Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

'Dheki'or 'Dhenki' of rural Bengal household is a kind of husking pedal operated in manner of seesaw machine. It was used largely upto the time when the rice mills set up in rural areas. I have seen it in my childhood operating in almost every household. Even, when I spent my under 10 days in maternal uncle's house, the sound of 'paar' of this Dheki used to hear all the time. It was operating just in my neighbor's house. Dheki was not only a device to grind rice or other crops, but it was like a useful member of family. The females of the family used to share their sorrows and joy with others working on it. It was also the inspiration of folk songs and proverbs. The song writers found it as sex symbols - the whole episode of conjugal life. However, since the inception of modern mills, the traditional heritage of this rural activities became part of past.

Currency Building : Old Courthouse St, Calcutta. Built in the Italianate style with Venetian windows and ornate cast iron gates, porte-cochere and railings, this beautiful but derelict lady was originally the Agra Bank and then the Office of Issue and Exchange of Government Paper Currency. It later housed the Reserve Bank of India until 1937. Slated for demolition (and even already partly destroyed), it has been saved from destruction and is now the subject of a long and very slow road to recovery under the care of the Archaelogical Survey of India.See in the first picture old view of Currency Building and the photo was taken in the year 1878. And the picture below was taken yesterday, in which it is seen that renovation work of front portion has been completed. Now the work on the side of Mango Lane are in progress.

The tigress infiltrated last Wednesday from forests of Sundarban to the Kumirmari island. The forest department detained her by sleeping bullets and checked her health conditions and found nothing objectionable. The tigress is now fit to back in jungle, so they left her in the jungle of Chamta 6 of Sundarban.

The tourism department has taken steps to initiate touch screen diary for the tourists so that they can locate easily the famous Durga pujas of Kolkata. Package tour for Durga Puja of Kolkata and suburbs would also be conducted.

Rakhi Festival is of love care and share. And cartoon rakhi is trending this year in Kolkata. Mickey Mouse, Doraemon, Chota Bhim, Bal Ganesh, Bal Krishna etc are the images depicted on the rakhi. Kids and childrens are very happy to get the rakhis from their sisters. Elders are also joyous to get the rakhis with cartoon characters. The sellers are also happy to find ample source of income. But, the costs are slight high as those are being sold @ of Rs10-20

The house of Harachandra-Pratapchandra of 27, Varanasi Ghosh Street is a heritage house as per the record of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The gate of the left pic is declared heritage, but under dilapidation. Pratap was fond of Buddhism. So he had decorated the house with images of Buddha and other symbols. The idol of Buddha on the top of gate is missing, other images in the right pic are now dilapidated. Hence the question is, whether we will look at the ruining of this 19th century heritage or take steps to conserve it?

Marble Palace is a palatial nineteenth-century mansion in North Kolkata. It is located at 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Kolkata 700007. It is one of the best-preserved and most elegant houses of nineteenth-century Calcutta.[1] The mansion is famous for its marble walls and floors, from which its name derives. Because Marble Palace remains a private residence, photography is prohibited. Entry is free, but a permit must be obtained 24 hours in advance from the West Bengal Tourism Information Bureau at BBD Bag, Kolkata. Inside the house, there are guides who give visitors a tour of the house, although the parts of the house which are still inhabited remain off-limits. Marble Palace is open from 10am to 4pm on all days except Mondays and Thursdays.But it is hazardous for visitors who want to see the palace without much effort. So ticket system should be initiated in the palace as there in other palaces of the country.