Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Gitashree Sandhya Mukhopadhyay inaugurated the 'Sangeet Mela 2012' alongwith the Chief Minister of West Bengal and other veteran singers presented on the stage of Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata, this evening. Veteran singer of Bangladesh Firoza Begum was one of the recipient of prestigious 'Maha Sangeet Samman' received from the Chief Minister on behalf of the State Government. She said, so many prizes and honour she has already been given by the Government of Bangladesh, but she felt this particular honour was something special for her. The Sangeet Mela will run at 6 places of the city till 21 April of this year. -- A. B.

Poila Boishakh, the first day of Bengali new year. Bengalees traditionally celebrate the day with pure Bengali foods. And today's Bengalee use to taste the most attractive foods of Bengali restaurants on this day. Aheli of Peerless Inn is one of those rare hotels where special thali of Bangla meals can be tasted in exchange of only Rs 1200, in an atmosphere of ancient Kolkata. Aheli Restaurant in Kolkata is well known for authentic Bengali cuisine. Besides Kewpie's Restaurant, which is also known for the local Bengali cuisine, Aheli Restaurant of kolkata stands as its stiff competitor. To the epicurean, Aheli restaurant in kolkata, West Bengal, comes as a blessing because the city house plenty other multicuisine restaurant and their own culture is getting subverted. Kolkata is the melting pot of culture. Nonetheless its own store of delicacies is quiet rich and nobody can deny that the Bengali cuisines are a must- have. The Location of Aheli Restaurant in

12 April, 2012 'Gaan Mela' (fair of songs) would be inaugurated at Netaji Indoor Stadium at 5pm, by the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The weeklong fair will introduce the heritage of Bangla songs by many known and unknown artists. Songs and melody always in the air of Bengal. From traditional to contemporary songs - all the aspects of Bangla songs will be echoed in the air for the next 8 days. And the new Bangla year 1419 will start from Saturday. So, Boishakh will be more melodious under the enchant of 'Gaan Mela'. The pride of India and Bangladesh - veteran singer Firoza Begum will be present here tomorrow to get the 'Maha Sangeet Samman' (the great honour in the field of music). Alongwith her, veteran vocalist Girija Debi, singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, Amar Paul, Subir Sen, Sumitra Sen and Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty would be honoured by 'Maha Sangeet Samman'. The 'Sangeet Samman' would be given to other renowned

About 2.08pm, a mild tremor felt in Kolkata today, due to a strong 8.9 earthquake hits Indonesia earlier. Again at 4.20pm, a mild tremor (aftershock) felt in Kolkata. But the Alipore Weather Office not abled to measure the strength of the first tremor in the city. After the first earthquake, again 6.5 and 8.2 and 8.1 aftershocks hit Indonesia within 24 hours. The offices in Kolkata evacuated after the first tremor quickly. The roads remained crowded by the feared public. A few office buildings of Park Street developed crack. Kolkata Metro Rail were suspended from 2.42pm and the passengers asked to evacuate stations. Metro rail resumed again from 3.30pm. Tremor also felt in the districts near the sea. Many buildings developed cracks. The tremor also felt in north Bengal. Two neighbour buildings lied one on another at Camac Street. 1m Tsunami may be occurred in coastal areas of Sagar/Kakdwip near Kolkata at 5.50pm today according to officials. The officials said that people

Although KKR lost the toss, finally won the match. They defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 42 runs this evening in IPL5 cricket match in Bengaluru. The start was great, first two matches they lost, so this particular match was a real fight to win for KKR. The superb partnership of Captain Gautam Gambhir and Kallis and after the dismissal of Kallis - Bisla, the openers showed their expected responsibility to stay at crease and score as much run as possible in the first 6 overs. So, hats off to captain Gambhir and for his marvellous 64 runs. Kallis, Gambhir and Bisla contributed 132 runs out of total 165 runs. So, they layed the pillars of success - it can be said. In the second innings, Balaji played the crucial role to dismiss Bangalore players. He took 4 wickets. In the last match, Rahul Dravid's Rajasthan Royals scored 165 runs and Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders lost the match, and today KKR showed that they can also score 165 runs to set the chal

Airtel has launched today broadband wireless access (BWA) service in Kolkata, based on 4G technology. Union minister Kapil Sibal inaugurated this service in the city today and said, what Kolkata thinks today, - India thinks tomorrow. Airtel won the 4G spectrum licence for Maharastra, Kolkata, Punjab and Karnataka circle. And decided to launch this service in Kolkata first. The company has been given 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 GHz frequency band, which is supposed to be suitable for 4G. Airtel has roped in China's ZTE Corp as the network vendor partner for the Kolkata circle. The 4G service would be suitable for high-definition video conferencing and mobile TV as it is expected to be five minutes quicker than 3G service. Tariff: Rs. 999 with 6 GB free usage (dongle). -- A. B.

Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs this evening in IPL 5. And they defeated KKR in all the fields - bowling, fielding, batting. Goti won the toss today and elected to field. And the cricket lovers also expected good cricket from KKR but, they failed to restrain RR and the highest score 164 managed Rahul's team. Goti's team chased the target, but it proved difficult when the openers of KKR failed to bat. They scored only 2, 5, or 15 and captain himself utterly failed. What will be the fittest excuse of this disaster of batting? The bowlers of KKR also failed to perform well, while the bowlers of RR showed much better performances. Within this darkness, the only silver line of KKR was Manoj Tiwary - his 59 with partner Lee's 25 runs. So many matches yet to play, but if this is the performances of KKR, what more can we expect?-- A. B.

It is Chaitra - the last month of Bengali calendar. So, the pilgrims from Kolkata and other parts of Bengal now walking miles with water of Ganga, to reach Tarakeshwar - the final destination of Lord Shiba and worship as Sannyasi. The puja would complete on the last day of Chaitra. -- A. B.

In Kolkata, Poila Boishakh (and the entire month of Boishakh) is considered to be an auspicious time for marriages. On this first day of the new year people wear new clothes and go about socialising. The shopowners, jewellers, traders and businessmen who use to deal customers directly, invite all of their old and new customers by sending cards in advance to attend the small but heartiest reception in the evening and welcome them with sweets, snacks and cold drinks. The customers are being cordially invited to take the newly printed Bangla calendar of new year also. Sweet songs and/or tune of sehnai, adoration of rajanigandha (night queen) flowers, spray of rose water, cool breeze of summer evening - a perfect atmosphere of sincere festivity use to be there. Choitro, the last month of the previous Bangla year, is the month of hectic activities and frantic purchases. Garment traders organise a Choitro sale and sell the garments with heavy discounts. Poila Boishakh is t

The 'Charak' festival in early Kolkata was observed mainly in the month of March-April and saw an amazing and quite natural subversion of social conventions. Low caste devotees of Lord Shiva performed this penance, when people swung from ropes with an iron hook embedded into their backs. In 1865, the practice of 'charak' (binding a person to a hook and suspending him from a high pole) was banned on grounds that it was a cruel practice. A week before the charak puja, men of the lower orders wore anklets around their necks, and the sacred thread, went dancing around grog shops, brothels, and courtyards of people's houses to the beating of drums. They went from house to house gathering sannyasis, ie, servants who would then undertake the ritual penances associated with this festival. In the evening, the children thronged to see the Jhula Sanyas when sadhus were swung over bales of hay set on fire. As the sky darkened, the city looked alto

Sourav Ganguly of Kolkata as a captain of Pune Warriors achieved great success for the first match of IPL 5 against Mumbai Indians played in Mumbai this evening. His team won the match by 29 runs. Ashoke Dinda of Bengal also responsible for the win. He took 4 wickets for 17 runs only. MI won the toss today and elected to field. PW scored 129 runs for 9 wickets. Sourav scored only 3 runs from 6 balls, but, as a captain he showed his skill, discretion and excellence. Kolkata and cricket lovers of Bengal congratulating Dada and Dinda. They're very happy and proud of Dada Sourav Ganguly. -- A. B.

Today is the birthday of Suchitra Sen - the one and only romantic heroine of Bangla cinema, who was born in the year 1931 and reigned for 25 years (1953-1978) on the silver screen and now resides in Kolkata. -- A. B.

On November 1, 1880, Bengal's viceroy, Lord Ripon, inaugurated the horse-drawn tram service between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat. The horse-drawn carriages made their entry into the public transport system once the trams gained popularity. But the horse-drawn carriages lived in glory for only about a century. In 1899, a UK-based company introduced two motorcars, both painted red, as the first motor-driven taxis in the city. As they gained popularity, French Motors started a taxi company in the city. Then, the Landmasters, Fords and Buicks ruled the streets. After independence, Ambassadors replaced all other vehicles. But, I'm talking about the past and present of horse-drawn carriages in Kolkata. In ancient Calcutta, horse-drawn carriages were the one and only vehicle used by the baboos and common people. And even in the decade of 80, more than 3,000 carriages (tangas) were running in Kolkata. In the mid-60s, the government restricted its movement. Tangas started pl

Shah Rukh Khan will come tomorrow in the city for the first match of KKR against Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens. And he may go to invite the CM to watch the match. He also introduced a series of KKR Cars for the sell of tickets. The cars will run through the city.-- A. B.

-- A. B.

Watch the gorgeous opening ceremony of IPL 5 with dance of veteran Prabhu Deva, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and others on 3 April 2012 in Chennai. Amitabh Bachchan will also present there. -- A. B.

Check out IPL 2012 Season 5 match schedule, fixtures & timings of Kolkata Knight Riders: 5 April Thurs 8pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils. 8 April Sun 4pm Jaipur : Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 10 April Tue 4pm Bengaluru : Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 13 April Fri 8pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals. 15 April Sun 4pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab. 18 April Wed 8pm Mohali : Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 22 April Sun 8pm Cuttack : Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 24 April Tue 8pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers. 28 April Sat 8pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers. 30 April Mon 8pm Chennai : Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 5 May Sat 4pm Eden Gardens : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India. 7 May Mon 8pm Delhi : Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders. 12 May Sat 4pm Ede

Katy Perry will be performing during the IPL 5 Opening Nite on April 3 in Chennai. -- A. B.

Now I think, if Odafa not missed the penalty shot, Bagan could win the match. Odafa not abled to play consistently in the second half and Dempo has taken the scope of slow pace in the second half and Ranti scored the second goal by defeating Shilton Paul. Moreover, Dempo tried to attack the defence of Bagan in the last minutes, but not succeeded. In spite of these, Odafa Okolie still the hero of today. In this picture, Odafa scoring the goal today. -- A. B.

Yuba Bharati Krirangan or Salt Lake Stadium of Kolkata now, where the I-League football match between Mohun Bagan and Dempo Sports being played. View of the playground during half time. -- A. B.

Mohun Bagan leading by 2-1 goals against Dempo in the first half of this high voltage match of I-League at Salt Lake Stadium. The match started with the target shot by Odafa of Bagan. And then Dempo scored from penalty due to foul of hand ball. But then, Bagan griped the match with firm hands and all the players of Bagan inspired by the attacking football by Odafa. This Nigerian playing one of his best today. He scored 2 goals in the first half. And attempted to score several. In one word, Fantastic match! Mohun Bagan playing their best of this season today.-- A. B.

East Bengal would look to close in on leaders Dempo when the city giants face a struggling Mumbai FC in their round 22 fixture of the I-League at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Friday. After their upset win over league champions Salgaocar in the last round, East Bengl are eight points behind Dempo. But Dempo being way ahead,There are five more rounds to go for the marathon league to conclude and Dempo have outings with both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal left. Mumbai FC may be struggling at the relegation zone with 17 points from 21 matches, but Morgan said they would be determined to earn full points. Referring to their 4-0 win over Tollygunge Agragami in a local league mach, he said: "It was not easy. We had to fight to win. Against Mumbai also it won't be easy. It will be a tough outing but the boys are looking forward to it." East Bengal's attack would be bolstered with the return of a fit-again Gurwinder Singh. The attack and the midfield wo

Raj Chakraborty shoot 'Mann Bawre' song at Victoria Memorial, Maidan and Prinsep Ghat with Sayoni, Srabanti and Ankush for his new Bangla movie 'Kanamachi', playback singers Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan. Kolkata always a favourite city of Raj. And it is very difficult to shoot in the crowd of the city. So, it was a challenge for him. And he shoot with excellence as his fame of a director is charismatic. The story of 'Kanamachi' on the backdrop of Kolkata handling the issue of taxi fares for NRI's.-- A. B.

Gajon of Bengal is a traditional dance with songs in praise of Lord Shiva, during Chaitra - last month of Bangla calendar. Although this profession is very rare to find at present, some rural folks still love to perform this ancient art publicly. Here in this picture, a similar group performing Gajon songs at a place near Kolkata.-- A. B.

These priceless oil paintings once enhanced the beauty of inner mahals of Bengal zamindars and baboos. Now, the touch of time made them pale yet worthy to praise. Skillful painters of early Bengal created these paintings in between the year 1857-64 approximately.-- A. B.