Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Today is the 135th death anniversary of Prasanna Kumar Tagore.  Prasanna Kumar Tagore  (also spelt  Prosunno Kumar Tagore ,  Prasanna Kumar Tagore ) (21 December 1801–30 August 1886) was a son of  Gopi Mohan Tagore , one of the founders of  Hindu College . He belonged to the  Pathuriaghata  branch of the  Tagore family  and was one of the leaders of the conservative branch of Hindu society.  He was educated at home, in Sherborne's school and Hindu College, when it was established in 1817. With his knowledge of traditional  smriti  and western law, he started practising law in the Dewani Adalat (civil court). Within a short period he was appointed the government lawyer, but left that job in 1850, to look after family property. When the Viceroy’s Council was formed in 1854, he joined as clerk-assistant. At that time he was respected as one of the rich Bengalis.   Although he was founder-secretary of the conservative ...

Sajanikanta Das  (25 August 1900 – 11 February 1962) was a Bengali poet, literary critic and editor of Shanibarer Chithi. Sajanikanta was born at Betalbanthe village,  Bardhaman district . He passed  entrance examination from Dinajpur Jila Schoolf of  Dinajpur  and entered into the  Presidency College Calcutta  in 1918. Sajanikanta Das did not complete his study there due to political causes and joined in  Bankura  Weslian Missionary College. Thereafter he passed B.Sc from Scottish Church College. He  joined in the esteemed Bengali magazine Shanibarer Chithi while he was studying M.Sc and took the pen name  Bhabkumar Pradhan . He became the chief editor of the magazine from the 11th issue and got popularity for satire based criticism. His prose, satirical attack hit eminent personalities of Bengal. He was also attached with  Prabasi ,  Dainik Basumati  and  Bangashree  magazines. He researched and pub...

Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan  ( Bengali :  দ্বারকানাথ বিদ্যাভূষণ ) (1820 – 22 August 1886) was an  Indian  scholar, editor and publisher of the trend-setting weekly  Bengali  newspaper  Somprakash . Vidyabhusan's father, Harachandra Bhattacharya (better known as  Nyayratna ) was a scholar. He had studied under Kashinath Tarkalankar, who had a popular traditional centre of education at Hatibagan in north  Kolkata , Nyayratna taught in the traditional centres of  Sanskrit -based education called  tol-chatuspatis  and also taught some boys in his spare time at his home.  After initial education in the traditional centre of village education,  the pathsala , Dwarkanath joined  Sanskrit College , Kolkata in 1832, and studied there up to 1845, winning many prizes and earning fame as a scholar. He won the title of  Vidyabhusan  in his last examination. He had a short stint as a teacher in  Fort William Col...

On this day, in the year 1828, Brahmo Samaj was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. On 20 August 1828 the first assembly of the  Brahmo Sabha  (progenitor of the Brahmo Samaj) was held at the North Calcutta house of  Feringhee  Kamal Bose . This day was celebrated by  Brahmos  as  Bhadrotsab  (ভাদ্রোৎসব  Bhadrotshôb  " Bhadro  celebration"). These meetings were open to all Brahmins and there was no formal organisation or theology as such. The following doctrines, as noted in Renaissance of Hinduism, are common to all varieties and offshoots of the  Brahmo Samaj : [8] Brahmo Samajists have no faith in any scripture as an authority. Brahmo Samajists have no faith in  Avatars Brahmo Samajists denounce polytheism and idol-worship. Brahmo Samajists are against caste restrictions. Brahmo Samajists make faith in the doctrines of  Karma  and Rebirth optional

Ramendra Sundar Tribedi was born on 22 August, 1864 at Kandi of Murshidabad district in West Bengal.  Ramendra was a successful student from his childhood. After obtaining his B.Sc. degree (coming first in the exams), he competed for the prestigious Premchand Roychand Scholarship with physics and chemistry as his subjects. He won that scholarship in 1888. Ramendra Sundar was a polymath who wrote on a host of themes, including popular science and the philosophy of science. His first articles appeared in the periodical 'Navajiban'. His contribution to the functioning and development of the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is considered to be momentous. His writings have been used in school and college textbooks in West Bengal and Bangladesh. In Bengal, Ramendra Sundar's fame rests mostly on his popular science essays. As a popular science writer, Ramendra's commitment seems to have been "to share with everyone else the fun, the delight and ecstasy of science (in Ramen...

40 years passed, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar is no more - he went to that divine place of immortality. We still remembering him with utmost faith that he is still with us, with his pure smile, genuine look and bright personality. Here is my small endeavor where the story of Uttam Kumar is depicted highlighting the early struggle and heroines of Mahanayak. It is in Bengali. Hope you'll enjoy the video below:

Rabindranath Tagore wrote a Bengali poem named 'Barsho sesh' (i.e. on year ending day), in which he depicted the formation of clouds in late afternoon and then the onset of fearful storm (kal boishakhi) on the last day of Bengali Calendar Year. He picked the right words and expressions to creat a new poem depicting the dreadful storm. He wrote the poem on Bengali 30 Charitra, year 1305, i.e. in English calendar, it was 13th April, 1899 at Shantiniketan. Here is the poem in Bengali, recited by me.