire for spectacle, from its very beginning. When the Lumière brothers screened their films for the first time, the rush of a train coming down the track made viewers feel something and irrevocably impressed a memory on us.