legends, bengal-nama, vintage-corner, epic
25 long years! But it seems only the other day! Kolkata International Film Festival has traversed a quarter of a century. Jaded with watching—and sometimes not watching—commercial and run-of-the-mill bioscope throughout the year, desperate film enthusiasts get an opportunity to immerse themselves in a plethora of socially-conscious, aesthetically gratifying films of various styles, moods and genres at the annual carnival of world cinema.
Two people hailing from two different backgrounds come floating straight by two opposite streams, moving at two different velocities, with two different mental stature, to the contact point where both of them take up the same profession having the same point of interest with a great knowledge of the same philosophy, have the same thought processes going to the same direction, being fascinated by the same musical instrument belonging to one single genre of music – the Tabla.
The music of the film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne was really an appreciable one and all the stalwarts of Indian music, such as, Raichand Boral, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Pankaj Kumar Mallik, Rajyeshwar Mitra, Hemanta Mukherjee, Nachiketa Ghosh, Debabrata Biswas and the likes admitted the music of the film was a genuinely unique creation by Ray. Fifty years have passed since the release of the film and still the film as well as the music of the film continues to enthrall the audience all across the world.
His greatness as an artist is in no way diminished by the fact that he was a rivet in an unbroken chain of aesthetic and intellectual effort that stretches back to the mid-nineteenth century – a chain in which I too am, I hope, a small link, Ray was for me, not just a great artist; he was something even rarer: an artist who had crafted his life so that it could serve as an example to others.
My poems are usually reactionary – meaning I write in response to incidents or scenes, or evens that move me or through me in a way that requires immediate outburst. I edit and re-edit my poems; then try to redesign the scratched-out portions into interesting artwork much like Tagore! My poems are therefore infrequent compared to my artistic pursuits. The creation of a painting or piece of art is a far lengthier process.
A young artist had come here all the way from Bengal, sat with his steaming glass of tea, taking in the serene grandeur around him. He had come to Naggar that very afternoon and was out for a stroll on the roads that snaked their way across the hill town. This is where he met a foreigner who is in quest of Shambhala.
His respect toward his work and dedication toward art is exquisite. An evening with Mr. Wasim Kapoor will be forever cherished by me. As a writer myself, I will always remember what he said – Art is supposed to set you free.
Vidyasagar – the sea of kindness. A noble man once said about Vidyasagar that if his knowledge, intelligence, dedication, ability to establish schools, widow remarriage tradition penchant for education, authorship skills- if all of these were kept aside, except his kindness, that kindness would be enough to make him an indelible legendary figure. This is not even slightly exaggerated.
“Why is that room locked? What’s there in it? “This question one of my aunt’s was answered with a slightly exasperated gesture by the guide, who was showing us around the abode of the President of India, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan…
One of the Buddhist monasteries mentioned in the autobiography of Xuanxang was the one at Moghalmari in the Paschim Medinipur district in West Bengal. This village in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal is a site of historical and archaeological significance that reflects the colorful history of the Bengal region.