Shabnam Ramaswamy, who started life afresh from the streets to become the force behind Jagriti Public School and Stree Shakti women’s co-operative in Katna village of Murshidabad, returned to her alma mater, La Martiniere for Girls, on Friday morning for the first time in 45 years.
The 60-year-old fairy godmother to hundreds of women and children took a walk down her La Martiniere memory lane…
Whenever I’d go over the AJC Bose flyover I’d point at my school and show my driver or some staff member travelling with me in the car: “See, that’s my school!” After I went out of school in 1969 and all these years of struggle, I had never set foot in my school.
As I was addressing students of the school, I was thinking I would have loved my father to be alive today. In those days, picking me from a village, bringing me to the city and admitting me to this school, what a chance it was for me.
I went through all the stereotypes of marriage and conventions but it was the school that really made me what I am in terms of my lateral thinking, turning of views, never to give up against all odds. These are things in the books you read but the teachers put it across in a manner that really changed the way I think.
One book that I loved reading during my school days was Tom Sawyer. He was such a big influence on me. Him painting the wall, the mundane routine of doing that job when everyone else was having fun. At 22 (Shabnam was married off at 16) when I’d see other girls around me having fun and I would think, like Tom I’m going to make everybody come and paint my wall too while I sit on the stool with all my treasures. And today it seems like it’s really happened!
Look at the background I came from. My mother was illiterate, so was my grandmother. My father was in the army. So it was really the school that taught me how to handle life and the education gave me the ability to juxtapose both worlds, not to hate that or look down on it but do something about it. In fact, today I’ll be visiting one such teacher’s house who has baked a cake and waiting for me. I’m just looking forward to meeting her after all these years.
College I did because I desperately needed the graduate degree but it’s the school that made me. Looking at the school after all these years, no matter how much the buildings have changed and new ones have come up, these pillars will remain. The pillars are like pillars of strength for me. Today, with pride I can say that I come from here.
My favourite corner was always the field because I loved sports. I used to throw javelin, discus and do high jumps, long jumps. I used to participate in inter-school sporting events. I wasn’t a hugely academic person.
When I was starting Jagriti (Shabnam’s CBSE-affiliated English-medium co-educational public school for the poor) my reference point was this school. The discipline, the curriculum and the philosophy is modelled on all that I learnt from my own school — La Martiniere.
As told to Mohua Das
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Mohua Das / Saturday – August 098th, 2014
He says he knows Rashtrapati Bhavan like the back of his hand, having spent 15 years there as curator. This time, painter Jogen Choudhury will spend 10 days there as President Pranab Mukherjee’s guest, ‘sketching, painting and working without a specific plan’.
Invited by the President under a new scheme “Artists in Residence”, the Rajya Sabha MP is the first of authors and artists who are set to follow him to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Choudhury has been put up at the sprawling guest house inside the Presidential address. And he could soon be making a portrait of the President, said the artist. “I have no definite plan but I do intend to create a portrait of the President, provided we can fit enough sittings into his busy schedule,” said Choudhury, who also attended a Parliament session on Tuesday.
But first he needs to get acclimatized to the environment, he said. “You tend to feel a little lost in this huge place although Rashtrapati Bhavan is familiar territory since I spent a considerable amount of time here between 1972 and 1987 as curator.”
He will search for additions and alterations that have come about in the last 25 years. And he could start off with a set of sketches. “It seems likely that I will be doing a few sketches initially. It’s an honour to be the President’s guest and I hope to use the opportunity to come up with something different,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / August 06th, 2014
Seeking to create a national online educational asset for students interested in research and innovation, the IIT Kharagpur, recently put forth a proposal to form a NDL to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Seeking to create a national online educational asset for students interested in research and innovation, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, recently put forth a proposal to form a National Digital Library (NDL) to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The MHRD not only approved of the project, but also granted Rs. 100 crore for the project to be kick-started by the IIT Kharagpur, one of the premier tech institutes in the country. This was announced by institute’s director Partha Pratim Chakrabari at the 60th convocation ceremony in July-end.
Talking to The Hindu over phone, one of the core team members who ideated the NDL Partha Pratim Das said the project’s main aim was to create a knowledge base for students of all ages, especially for those interested in research.
“Every university has its own digital archive of its intellectual output and syllabus, known as the Institutional Digital Repository (IDR), whose access is limited to the university’s own staff and students. The NDL is modelled on the IDR, but will consist of IDRs of several universities and any student will be free to access it. For instance, a student of IIT Madras will be able to access study material of a specialisation taught exclusively at IIT Kharagpur. The NDL aims to streamline IDRs and other study material into one common online,” Prof. Das, also a professor of the computer and engineering department, said.
Except for copyrighted content, the data will mostly be available for free.
While the NDL is a relatively new concept in India, it has already made its appearance in most universities in the west. The content for the NDL will be derived from institutes of all types of specialisations and will include school-level study material as well.
The multi-faceted project would start by incorporating digital content of about 50 institutions at the primary level, keeping the next target at about 100 institutions.
Another focus of the project is to create e-content, comprising video lectures, interactive questions and answers and books, in multiple languages.
Stating that ‘a lot of activity is planned in vernaculars’, Prof. Das said: “Initially, the knowledge base will be created in English. We will gradually include vernaculars and create a multi-lingual interface so that students from across India can freely access it without facing a language barrier,” Prof. Das said.
The brainchild of a four-member team will be launched in 18-21 months and a prototype will soon be launched to test the project’s feasibility. About 100 courses will be launched at a preliminary level.
Headed by Prof. Chakrabarti, the proposal was worked on by professor in charge of the institute’s central library Subrata Chattopadhyay, professor of the computer and engineering department Sudeshna Sarkar and librarian of the central library B. Sutradhar along with Prof. Das.
Keeping in mind the evolving technology, plans are on to make the interface available across all platforms — cell phones, tablets and laptops. Content will also be developed keeping in mind the needs of differently-abled students.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / Kathakal Nandi / Kolkata – August 04th, 2014
The hub in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge will encourage aspirants to showcase their mastery with words as well as their elocutionary prowess through sessions conducted by leading litterateurs, artists, filmmakers and anybody who is associated with writing and reading.
“The club will have four sessions a month, that is, one session per week every Thursday starting August 7. Guests will have to pay Rs 500 for the four sessions. It is open for all,” Ritika Choudhury, owner of Circle Art 360, one of the organisers, said.
A collaborative effort by AHAVA Communications, Circle Art 360 and Creative Studio, the club will be a haven for book lovers as well with discussions and book launches.Choudhury said the organisers are also mulling international partnerships.
source: http://www.post.jagran.com / Post Jagran / Home> States News> East India News / Jagran Post News Desk – Jagran Post Editorial / August 02nd, 2014
Ratan Lal Hangloo has shown that things can be done in Bengal. That real change is possible. Kalyani University is undergoing a remarkable transformation under him – a revolution of sorts that can be a role model for not just academic institutions in Bengal but every sector to pull the state out of this morass.
Hangloo, a respected historian with roots in Kashmir, has been at the helm of Kalyani University for just nine months but it has been like a rebirth for the varsity that had sunk into a cesspool of indiscipline, employees’ agitations, corruption, nepotism and neglect. He has survived Bengal’s political minefield so far with a blend of toughness and pragmatism (plus skills with a camera) and shown great skill in handling explosive controversies like the Bhaktabala BEd seat scam.
At first sight, Hangloo hardly comes across as a disciplinarian. With a quick smile and ready wit, he looks every bit the charming professor he is. But beneath the exterior lurks an administrator with a mission.
He recalls that he joined on a Friday (November 8, 2013) and instead of spending a relaxing weekend, he picked up his camera and went scouting, clicking every part of the campus – from laboratories to lavatories and classrooms to hostels. He has all the images stored in his office computer as evidence of what the campus and its buildings looked like nine months ago.
He ordered an immediate clean-up drive, along with a bold bid to “secure the campus”. He first got the breaches in the university’s boundary wall sealed to stop trespassing, which was common. Locals living on the periphery of the 300-acre campus fiercely opposed it but he wouldn’t budge. There is now a sense of order and security on campus, which looks clean and green.
But more important than these cosmetic changes are the systemic transformations he has brought about. He has introduced rules where none existed. When he took over, the university did not have a leave register for employees and faculty and not even something basic as an academic calendar. There were no records of equipment worth crores of rupees. “I got leave registers made, had a teacher audit all equipment. This university has received a lot of funds since its inception in 1960, but most of it was not spent properly. All the construction has been very shoddy and I have asked engineers to carry out structural evaluations and undertake repairs. In six months, the campus will look much different and all buildings will sport a new look,” Hangloo told TOI.
Hangloo has displayed rare courage in taking on troublemakers. For instance, his predecessors used to live in fear of a casual employee, who used to bully and dictate terms to senior officers. “This man was the leader of a politically-backed employees’ union and had even ransacked varsity offices, including the VC’s chamber. A few months ago, I got to know he was inciting security guards. I sacked him summarily,” said Hangloo, who also evicted the unions from their rooms in the administrative building.
He has asked every officer to prepare a ‘PSO (problems, solutions, outcome) Report’ every month and introduced a docketing system to keep track of files. For the first time in its history, KU now has a prospectus and an academic calendar. Regulations governing PhD admissions were framed and a half-yearly newsletter (another first) is being published.
The new VC has constituted 22 committees comprising teachers and non-teaching staff to deal with various activities. There are, for instance, committees on purchases, security, and upkeep of vacant land. This has brought in a lot of transparency and efficiency and no one can now bully officers into doing anything wrong, say officials.
The go-getter sets a personal example through hard work and diligence. He’s at his wood-paneled office at 9am sharp and continues working till 9.30pm. The varsity is on the cusp of other physical changes also: construction of a new administrative building, auditorium, staff and faculty quarters will commence soon. Three new centres for women’s studies, cultural studies and for studies on the Bengali Diaspora have started functioning at KU. Hangloo’s immediate plans include upgrading of courses, two new smart classrooms for every department, upgrading technology in the campus and enabling cutting-edge research in every field.
Hangloo, who relaxes with a burst of badminton and a dose of music (he has Pannalal Bhattacharjee’s ‘Shyamasangeet’ loaded on his phone) every evening, deals with problems and opposition with equanimity. He recalls a quote from Vivekananda: “You’ll be ridiculed, opposed and then accepted at any new place”. Hangloo is keenly aware of the legacy of Kashmiri Pandits’ contribution to Bengal: “Pandit Sambhu Nath Bhatt, JN Sapru and Jolly Mohan Kaul had rich associations with Bengal. I, too, would like to be remembered for doing my bit for the cause of higher education in Bengal”. Going by the work he has done in Kalyani over the last nine months, Hangloo seems all set to live up to that legacy.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / August 07th, 2014
Amita Dutta in performance. Photo: Prashant Arora / The Hindu
Kathak dancer Amita Dutta, recently conferred the first Uday Shankar Award for Lifetime Achievement, talks about pursuing the art form and her endeavour to formalise a Bengal gharana. NITA VIDYARTHI
Acclaimed dancer, choreographer, scholar and professor Amita Dutt has recently been conferred the fist Uday Shankar Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance by the West Bengal Government. Trained in Kathak under stalwarts like Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Vijay Shankar and Bela Arnab, Dutt, the erstwhile Dean of Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University, has also been conferred the prestigious Uday Shankar Chair at the University after a gap of 17 years. Dutt, also Director of Performing Arts at the University, has performed and taught extensively at home and abroad and is striving to establish a Bengal gharana of Kathak. Excerpts from an interview:
You have been conferred the prestigious Uday Shankar Chair at Rabindra Bharti University after years. What edge do you think you have over others?
It is not for me ‘to reason why’. One external expert did ask me, how Uday Shankar was important to me as a classical dancer. I had answered that he taught us how to present our dance before a modern audience, on a proscenium stage. Earlier, dancers were engrossed with technicalities and grammar of dance. They did not view the presentation from the angle of the audience. The use of the stage space, lighting, costumes, patterns formed by various dancers and the attention span of the audience were all very important for Uday Shankar. And he was constantly seeking new avenues of expression through dance, never being satisfied with simply copying something that was learnt. In fact, Tagore had also advised Uday Shankar not to be confined within one geographical area or one historical period, but to thirst for new creative expressiveness. I have constantly endeavoured to adhere to these tenets and make my performances attractive and acceptable to a modern-day audience spread across the continents.
Recieving the Uday Shankar Award from the West Bengal Education Minister in Kolkata. Photo: Amrita Dutta / The Hindu
Do you feel any emotional identification with this position?
Yes, I do. My relationship with the great artist is not through blood but through thoughts and ideas. I always consciously carry with me his legacy. Incidentally, there have been many occasions when his name was associated with me. I am the professor in the Uday Shankar Chair, I performed in the first Uday Shankar Festival of the State Government and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance from the Government this year.
How have you justified Uday Shankar’s creativity in your choreography?
I have choreographed many dances using different dance styles. In them, I have gone beyond Kathak. I have used my knowledge and with the inspiration coming from god, Tagore and Uday Shankar, I created many new presentations under the banner of my University. These have been presented in many important festivals across the country.
Your Kathak boundaries have not stretched beyond use of formations…
Yes. I have brought in many creative formations in my choreography. In my presentation on Ganga, I have tried to emulate the movement of the river — sometimes torrential, sometimes meandering, and also the ideas and images associated with the river: both natural and religious. I have also blended our traditional Kathak movements and rhythmic formations within my new creations. The sound of falling rain is shown through footwork and onomatopoeic rhythmic compositions.
How else would you suggest one should expand the boundaries of Kathak? At times, dancers have stretched the boundaries so far that the audience failed to identify the dance numbers as Kathak.
You began to choreograph with works of Tagore, Atul Prasad and Nazrul and then D.L. Roy. How was the creative (setting to music) process different from the classical form?
The creative process is similar. I have always worked on songs and music that have appealed to me, whether traditional or modern, classical or light, eastern or western. Actually, when you are creating a dance piece, you don’t calculate or think with your left brain. Ideas, images, rhythmic compositions and movements dawn on you. Of course, they usually emanate from your storehouse of knowledge, what you have learnt or seen or imbibed. But at times, ideas and images have come to me through my reverie or even my dreams.
Is the use of the celebrated literature a precursor to your establishing the Bengal gharana?
Yes, while working on the various literary works, the idea of an independent Bengal gharana dawned on me. Initially, I had started choreographing on these songs because I loved them. The fact that the audience responded with equal enthusiasm gave me an impetus. And one leading to the other, now the concept of our Bengal gharana has gradually started taking shape. The majority of my performances are for the Bengali audience who enjoy hearing well known Bengali songs. And songs of the last century are still very much alive in the popular Bengali consciousness. In fact, members of my audience participate in D.L. Roy’s patriotic and romantic thoughts more than in Awadhi thumris, chaitis and kaajris. The difference between the Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas was tangible at one time. Today, they are blending into each other as the repertoire is being borrowed or copied and the styles influencing each other. The present-day Benaras gharana artists have learnt from stalwarts of the Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas and there is more of an influence of these gharanas on their dance than an adherence to the precepts of their founder Janki Prasad. I, too, have learnt from stalwarts of the Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas. But what I perform today is not a mere copy of what I have learnt. I have evolved a style of my own which is more melodic than rhythmic, more interpretative than abstract, more lilting than staccato. And I have a large body of choreographic creations on Bengali songs: Tagore, Nazrul, D.L. Roy, Sachin Dev Barman, Salil Choudhury, as well as the traditional Baul songs and kirtans.
Will you be choreographing other poets’ work of that era?
Yes, I wish to. I am working on the lyrics of Vivekananda and Rajani Kanto.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Dance / by Nita Vidyarthi / August 07th, 2014
British Baptist Missionary William Carey, who was the driving spirit behind the spread of modern English education in Kolkata, will once again be remembered on his 253rd birthday on August 17. The Bible Society has organised for a Carey Lecture to be delivered by Jawhar Sircar, the CEO of Prasar Bharati.
Sircar has been researching on old Kolkata for a long time and will focus his lecture on the Bengal Renaissance and the role of Carey behind it.
This will be followed by a dance drama, Dhrubojyoti Tumi directed by danseuse Alaknanda Roy. The performers are inmates of correctional homes.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, TNN / August 07th, 2014
Justice Manjula Chellur. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat / The Hindu
After being administered the oath, Justice Chellur referred to her personal fondness for the rich heritage of the State.
Justice Manjula Chellur was sworn in as the first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court here on Tuesday.
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan during the day and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present on the occasion.
37th Chief Justice
Justice Chellur is the 37th Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court replacing Justice Arun Mishra who was elevated as a Supreme Court Judge.
After being administered the oath, Justice Chellur referred to her personal fondness for the rich heritage of the State.
Gratitude
She expressed her gratitude to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India for appointing her to the high office of the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.
Along with the Governor and Chief Minister, Law Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and Speaker of the Assembly Biman Banerjee were present.
The event also witnessed participation of a large number of lawyers of Calcutta High Court.
Born on December 5, 1955, Justice Chellur started her career as an advocate in Bellary and became the first Judge of Karanataka High Court in 2000.
She was appointed Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court in November 2011 and had been functioning as the Chief Justice of the High Court since September, 2012.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Kolkata / Special Correspondent / Kolkata – August 06th, 2014
West Bengal has now secured first position in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, posted Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on her Facebook page. “Our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector is now No. 1 in the country with more than 35,000 new units having been set up with employment of nearly 3.20 lakh people and highest credit disbursement worth Rs.35,000 Crores over the last three years in the state,” the CM posted.
“We have been organizing SYNERGY since September, 2013 to provide more customized solutions to the MSME entrepreneurs t hrough hand holding support and personalized guidance. Nearly 40,000 entrepreneurs visited the clinics, help desks and technology pavilions and bank loan worth hundreds of crores were sanctioned to nearly 1800 enterprises in this first-ever state level conclave,” the CM posted.
“In 2014 we adopted the strategy of taking Synergy closer to the field level and accordingly we organized the first regional Synergy at Siliguri in February this year. The second regional Synergy was held at Howrah on 1-2 August, 2014. Loans worth Rs 1000 Crore were sanctioned and investment proposals close to Rs 5000 Crore were received in the Synergy at Howrah,” the chief minister further posted on her facebook page.
The state government is working on developing more and more MSME clusters in the state so that entrepreneurs, specially women and self help groups can come up with their handicrafts items.
Our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector is now No. 1 in the country with more than 35,000 new units having been set up with employment of nearly 3 lakh 20 thousand people and highest credit disbursement worth Rs.35,000 Crores over the last three years in the state.
We have been organizing SYNERGY since September, 2013 to provide more customized solutions to the MSME entrepreneurs t hrough hand holding support and personalized guidance. Nearly 40,000 entrepreneurs visited the clinics, help desks and technology pavilions and bank loan worth hundreds of crores were sanctioned to nearly 1800 enterprises in this first-ever state level conclave.
In 2014 we adopted the strategy of taking Synergy closer to the field level and accordingly we organized the first regional Synergy at Siliguri in February this year. The second regional Synergy was held at Howrah on 1-2 August, 2014. Loans worth Rs 1000 Crore were sanctioned and investment proposals close to Rs 5000 Crore were received in the Synergy at Howrah.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkota / Suman Chakraborti, TNN / August 05th, 2014
