Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Sky’s the limit at seventy – Book bazaar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
(From left) Sanjiv Goenka, Sourav Ganguly, Shekhar Gupta and Sugata Bose at a reading session of Gupta's book, Anticipating India: The Best of National Interest, at The Oberoi Grand. The book reading was interspersed with anecdotes from Gupta's repertory. "I do not hate politicians. Believe me, Indian politicians are the most interesting people you can meet," said the journalist at the session presented by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Picture by Arnab Mondal
(From left) Sanjiv Goenka, Sourav Ganguly, Shekhar Gupta and Sugata Bose at a reading session of Gupta’s book, Anticipating India: The Best of National Interest, at The Oberoi Grand. The book reading was interspersed with anecdotes from Gupta’s repertory. “I do not hate politicians. Believe me, Indian politicians are the most interesting people you can meet,” said the journalist at the session presented by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Picture by Arnab Mondal

Life began at 70 for Abhijit Gupta. A top-shot consultant, retirement opened up a new chapter in his life as his debut book was launched at Calcutta Club last month.

A Copper Sky is a coming-of-age tale of young Amar Das who moves from Delhi to London, much like the author himself.

“The first part of the book deals with the confusion of a youth who sees a foreign land and a liberated society for the first time in the 1950s. Even his own family is troubled with the changes in Amar’s life. As the novel progresses, the protagonist matures,” said Gupta, who now lives in Bangalore.

Abhijit Gupta at the launch of his book. (Chanchal Ghosh)
Abhijit Gupta at the launch of his book.
(Chanchal Ghosh)

Though set in the Fifties, Gupta feels his book has an universal appeal. “Certain issues don’t change,” he said. To connect with the youth, the author has also opened a Facebook account and started writing a blog.

Gupta did not rule out a sequel. “The book is not all darkness. There is a lot of fun and laughter in it too,” he signed off.


Flashback

A hit film, behind-the-scenes moments, a few laughs and some poignant memories – the audience was treated to all this and more at the city launch of Bimal Roy’s Madhumati, Untold Stories From Behind the Scenes written by the filmmaker’s daughter, Rinki Roy Bhattacharya.

The afterword for the book is written by filmmaker Anik Dutta, who is also Roy’s grand-nephew. “Perhaps I share a spooky connect with my mother’s uncle,” grinned the director of Aschorjyo Prodeep. “In Madhumati, he explored the supernatural and reincarnation of the human soul, a subject discussed for the first time in Hindi cinema. It was very different from his other films like Sujata, Bandini or Do Bigha Zameen, which had a social message. Every artist wants to explore the unknown, tread the untrodden path at least once in his lifetime.”

The author shared some trivia about the film and its crew. “It was a formidable team. The story was written by Ritwik Ghatak. The background score and music was composed by Salil Chowdhury. Hrishikesh Mukherjee was the editor though his assistant, Gurudas Dhaimade, edited much of the film. The credits mentioned Dhaimade as associate editor.” A few years ago, Dhaimade was felicitated by the Bimal Roy Memorial and Film Society, chaired by Bhattacharya.

Vyjayanthimala in a still from Madhumati
Vyjayanthimala in a still from Madhumati

Roy was possibly the only director who arranged for film screenings for his technical team, said the author. He would get copies of films he liked, many of them by Russian filmmakers, and get his team to watch them.

She described her father as a simple man at home who was strict with his children. “I never knew my father was in a glamorous profession. He never let us into that world. He believed in aesthetics. There was always a bronze vase full of flowers in his room and the walls were filled with black- and-white framed photographs. Every evening he came home, changed into his lungi and read the newspaper while relaxing on a couch in the living room.”

“We all had dinner together and we children were put to bed quite early. One particular evening, there was a frenzy of activity in the house even after dinner, something unusual in our house. I grew curious and stayed up with my friend who lived next door to find out what was happening. I almost fainted when I saw Dilip Kumar in our living room. Here was the man of my dreams just a few yards away and I couldn’t even ask for an autograph because my father wouldn’t allow it!”

The actor was there to discuss the script of Madhumati, Bhattacharya later found out. The Dilip Kumar-Vyjayanthimala starrer ran to a full house in Roxy for 24 weeks. “In those days if a film ran full house for more than 24 weeks, the workers at Roxy were entitled to double pay. Sadly, the owners didn’t want to pay and so stopped screening the film.”

Friendship & love

Sudeep Nagarkar turned impromptu love guru for the young audience at the launch of his fifth book, You’re the Password to My Life, at the Starmark store in South City Mall recently.

Sudeep Nagarkar at Starmark, South City. Koushik Saha
Sudeep Nagarkar at Starmark, South City.
Koushik Saha

“Friendship is the only ship that does not sink,” said the Mumbai-based author as he introduced his protagonists Virat and Kavya, best of friends sharing some wild and magical time together. “Not all girl-boy equations have to lead to love.” If Nagarkar had his way, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani would have ended differently, he said.

As the author spoke about the value of real friendship, the audience sought his advice on broken relationship and life after love. “Each person comes to your life to teach you something and bring you closer to your destiny,” said the author.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Showli Chakraborty, Chandreyee Ghosh and Ayan Paul

A Classical Death

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

Once considered its mecca, classical music festivals are struggling to stray afloat in Kolkata. Tathagata Ray Chowdhury explores the reasons for the slow demise of the once thriving live music scene in the country’s ‘culture’ capital

Kolkata :

Not too long ago, Kolkata used to be steeped in the culture of live classical music. For the connoisseur, there was a plethora of fests to attend; for practitioners, a good show here, more than any where else, meant finally gaining acceptance among peers, perhaps even a chance to reserve a place in the pantheon of the greats. Cut to the last 10 years or so, and it’s clear that the once thriving culture is on the wane, with most classical music festivals staring at an uncertain future.

Even a couple of decades back, the city used to play host to a number of prestigious classical music gatherings. Now, only a few survive. Even fewer manage to do so with aplomb. Apart from a couple of names, most classical festivals are struggling to find sponsors, or are in the throes of a slow death.

But why this decay in the country’s “culture capital”? In a nutshell, it’s to do with the nature of classical music’s patronage. To start off with, it was the prerogative of the moneyed class, supported by zamindars and rajahs who truly valued it and understood its nuances. With the abolition of the feudal system, classical music finally travelled to the masses. Ironically, it was this that sounded its death knell.

In 1856, Lucknow’s exiled nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, had brought with him to the city the rich culture of classical music and established it in this part of the subcontinent. His court musicians — most notably Ustad Basat Khan and Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan — played a key role in establishing the genre in the city and its surroundings. By mid-20th century, Kolkata became a mecca for connoisseurs of this branch of the fine arts — so much so, that a number of stalwarts began to either settle down in the city or make it their second home.

Ustad Dabir Khan, the last khalifa of the Tansen family, made Kolkata his home, and other legends of the time — Ustad Allauddin Khan, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan — all found a second home in this city. To all of them, this was the city where the real qadar daans (connoisseurs) lived. There were the music rooms — jalsaghars — of north Kolkata aristocrats, where both budding and prodigious musicians used to come for what then used to be called their “national audition”. And it was usual practice for the honorifics “Ustad” or “Pandit” to be bestowed on performers only after they gained enough acceptance in Kolkata’s aristocratic circles.

It is a matter of concern that a festival of the pedigree of All Bengal Music Conference is struggling to stay afloat nowadays. The first edition of the conference — on December 27, 1934, at Calcutta University’s Senate Hall — marked the day classical music breached the confines of north Kolkata’s aristocratic music rooms and reached the public. It was high time the lofty walls surrounding classical music were broken down: soon, the landed aristocracy would cease to exist, the country would become independent, and the zamindars would no longer be able to patronize the art form.

Sensing all this, Rabindranath Tagore, who was presiding over the event, had said: “We will have to keep in mind that Tansen and others were able to gift a certain form of music only because the royal opulence of the Mughal Empire could help them. That surrounding is no more there.”

Seventy-five years down the line, All Bengal Music Conference had to collaborate with another organization to hold this year’s event. “All Bengal Music Conference could not host any event because of lack of patronage and sponsorship for about 52 years,” says Robin Paul, general secretary of the conference and the founding secretary of Jalsaghar, an organization that promotes classical music. “It was Pandit Ravi Shankar who asked me to do whatever possible to revive the glorious organization. Pandit Asutosh Kanan also helped me revive it. When I associated myself with it in 2004, we could host events for a few years. But it is in very bad financial shape again. It is no longer in a position to host a soiree on its own. That is why it had to collaborate with ITC Sangeet Research Academy to host the music festival this year. Now that Babulal Ghosh, the last scion of the Pathuriaghata Ghosh family, who used to look after the once-famous music festival, also passed away a few weeks ago, I do not really know what the future holds.”

While the conference is staring at a possible extinction, many other music circles have either stopped functioning long ago or are counting their days. The reason is mainly to do with finances, particularly its lack.

Dipankar Sen, of the now defunct Calcutta Music Circle, has another take on the matter. “Organizers and sponsors often promoted a particular artist or gharana at the expense of others, and that also played spoilsport,” he feels. “Many organizations often used their platform to promote only a particular artist, or artists of one gharana. Naturally, connoisseurs started losing interest, as those concerts became repetitive.”

The lack of proper musical understanding by the sponsors — considered crucial in this genre — has also been a major issue. Tabla maestro Ustad Sabir Khan, who has been conducting an annual soiree under the banner of Ustad Keramatullah Khan Memorial Music Society for the past 28 years, has experienced this problem first-hand. “People who don’t know the first thing about music are directing organizers about which artist should perform, and who the accompanist should be on the tabla. It is not true that the money is not there. Corporate houses will happily spend crores to bring a Bollywood star on stage. But when it comes to classical music, the interest is just not there,” he rues.

Pandit Satish Vyas, of Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan, agrees. “Those who have money move toward sponsoring Bollywood events, as such events draw the crowds. But classical music traditionally catered to a niche crowd. It was never quite a mass thing. There was a time when corporate houses used to consider such kind of sponsorships a part of their corporate social responsibility. But the MBA guys who run corporate houses today first think about what they’ll get in return for sponsoring an event. This has diluted things. They take complimentary passes and give those to people who are not even interested in classical music. The front rows, thus, remain vacant these days, while the real music lovers wait outside for a pass to enter the venue.”

Vyas feels the media has a big role to play in introducing the masses to the stalwarts of classical music. “There is very little coverage for classical music events in most newspapers of the country,” he complains. “Today, there are also very few people in the media who can write with authority on classical music. So, it is natural that a five-year-old boy would know a Sachin Tendulkar, but not a legendary maestro. When Ustad Ali Akbar Khan passed away, there was no news in Mumbai. It was the same when Ustad Vilayat Khan died. Can you imagine that? They were like gods in the music industry. How would today’s sponsors come to know about great masters or budding talents if the media do not come forward to introduce them?”

Robin has a similar observation. “It’s difficult to get renowned artists on stage, as there is no one to sponsor us. We are running on donations. Some newspapers only write about some particular artists. There has been a fast and steady decline of general media coverage of classical music and musicians,” he says.

Indranath Pal, joint secretary of Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra, which completed its 59th annual soiree on the outskirts this year, said they were also struggling to make ends meet. “Our music festival was once as popular in the city and the suburbs as the Dover Lane Music Conference. But we are increasingly finding it difficult to sustain ourselves in the absence of sponsorship and media coverage — the two things that helped Dover Lane survive healthily. It is all the more difficult to find a sponsor in a mofussil town such as Uttarpara,” he says. Indranath also points to another very interesting aspect of the difficulty the organizers face in getting sponsors. “Most products available in the market are meant for young consumers. But most of those who come to attend a classical music concert are aged 50 and above. It is obvious that corporate houses are not interested in sponsoring events for this age group,” he says. An event manager, who did not want to be named, says: “Gone are the days of corporate social responsibility. In today’s corporate terminology, sponsorship of an event is termed as a ‘casual, soft advertisement’. The corporate houses are just not interested spending big money on it.”

Even the organizers of Dover Lane Music Conference — counted as one of the most prestigious in the country — admit that they face difficulties in promoting young but promising artists, primarily because of sponsorship issues. “The problem we face in getting sponsors is much less compared with what others face, because we have already established Dover Lane as a brand. Still, it is difficult for even us to present on stage an artist who is a very good performer but not famous, as sponsors prefer only some big names. A quantum leap in the remuneration of artists has also had an effect. Artists now charge about 300 to 500% more than what they used to charge even about two decades back,” says Bappa Sen, organizing secretary, Dover Lane Music Conference.

Vyas, who started the annual soiree of Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan in Mumbai in 1977, also feels that it would have been very difficult to keep the organization afloat, had he been settled in Kolkata. “It would have been impossible to look for a sponsor in Kolkata. So many external factors influence things in Kolkata, such as the political situation and so on. But this is not the case with other areas.”

These “external factors” have influenced the concert circuit in Kolkata — so much so that most music festivals that were once famous are now remembered only in the pages of old souvenirs or connoisseurs’ albums. Now, there are only a handful of concerts in Kolkata that have pockets deep enough to continue even in the face of losses. While the Shastriya Sangeet Sammelan, held at Rabindra Sadan every winter, is the only such event supported by the state government, in the private sector there are perhaps only the Ramakrishna Mission and ITC which have been running shows successfully without caring much for sponsorship. The spectre of financial losses looms large on almost all other concerts.

Sutanuti Parishad of north Kolkata, which was established in the early 1990s at the insistence of then mayor Kamal Basu, has also been conducting soirees every year despite incurring heavy losses. “We survive on donations. But we don’t know how long we will able to continue like this. The future of the about a century-and-a-half-old tradition of hosting classical music concerts in the city looks bleak if the government or private companies do not come forward to support us,” Subrata Dhar, the parishad’s secretary, signs off.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Tathagata Ray Chowdhury, TNN / February 21st, 2015

Chinese community in Kolkata ready for a fresh start

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

The Chinese community living in the city has always celebrated their New Year in their own unique style.
The Chinese community living in the city has always celebrated their New Year in their own unique style.

Kolkata :

The Chinese community living in the city has always celebrated their New Year in their own unique style. But this time, they have put their heads together and vowed to make a new beginning, in true sense of the term. To begin with, the community has already started renovating the Pei May School complex, which has remained abandoned for long. A cooperative has been formed to steer the community.

Pei May is the only Chinese-medium school in the city that was set up to teach kids of the migrating Chinese community. However, Chinese children started going to English-medium schools and Pei May lost its relevance with time. Gradually, people stopped visiting it. But finally, it dawned upon the community that wasting more than 2 lakh sq ft area was not a good idea.

Led by Liu Kuo Chao, the Chinese Welfare Association brought together 5,000 Chinese residents to form a co-operative that would run the trust governing the school and temple complex. The temple already stands spruced up. Interestingly, a statue of Sinthee, a man who is believed to have superhuman protective powers, stands outside the altar with his horse. Almost every Chinese home has prepared some offering for the deities and will visit the temple at least once during the weeklong festivities that start Wednesday.

The massive school building will be repaired after the New Year celebrations. The trust plans to start a Chinese language training school here for graduates and professionals. “Our kids are joining the hospitality, IT and teaching professions in China because they are proficient in English and they can also speak Chinese. The fact that they cannot read or write Chinese is not being counted as a dampener. The school will target those from outside the community who want to learn the language from Chinese trainers,” said Monica Liu, owner of several Chinese restaurants in Tangra.

“There are a large number of elderly people within the community who are extremely gifted as far as Chinese writing and even literature is concerned. We will rope them in to create easy speaking and writing modules for non-Chinese youth,” said Sze Shiyenyeh, a senior enthusiast of the Welfare Association.

The community has finally started feeling vindicated in Kolkata. “For years, Tangra has been neglected. A look at the streets outside the swanky restaurants will tell you how the Chinese have been relegated to one corner of the city. When the tanneries were ordered out, many of us shut our units and got into motley businesses, most of which did not work. But now we have found a cause to live once again,” said Liu Ka Keen, who might join as a part-time teacher in the school.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee, TNN / February 19th, 2015

New start for grand lady – Descendants rededicate gravestone of botanist

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion
Lady Emma addresses the small gathering at the ceremony to dedicate the gravestone of her ancestor, Lady Anne Monson, at South Park Street Cemetery on Thursday morning. With her are Michael Dorrien Smith, Lady Emma Windsor-Clive, Isabella Monson (seated) and JM Robinson and James Miller (wearing panama). Picture by Anup Bhattacharya
Lady Emma addresses the small gathering at the ceremony to dedicate the gravestone of her ancestor, Lady Anne Monson, at South Park Street Cemetery on Thursday morning. With her are Michael Dorrien Smith, Lady Emma Windsor-Clive, Isabella Monson (seated) and JM Robinson and James Miller (wearing panama).
Picture by Anup Bhattacharya

Calcutta :

Sleepy, leafy South Park Street Cemetery could have turned into a scene from the TV series Downton Abbey on Thursday morning as a small group of Englishmen and women gathered at the twin graves of Lady Anne Monson and her second husband, Colonel George Monson, for a quiet and solemn ceremony as a chorus of koels sang incessantly.

The frail, behatted Lady Emma Monson was with her granddaughter Isabella, her friend, the youthful Michael Dorrien Smith, a descendant of Lord Clive – Lady Emma Windsor-Clive – and two friends, architectural historian J.M. Robinson and art historian James Miller.

Lord Clive was a British officer who defeated Siraj-ud-Doula in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and consolidated the East India Company’s rule.

Lady Emma was there to dedicate a tombstone inscription to her ancestor, Lady Anne Monson, who was a botanist, an exceptional figure in the 18th century, and great granddaughter of King Charles II.

Charles II, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1660-85), was restored to the throne after years of exile during the Puritan Commonwealth, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The years of his reign are known in English history as the Restoration period.

The genus Mansonia was named by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in honour of Lady Anne. Colonel Monson was a member of the Supreme Council of Calcutta and an enemy of Warren Hastings. He died six months after his wife in September 1776. An inscription above his tomb was erected in 1908 by the Calcutta Historical Society. But Lady Anne’s tomb remained without an inscription. Both graves are quite nondescript by the monumental standards of this cemetery.

A wreath was laid on the spruced-up grave and newly inscribed tombstone by Ranajoy Bose, executive member, Christian Burial Board, with Ash Kapur, president of the Association for the Preservation of Historical Cemeteries in India, Bertie Da Silva, vice-principal of St. Xavier’s College, and Christina Mirza, who heads the English department of the college. Lady Emma said in her address that when she first visited Calcutta in 2012, both graves were in ruins and she wished to restore them. So she got in touch with the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA).

She thanked all concerned for refurbishing them. Both graves have been restored by an accredited architect and its surroundings have been cleared and neatly marked with brick dust. The service was conducted by Reverend Nigel Pope, vicar of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> North Bengal> Story / A Staff Reporter / Saturday – February 14th, 2015

Grandniece continues Nivedita’s quest for truth

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Kolkata :

When a 73-year-old woman stepped into Mayer Bari — Maa Sarada’s house at Bagbazar — everybody was busy with their daily chores. Sight of tourists is nothing unusual for them. But when they came to know that the lady was actually the grand-niece of Sister Nivedita, there was no leaving her alone. For rest of the day, a strong crowd milled around Selenda Margot Giardin, who came all the way from Newbury at Vermont in the US. By evening, it was a day well-spent for Saradha Math monks, students of Nivedita School and Selenda as well.

“I am fascinated. I feel like a celebrity,” beamed Selenda, who was the centre of attraction at Sarada Sarani on Monday. The pangs of Parkinson’s and acute arthritis could not dissuade Selenda from embarking upon the long journey in quest of “truth, love and God”.

Selenda didn’t know how to react when people touched her feet. Anushuya, a student at Nivedita School where Selenda led a prayer, said: “For us, it’s like being with Bhagini Nivedita herself.”

Some found the same eyes in Selenda, who shares her middle name (Margot) with her Irish grand-aunt Margaret Elizabeth Noble, whom Swami Vivekananda christened Nivedita. “My middle name is ‘curiosity’. From the age of seven, when I first read at the church that ‘God is Love’, I have been curious about God. The search continues…and now I am here, searching…” reminisced Selenda, who runs her choir at the United Church of Christ at Vermont.

The septuagenarian will be attending a host of programmes over the week. She will spend two days at Belur Math before flying back to the US on Saturday. Her son John Grow is accompanying her.

Selenda let out more about herself and the Nobles as she spoke to TOI: “Ever since I was a child, I remember my mother, Isabel Noble, telling me stories of her aunt who pursued her quest for truth and worked for the people living in this faraway land.”

She gifted the monks of Sarada Math the handwritten notes by Sister Nivedita circa 1909 and a replica of Michaelangelo’s Pieta, which Sister Nivedita had gifted Selenda’s mother Isabela. These items will be on display at the upcoming Nivedita Museum inside Nivedita House.

Mayer Bari head Swami Viswanathananda said: “Selenda’s amazing. We never imagined that a descendent of Sister Nivedita would come here after all these years.” Another monk Prabuddhaprana shared the euphoria: “We are glad to discover the Sister’s family at last.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / February 17th, 2015

‘Bodhon’ bags double US prize

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Barshan Seal bagged the best actor’s prize end-January at North Carolina State’s Global Film Festival 2015 for his performance in ‘Nabalok’ (The Innocent). A couple of days ago, the production team of ‘Bodhon’ got an official notification that it has got the ‘best film’ and lead actor Arpita Chatterjee has bagged the ‘best actress’ award. With this, all three top awards at the American festival has come to Bengal.

“It was an official selection in Indian Panorama at IFFI, too, and that was prestigious as well. But this double award is a big boost too,” said debutant filmmaker Ayananshu Banerjee, who got top ranks in both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary before graduating from IIT-Kharagpur.

For Arpita, it’s welcome news. “An award doesn’t define an artist. It’s a nice feeling and it will help me strive for perfection. It will be a driving force,” she said. Asked if the limited number of films she works in is a conscious decision, she responded: “I don’t do films out of financial compulsion. So this acts as an elimination process. Also my priority is my son, so I keep my schedule tuned to him.” ‘Bodhon’ is a film about a woman on her journey to rediscovering motherhood.

Arpita said her long-term plans include returning to the theatre stage. “I’ll wait for a good film script. And, in the next five years, I will be able to devote a good portion of my time to theatre. There are several young theatre groups coming up which are doing good work. It’s a very good time to be in the theatre world and theatre has always been an integral part of Bengal. It’s where any actor gets the best ground to hone his or her skills. It is equivalent to what ‘riyaz’ is to a vocalist,” she told TOI.

Asked about the state of affairs in Tollywood, she exclaimed: “A large number of films are releasing now, but the market space hasn’t increased. Some halls have shut down. This is a terrifying situation. We have to increase the number of halls, be it single-screen or multiplex. Because of lack of space, there is no breathing space for films releasing in quick succession.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / February 12th, 2015

10 schools ‘Film It’ to national stage

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Kolkata :

The ministry of culture has shortlisted 10 films made by students from as many city schools to create awareness about Kolkata’s heritage and promote tourism.

Three of these films will make it to the final list and find a place, along with shortlisted films from other cities, on the websites of ministries of culture and tourism. Posters from these films will also be used by the Centre in its ‘Incredible India’ campaign.

The films were screened on Tuesday at Birla High School as part of a nationwide screening of ‘Film It’, as the initiative has been christened.

Schools that made it to the top-10 list are Modern High School for Girls, Apeejay Park Street and Salt Lake, Birla High School, Lakshmipat Singhania, Loreto Sealdah, DPS Megacity, Heritage and South City International. “As many as 400 films were submitted from Kolkata. Choosing 10 best from the lot was a tough task. But I must say that Kolkata kids showed a lot of imagination while looking at heritage from a completely fresh angle,” said Purnima Dutt, who came from Intach-Delhi. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has been appointed the nodal agency for this countrywide project.

It is not built-heritage alone that the kids focused on. Even intangible heritage came in for filming. Take the case of Birla High School for Boys that made a film on fish markets of the city. “Visiting the fish market was an eye opener. It was a journey of sorts. Right from the catch, the sorting, the quality that goes into the different markets, the preservation, the sale and finally the preparations,” said Deepon Roy, a Class IX boy who was part of the film unit.

Similarly, Modern High School focused on the ancient game of Chaupar (dice) and how some ancient Marwari families still play it. Interesting mediums like animation and verse were also used to tell tales.

Schools from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad have also been selected for the final round. Films screened by them showcase the heritage and culture of respective states.

“We have tied up with the Helen Hamlyn Trust in th UK that will also showcase the films in UK schools,” said Intach convenor GM Kapur.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / February 04th, 2015

Sex workers’ cooperative wins award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features
A sex worker withdrawing money at Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.Photo: Sushanta Patronobish
A sex worker withdrawing money at Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

With low interest rate, they have been able to educate their children and manage their finances better

A cooperative run by sex workers of Songachi, which functions as a bank for sex workers, has won the prestigious award for the best run cooperative in West Bengal for 2014.

Usha Multipurpose Co-operative Society Ltd, the largest sex workers’ financial institution in Asia, owned and managed by sex workers, has a corpus of Rs 19 crores and 20,000 members.

“Before the cooperative was started, we were left at the mercy of moneylenders and madams. Since the sex workers did not have address and identification proof, it was impossible for us to open an account in banks,” said Rita Rai, a sex worker who is actively involved in the Usha Cooperative.

Like Ms Rai, Abida Begum, has taken loans from the cooperative a number of times. “It is with the help of the cooperative that I managed my finances and was able to buy a piece of land. Earlier most of our earnings were spent in paying back the moneylender,” she said.

The cooperative has given sex workers a sense of empowerment. With this, they have been able to release themselves from the clutches of madams and pimps. As a result of this bank, The Hindu came across several women who have been able to educate their children, arrange the marriage of their daughters and even buy property of their own. Dependence on the bank has also mitigated the impact of the recent deposit collection scams that have rocked West Bengal on sex workers.

The beginning, however, was not easy. Chief Advisor to the cooperative, S Jana recalls the resistance faced by him and the sex workers when they decided to set up a bank of their own.

“I was personally threatened, bombs were hurled at us, and the girls were under pressure to not join the cooperative movement. However, slowly we were able to convince the women who joined us in greater numbers each year,” Dr Jana told The Hindu .

The cooperative started its operations in 1995. “To begin a society run by sex workers was not an easy task. There was a debate in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and an amendment was brought to the Cooperative Act to enable sex workers to start a cooperative society,” Dr Jana said. He is hopeful that in 2015 itself, the Reserve Bank of India will give the cooperative a full-fledged licence to function as a bank.

The members of the cooperative society say that they do not demand an identification proof for opening an account and the rate of interest is lower than many nationalized banks.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Shiv Sahay Singh / Kolkata – February 01st, 2015

If you missed Tansen, listen to his descendant

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Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (107), based in Kolkata, was the oldest living legend to be bestowed Padma Bhushan

He is the direct descendant of Tansen and has been performing for 75 years. He has performed nearly 3,000 concerts and composed 2,000 bandish , which are being sung by leading Hindustani musicians. In 2013, when he was conferred the Padma Bhushan, he was the oldest living legend to be bestowed the honour.

“I am Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, 107 years young,” declares the maestro jokingly. “Some members of my family have lived up to the age of 110 and beyond,” he says.

Born in 1908 at Salon near Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Rashid Khan is the son of Chote Usuf Khan of the Gwalior Gharana. He is the 23{+r}{+d}generation of Tansen’s family and traces his ancestry to Surat Sen, one of the maestro’s four sons.

“My father, and uncle Bade Usuf Khan, trained me in a 10-hour schedule that was followed by a four-hour riyaaz (practice) every day for 22 years.

“Only when I touched 30 did my gurus allow me to step on a stage. That was the kind of integrity we followed,” says the Ustad, who once had Zakir Hussain, then 16, playing the tabla.

After obtaining a degree from Allahabad University, Rashid Khan went to Rae Bareli. He performed a slew of concerts in every nook and corner of India. “I have performed at every maharaja’s court in pre-Independent India. Rae Bareli alone had 22 maharajas and each would demand a particular raag ,” he says recollecting the traditional four to five hour concerts that were in vogue then.

In 1991, he was specially invited by the ITC Sangeeth Research Academy in Kolkata to take over as the senior guru. He has been teaching there for the last 25 years. His traditional compositions have been recorded by the BBC and Iraq Radio.

The UP Sangeet Natak Academi and the ITC Sangeet Research Academy have more than 1500 compositions of the ustad in their collection.

And the secret of his longevity?

“All we know is that he prays five times a day,” says grandson Bilal Khan, who accompanies the ustad on the tabla.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – January 29th, 2015

Treasures of Bengal Renaissance on display till Jan 28

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

Kolkata :

An exhibition of rare colour etchings, manuscripts, letters and documents at the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj Library at Bidhan Sarani has brought alive the Bengal Renaissance — the days of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Rabindranath Tagore, the two doyens of Bengal’s socio-cultural resurgence.

The exhibition, which will continue till January 28, is part of the 185th Maghotsava celebration, an annual event of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. Some of the artifacts being exhibited are rare etchings that capture early-19th century life and rituals in Kolkata. None of these etchings, done by European artists, were formerly available in India. Art restorer and archivist Ganesh Pratap Singh painstakingly bought these back from different international auctions.

“These are our treasures of our country, lying with personal collections mostly of Europeans and Americans. Once they are up for sale, I don’t lose a moment in buying them back,” said Singh, who for the first time is showcasing his treasure trove, which includes Tagore’s rare photographs. An original deed of a loan agreement of Tagore during the 1900s is also part of the exhibition. “Tagore probably took the loan for his family business,” Singh said.

The colour etchings are the most remarkable portrayals of socio-religious life of Kolkata and Bengal in the early-19th century. There are scenes of Charak Utsav, from markets and a series on the custom of ‘sati’, where a widow would be burnt alive on her husband’s pyre. Father of Bengal Renaissance, Ram Mohan Roy, took the lead in abolishing this custom. Several letters written by Ram Mohan and Keshav Chandra Sen are also on display.

“We have also brought some of the pieces from our own collection at Ram Mohan Library,” said Subrata Dutta, joint secretary of the Samaj. The Brahmo Samaj Library in itself is a historic place visited by the who’s who of Bengal Renaissance for intellectual exchanges.

“The formative years of people like Sukumar Ray were shaped here,” said Bijon Chanda, another joint secretary and key custodian of the 25,000 rare books, manuscripts and photographs. But January 26 is a special day when Brahmos from different corners of the country would meet at the majestic prayer hall to pray for peace.

Sudin Chattopadhyay, a former professor of history at the then Presidency College, was delighted to see the etchings and pointed out that their depiction of ‘sati’ was still relevant for the current generation. “The word ‘sati’ now does not bring the horrible picture of the custom to one’s mind. The current generation that only has textual knowledge of the custom will get a glimpse of how horrible the practice was after seeing these paintings,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN /January 25th, 2015