Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

It was the last part of 60s when a gentleman made a feature film 'Sara Aakash' in Bollywood. He was Basu Chatterjee - the filmmaker for the common man, of the middle class. The hopes, happiness, joy, sorrow, aspirations, achievements of salaried middle class depicted Basuda in his films and the common cinegoers identified with them. His heroes were most ordinary in the story and the heroines were next-door-girls. Basuda made so many successful films became popular and it was not so easy to make such films at that time of heroism. A unique and imaginative exhibition on Basu Chatterjee was inaugurated by Basuda himself on 26 April, 2014 in Kolkata named 'Basu Chatterjee - A Manzil Of Memories'. The posters of his films, publicity booklet, still of his films and TV serials, DVD, Lobby Cards, 2 hand-written manuscripts and print of his various films on ceramic tiles would be exhibited there. Moreover, 16 LP records of his film songs will also be exhibited th...

Since Tuesday, heat wave is reigning in the city Kolkata for the 3rd consecutive day as the maximum temperature is 5 degrees above normal. 41 degrees C recordrd yesterday in the city which was the second highest after 19 April, 2009 (41.2 d C). 3 people died in the city due to heat wave yesterday. -- A. B.

Before the initiation of British Raj in India, along the west bank of river Hooghly, only within an area of 100 kms, Portuguese, Dutch, Dinemar, French, German merchants wanted to establish their trades. Their trades never been fruitful, but, the towns like Bandel, Hooghly, Chuchura, Chandanngar & Serampore still have the signs of their presence and cultural memories. The inception of Bangla printing and European education was held here. The work of writing history of this area had been initiated two historian - Suranjan Das and Basudeb Chattopadhyay. After the untimely demise of later one, this work completed by Suranjan Das recently. He is the VC of Calcutta University. The book named: Europe And The Hooghly : The European Settlements On The West Bank Of The River (K P Bagchi). The book has many rare photos of that period too. Andre Beteille, famous sociologist and writer of India, will publish the book on 24 April, 2014 at 3 pm in Calcutta University campus audito...

Gulzar is my one of most favourite poet. And filmmaker too. When I was at high school, I used to listen the sweet songs penned by Gulzar - from "mora gora ang lei le" of 'Bandini' to "dil dhoondta hai" of 'Mausam'....... In 1975, when the film Mausam released, I rushed to the theatre to watch this national award winning film. I just at the 1st year then. The film was also with my favourite actors like Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore and music director was Madan Mohan - my most favourite composer. Another point to admire Gulzar is that, he has love for Bengali literature. Classic writers like Rabindranath and Sharatchandra are his favourite. He made a film 'Khooshbo' based on the timeless classic of Sharatchandra - "Pandit Moshai". He made a very romantic film 'Izaazat' based on a classic of Subodh Ghosh - "Jatugriha". He had chosen Suchitra Sen for the role of political leader in the movie 'Aandh...

College Square of central Kolkata is an ancient place famous for a swimming pool and Durga puja. It is situated on College Street, in front of Calcutta University. It is one of heritage of the city situated on College Street. Indian Coffee House, Hindu School, Sanskrit College, Presidency University, Medical College & Hospital are the other sites near College Square. So many boys and girls are the member of this swimming club practises regularly. -- A. B.

This evening I visited the book festival on the occasion of Bengali new year (বাংলা নববর্ষ). The venue is College Square, Kolkata. Bengali culture and traditional heritage are being depicted here by organising cultural function, show of palanquin, small boat, dheki, chorka, jata, bioscope etc. is an attempt to get familiar of ancient practices of rural household traditions. The books (mainly Bengali books) are the traditions of Bengali culture exhibited nicely by the publishers participated here. -- A. B.

Bengalee like delicious foods, especially on Poila Boishakh. So, various hotels and restaurants arranged attractive feast for Bengalee. AUDH 1590: arranged special items for Nabo Barsho : raan biriyani, shahi paya biriyani, kima biriyani, shikari kel biriyani, mahi kofta biriyani, multani kanthal biriyani etc. And juicy pineapple raita would be there with any item of biriyani. Approx cost for 2: Rs. 1000/-. Park Pavilion: special items will be there for 3 days from today. Moglai, Bengali or Chinese, you can get any items here. And the special items are - Murshidabad mutton biriyani, mach paturi, murgi dum, chana mahima polao, ratna moog, mohini sorse, bhapa mach, begun malaikari, hot garlic veg, burnt garlic hakka noodles etc. Cost Rs 1200 for 2 persons. Vat extra. The Gateway: here you can grab food items of Bangladesh like misti kumro phul fry, begun bhorta, patol bhorta, enchor doi, mankachur malaikari, patoler dolma, shol mach er bhorta, macher matha salon, rui murighonto, tiger ...

Today is Poila Boishakh, the first day of 1421 - new Bengali year. Bengalee of West Bengal always love to celebrate the day with traditional joy, happiness, respect, fun and rituals. When the first light of the day about to break, the traders rush to Kalighat or Dakshineswar to worship goddess Kali with their red book (খেরোর খাতা) i.e. ledger book. Not only the traders, common people of Bengali community go to Kali temple in the morning. Till 1980, a musical function used to held on the morning of Nabo Barsho at Basusree cinema hall. Most of the renowned performers of Bengal like Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, Arati Mukhopadhyay, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Pratima Bandyopadhyay, Shyamal Mitra even Uttam Kumar used to perform here. I never had an opportunity to present at that function, but, it was traditionally a very popular event for which Bengalee may feel pride. Various clubs and NGO's use to organise 'pravat pheri' with c...

Today is Charak Puja on Chaitra sankranti - the last day of Bengali calendar year. On this occasion, Charak puja has been done this afternoon. Here are some pics in rural Bengal, where I was present and observed the joy of childrens too. -- A. B.

Nabo Barsho Boi Utsav or a book fair would be organised for the first time on the occasion of Bengali New Year 1421, by the Publishers & Booksellers Guild. The book fair (নববর্ষ বই উৎসব) will run from today for seven days (14 April-20 April, 2014). And the venue is College Square (Vidyasagar Udyan). The pavilions would be decorated as huts of Bengal. And not only books, - songs, adda, amusement, gift items, heritage yard, special discount offers would delight the heart of visitors. Today, at 5 pm, a huge rally would be there where the eminent persons of Bengal will participate. And the fair will be inaugurated at 6 pm today. The fair will remain open from 12 pm to 8 pm daily, from tomorrow, till 20 April, for all. -- A. B.

Bengali new year 1421 will start from 15 April, 2014. Hence, the idols of Lord Ganesha are preparing by the clay artists. On Poila Boishakh, the pujas of Lord Ganesha is a regular practice of traders. They also open new ledger (খেড়োর খাতা) on this day. So, this red book is also being prepared to fulfil the requirement of traders on Poila Boishakh. -- A. B.

According to some sociologist, Gajon is a strategy to remain intact the prejudices of aboriginals. So called people of higher class are the inventor of this strategy. Once upon a time the aboriginals used to perform their horrid customs like Baanfora (বাণফোড়া), Kantajhap (কাঁটাঝাপ) etc. Those customs are now being performed by the lower classes of the society. And by this way, the due honour is being paid to them by the people of higher class. The other section of sociologists opined that a very ancient rumour is behind this festival. The king of demons (the untouchables in modern sense) was Baan (বাণ রাজা). His daughter Usha fell in love in her dream with Aniruddha - the grandson of Lord Krishna. She sent her 'sakhi' Chitralekha to Dwarka to fetch Aniruddha. Then, Usha married him secretly. However, the news licked and the king captivated Aniruddha. But, being informed about it, Lord Krishna attacked the kingdom of Baan by the help of Balaram and defeated Baa...

-- A. B.