Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Kolkata Book Fair is now full-fledged by the book lovers of all ages. In the first pic, enthusiastic book lovers are gathered to enter in the pavilion of Peru. And in the second pic, the little book lovers are searching the books for them. Pic courtesy : Bartaman -- A. B.

Today is the inauguration of 38th International Kolkata Book Fair at Milan Mela. The Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the fair this evening. 'Peru' is the theme of this year. The eminent writer Shankar was present on the stage. Bolivia and Singapore are participating for the first time. Some other attractions of this book fair are - 1. Three-days Kolkata language-literature festival, 2. P C Chandra Book Museum pavilion where many specimens of history of books will be there, 3. NBT Bhasa-bandhan where exhibition of books in Indian languages would be there. The 3-days long Kolkata language-literature festival will inaugurate central minister Sri Sashi Tharoor following by the songs of Usha Uthup who also created the signature tune of this year's book fair. Moreover, arrangements of lucky coupon and book privilege card have been made at the fair. A pavilion on the name of Suchitra Sen will be there too. Life time achievement

Saraswati is now under preparation of the clay artists of Kumortuli, Kolkata. Saraswati puja is now 13 days to go. -- A. B.

Kumortuli of Kolkata is now busy to complete the idols of goddess Saraswati as the next 4February is Saraswati puja in Bengal. -- A. B.

Kumortuli of Kolkata is now busy to prepare clay idols of goddess Saraswati. Next 4 February is the Saraswati puja in Bengal. -- A. B.

Suchitra Sen - 'Greta Garbo' of Bengal is no more. Her physical condition was deteriorated since last evening and then suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died at 8:25 this morning, according to her family sources. Suchitra Sen had been living a life of recluse for the last three decades. She was born on 6 April, 1931 in Pabna of Bangladesh. And acted in 60 films mostly as the heroine. She acted in many superhit Bengali films with Uttam Kumar. I liked the films - Saptapadi, Harano Sur, Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, Indrani etc. I liked also her hit film Saat Pake Bandha against Soumitra Chattopadhyay in the year 1963, for which she won the best actress award at Moscow Film Festival. She was the first Indian to receive such international award. I liked many other films of Suchitra Sen like Gulzar's Aandhi, Bimal Roy's Devdas etc. Suchitra Sen died at the age of 82, but she will remain with us as the romantic heroine of Bengali silver screen, for ever.

500 year's old fish fair or matso Mela has been held yesterday at Krishnapur village near Debanandapur - the birthplace of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay in Hooghly district. The fair use to held near the 'akhra' of Raghunath Das Babaji whose name one can find in the novel of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The most remarkable feature of this fish fare is that here one can buy a small piece from a big fish. Every kind of fish - from chara pona to rui, katla, mrigel, deshi bhetki, bhola bhetki, mumbai bhetki, ilish, chingri, gurjali, aar, golda chingri, topse, pakhi mach, hatir kaan, badur mach, shankar mach, boal mach use to sell in this fair. And bigger fishes are the main attraction of this fair. A 25 kg Aar fish was one of the main attraction of this fair as seen in this picture.

-- A. B.

The traditional Pithe-Puli of Bengal is going to outdated. It is the Sweetcake of Poush parban. When the pilgrims of Gangasagar will take holy dip on the sagar sangam at the auspicious moments of Poush sankranti, the Bengalees everywhere will enjoy the Pithe-Puli utsav made of newly cropped rice with the help of nalen gur, patali, milk and coconut. Although preparation of Pithe-Puli is laborious, the elders of our family are still venture to make dudh-puli, mug-puli, seddho pithe, chusi, patisapta on the occasion of Poush parban. But if you have problems to prepare Pithe-Puli, and you have desire to enjoy it, then go to 6 Ballygunge Place where Pithe-Puli festival is going on from 12 January to 16 January 2014 where the patrons of vivid traditional Pithe-Puli will find opportunities to greet the effort of this restaurant. You may go to their branches of either Ballygunge or Salt Lake. They have various Pithe-Puli like Gokul pithe, ros mug, khuri pithe, mug dudh, chand

Legendary actress Suchitra Sen's physical condition is very critical at this moment. She is under Invasive Ventilation. The doctors are supplying oxygen to her by Endotrackial tube. Her heart and lungs are not working properly. The team of doctors and Moon Moon Sen attended her overnight. Her respiratory troubles are there. Arrangements of strong security have been made outside the clinic. The 82 year's old Mahanayika Suchitra Sen was admitted to a private clinic on 24 December, 2013 due to lung infection and fever. Since then, she is under specialist doctors but her physical conditions are continuously fluctuating. -- A. B.

International Kite Festival 'Bho-Katta' is running at Eco-park of New Town, Kolkata where giant kites are the main attraction. -- A. B.

International Kite Festival has been started yesterday i.e. on 5 January 2014 at Eco Park of New Town, Kolkata. LED light is the main attraction of this kite festival. The lights have been fitted inside the kite. So, the kites would be seen at night also. Another attraction of this kite festival is Delta kite - 9 meters wide and 6 meters long; i.e. 30 feet wide and 18 feet long. The threaded to fly the kites are made of nylon & jute. PVC threads will also be used. Representatives from 16 countries are participating in this festival. Representatives from 9 States of India will also participate here. They are 35 in total. Foreign countries like USA, UK, Thailand, France, Germany, Singapore will participate in the festival. -- A. B.

Keya Seth Miss & Mrs Adwitia Grand Final will be held at Netaji Indoor Stadium on 4 January, 2014. Selected 25 contestants from 16 districts will be participated. The function will start at 3 pm. -- A. B.

On 1January, 1886 Thakur Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa became 'Kalpataru' at Cossipore Udyanbati. The devotees come to this place every year on this day to pay homage to Thakur. The room of first floor where Sri Ramakrishna used to live on the last days of his life, remains open on 1 January for the devotees to make room for them to pay homage to Thakur. That room was opened for all yesterday. -- A. B.

Kolkata observed the Kalpataru Utsav on 1 January, 2014. Lakhs of devotees gathered at Dakshineswar temple, Cossipore Udyanbati & Belur Math on this occasion yesterday. Pic courtesy: Newspaper. -- A. B.