Monthly Archives: December 2015
Engineer follows his passion to take people to the mountains
Kolkata :
Remember Farhan Qureshi of Three Idiots who left his engineering to become a wildlife photographer. Here is the story of another engineer who left his well settled life to chase his dreams. Saptarshi Roy is a production engineer from Jadavpur University and worked in some of the biggest companies like CTS, Cognizant and Wipro but his passion for the mountains overpowered his sense of security. Farhan had ‘Rancho’ alias Phunshuk Wangdu to motivate him but this self-motivated engineer left his well settled job and started a trekking company to make people become a part of the pristine beauty.
“I completed my production engineering in 2001 and then like any other engineer joined a company through campus interview. In the next ten years I worked with numerous companies. I was never comfortable and went on switching jobs. Finally I felt that engineering is not my cup of tea and started doing something which I liked,” this 38 year old trekker told TOI.
Roy always had a passion for the snow-capped hills and used to run to the peaks whenever he could manage time out of his busy schedule. In 2010 Roy left his job and started a company Himalaya Trekkers – a company responsible to designing customize trekking trips for the people- even for those who don’t have any idea about the ridges and the rifts of the Himalayas.
According to Roy – a trek in The Himalayas is not just a trek; it is an experience that involves all your senses, the sight of snow-clad peaks, the clean smell of mist in the air, smoking hot Momos which melts in your mouth, sound of rugged nature, and the cold touch of the icy wind. “Camping on grassy meadows, beneath the Milky Way sipping on hot coffee in cozy tents with the nature beckoning you with her clarion call to explore is indeed an experience which no hotel room with its walled comfort can offer. Those who live this life will never trade anything for it,” Roy added.
In the last five years Saptarshi has taken more than 500 people to different trekking routes including difficult trekking zones like Roopkund (16000 feet), Pin Parvati Pass (17400 feet), Satopanth Tal (15100 feet), Dzongri & Goecha La (16000 feet) and Sahastra Tal (16400 feet). “We try to provide the real feel of the mountains. As I love the mountains I want the people who travel with us to love the mountains as well,” Roy added.
Going to the mountains has helped Roy to go beyond the corridors of religion, caste and creed. “I have a guide in Kashmir – Altaf. He stays in a small village near Sonmarg. His father Gulam Mohammed has peculiar fascination for the Bengalis particularly for the Kolkatans. Whenever we go to their home they offer us a particular handmade roti along with namkeen chai which I like very much,” Roy added. When asked whether they had faced any hardship, Roy said, “This year in Garwal region we had wait for one hour because there were lots of snow ground bear. They are not dangerous to find them at such an altitude is something great”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Saibal Gupta, TNN / December 14th, 2015
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India’s sepia-tinted U.S. connections
A unique photograph of the elephant (1797), archived by the New York Historical Society, is now exhibited in the city.
“It will be a great thing to carry the first elephant to America,” wrote Jacob Crowninshield, the captain of the ship America. The first living elephant, which was ferried all the way from Kolkata to the US, was later exhibited in Boston, New York and Philadelphia.
A unique photograph of the elephant (1797), archived by the New York Historical Society, is now exhibited in the city. Alongside The Elephant, 41 rare photos, collected over the last 150 years, form part of the exhibition titled ‘Kindred Nations: The United States and India: 1783-1947’at The Indian Museum here that opened during this weekend.
The exhibition tells the story of association between the two countries long before the latest thrust to step up diplomatic and trade ties were initiated.
One compelling example is the photograph of the Indian immigrant workforce in the US. It is perhaps a less-known fact that a significant share of the workforce involved in building modern America migrated from northern India.
At least two of the photographs taken around World War II underscore the role of Sikh immigrants in the construction of rail roads or them joining various other trades. The exhibits also narrate how Americans engaged in building ties with Indians.
Henry Armstrong, one of the greatest American boxers of all times, visited India during World War II and graced an amateur boxing tournament in Kolkata. A candid picture of the pugilist giving spontaneous boxing lessons to local youth (1945) also forms a part of this exclusive exhibit.
Photographs of celebrated Anglo-Indian actor Merle Oberon, who shot in West Bengal for a film, and Charlotte Wiser, an American anthropologist, teaching childcare techniques to local villagers at Allenganj (1919), provide the viewers with an insight about the ever-evolving ties between the two countries.
It all started with bilateral trade relations. From education, cultural and religious values, cinema, jazz music, Kashmiri shawls, books on navigation — India and the U.S have shared them all. There was also a rare shot of Anandibhai Joshi (1880), the first Indian woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S.
Shots of Singer Manufacturing Company’s office (1897), the famous Atkinson house (1860), Swami Vivekananda with his American counterparts at Green Acre School (1894) and Rabindranath Tagore holding the delicate hands of the blind and deaf American activist and author Helen Keller are the other notable ones.
However, some these exhibits are widely circulated on the Internet.
Curated by the Meridian International Center in Washington D.C. and supported by the U.S. Department of State, the photographs and letters speak of what is described as ‘shared prosperity and peace’. Dr. Jayanta Sengupta, Director of Indian Museum, said it was “an honour” to host the exhibition.
“As a museum, we always explore the interstices of cultures and the connections between them, and what better way to do this than by celebrating the two centuries of historical connections between the world’s two largest democracies?” he asked.
Acting U.S. Consul General Cory Wilcox, on his part, complemented Dr Sengupta. “Through the medium of art, we begin a dialogue about our perspectives and values. We hope this exhibit of the past engagement sparks our imagination for the future, seeing how we can take steps to improve the lives of the next generations in both our countries,” Mr Wilcox told The Hindu.
The exhibit was earlier on display in New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai with Kolkata being the last stop, where it will continue till the last day of the year.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Ayshika Mitra / Kolkata – December 07th, 2015
Wedding wows
He was in Bagbazar. She was in Tollygunge. And both had wedding on their mind. What?! Abir Chatterjee and Parno Mittra were busy inaugurating two exclusive ABPWeddings stores in two parts of town on Monday afternoon.
This marks the latest venture from the ABP Group, www.abpweddings.com – a matrimonial site built on trust, reflected through the Trust Score of a profile.
Every registration – log in to www.abpweddings.com or call 8100 100 800 – needs to come with a photo ID proof and more the number of documents submitted, the higher is his or her “Trust Score”.
For those who still prefer the offline route, there are six exclusive ABPWeddings stores – in Tollygunge (near Malancha cinema), Behala (Behala Chowrasta-James Long Sarani crossing), Lake Town (near Jaya cinema), Salt Lake (near Kwality bus stop), Barasat (near Dak Bungalow More) and Bagbazar (near Bata). Pictures by Rashbehari Das and Anindya Shankar Ray
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Tuesday – December 08th, 2015
Kolkatan bags top honour for documentary
Kolkata :
A moving tale of an autistic child has earned independent filmmaker Amrita Dasgupta the `Best Director’ award at the first International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities, organized by the Union government. She received the trophy from I&B minister of state Rajyavardhan Rathore in Delhi a couple of days ago.
The film, `The New Girl in Class’, was produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust and Doordarshan. “They take proposals for films every year, and I had sent mine. I made the film after it was selected,” said the Delhi-based Amtrita, who graduated from Calcutta University . “The screening was with special educators and children with disabilities. Every child could relate to it, which I didn’t expect. I never thought of children as the target audience; it is primarily meant for parents and teachers,” Dasgupta said.
The filmmaker credits her stay at her ancestral home on Hindustan Road for helping her develop a passion for art and culture, which later became a profession.
“I’m trying to bring the film to Kolkata. I’m arriving on December 19 and I’ll try to screen it,” she told TOI.
City musician Mainak `Bumpy’ Nag Chowdhury has composed the soundtrack for the film. The film explores the possibility of education for children with autism in regular schools.
It traces a mother’s perseverance over the years to improve her daughter’s condition with autism -her behaviour, communication and learning ability. Her struggle does not end with her daughter’s admission to a regular school, but continues every day with a greater zeal to ensure her learning as she shadows her to school and other remedial classes.
While announcing the dates for the film festival last week, Lov Verma, the secretary at department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, ministry of social justice and empowerment, had said it was organized to recognise the spirit of persons with disabilities.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / December 07th, 2015
RIP, Sister
Nuns of Missionaries of Charity at a prayer service for Sr. Gertrude MC at Mother House on Sunday. Sister Gertrude, the second woman to join Mother Teresa in starting the Missionaries of Charity, passed away in the morning.
Born on March 8, 1929, Sr. Gertrude was a doctor. She was Mother Teresa’s student at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta in the 1940s. Mother Teresa was then the headmistress and in-charge of the boarders at the school.
Inspired by Mother, Sr. Gertrude spent her life serving the poor.
She was by Mother’s side when she passed away at Mother House in September 1997. “We became truly mother and daughter, more than a sister or a doctor,” Sr. Gertrude had written about her relationship with Mother Teresa.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Monday – December 07th, 2015