Celebration of Colours @ Kolkata "Holi Hai"

Hello Friends,

The festival of colours is here, so we celebrate Holi .....Yes , We do......

The colorful festival of Holi is celebrated on Phalgun Purnima which comes in February end or early March. Holi festival has an ancient origin and celebrates the triumph of 'good' over 'bad'. The colorful festival bridges the social gap and renew sweet relationships. On this day, people hug and wish each other 'Happy Holi'.

Holi celebration begins with lighting up of bonfire on the Holi eve. Numerous legends & stories associated with Holi celebration makes the festival more exuberant and vivid. People rub 'gulal' and 'abeer' on each others' faces and cheer up saying, "bura na maano Holi hai". Holi also gives a wonderful chance to send blessings and love to dear ones wrapped in a special Holi gift.

Holi is celebrated all around the country in different name and rituals, here at kolkata we call it Dol Purnima. I remember when i was in school holi come just before our final term exams and so my parents always took precaution and strict measures on playing with total intensity, but still I never miss playing holi.I just love this festival .But ,now time has changed and parents now prefer to stay at home and just consume another holiday and prevent their children also to participate in this fest of colours.

I remember,my mother saying me that this festival has a scientific side as the colours rubbed on our face and body works as a Ayurveda medicine which prevents us from viral fevers and other type of disease,though i still have some doubt over that but anyway,she never discouraged me from playing holi in my colony with my friends,which includes people of every age and status.I could hardly think of attempting to through a water balloons on Dutta Da, who is the most serious and angry people in our colony,but on holi we fill free to play mischief on him as he was our prime target, and I think he also enjoys thing little period with the colours and the game as he never ever complained.Dutta Da is no more but still every Holi reminds me of that man who used have no connection with other neighbors all the year except on the day of  Holi.So now I realise that this festival is not just a festival but a bond with the people and among the people.

 
So ,kolkata lets play holi and say -"bura na maano Holi hai".

2010 KOLKATA BOOK FAIR AT MILAN MELA

 

Mexico theme at 2010 Kolkata book fair

34th kolkata book fair(2010) is here with the theme country "Mexico" and three new counties Mongolia, Canada and China will also take part this year.Though the Official opening ceremony was held on 25thJanuary at Milan Mela kendra but it was opened for public on 27th jan.

After the 2007 fiasco kolkata book fair place has been changed twice ,first at saltlake stadium and then at Milan Mela ,which is expected to be the permanent place for book fair in coming years .Green crusader Subhas Datta and some other environmentalists had moved court against the government's refusal to shift the book fair from the Maidan in 2007.

4yrs have past since then but it seems that our CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is yet to come to terms with it. Four years after the Kolkata Book Fair was ushered out of the Maidan to save the city's lungs, the CM yet again expressed his displeasure at the shift during the inauguration of the 34th Kolkata boi mela on Monday. 

"Kolkata Book Fair has a pride of place in our cultural calendar. Over the years, it has become an integral part of our city. Yet, some so-called environmentalists are against the fair. True, environment is important, particularly at a time when global warming is turning out to be a reality. But I don't understand how a book fair can be anti-environment," Bhattacharjee said at the inaugural function. The CM had voiced his unhappiness last year, and the year before.
 Reacting sharply to the CM's comments, Datta said Bhattacharjee was "misusing his position as chief minister and spreading misinformation from a position of responsibility". "It was the government that decided to shift all fairs to protect the Maidan greenery. How can there be an exception against the largest fair that also causes the maximum pollution? The government made a commitment to the high court. The latter simply asked the government to honour it," he said. 

Between this tussle of Govt and Nature activist kolkata book fair has suffered hugely.the shifting of place of this grand event had hit the publishers and the book lovers too find it difficult to reach to their loved book fair because of its remote placing and transport problem and also place crunch. The area with which each and every kolkatan are used too is now filling suffocated at milan mela as it is still not fully functional with all its infrastructure .The huge dust cloud last year made people to stay out from the event and this year there is one problem to add with the dust cloud,"d Mosquitoes" .

from the officials it is known that the book fair drew 15 lakh people last year and transacted a business of Rs 17 crore. This year, there are 650 stalls at the permanent fair ground and the Publishers and Booksellers' Guild hopes to rake in nearly Rs 20 crore. 

"I hope you will regain the past glory and popularity at this new venue," the CM told , and we the kolkatans hopes it too.

34th Kolkata Book Fair:

[27th January to 7th February 2010]

Inauguration Ceremony :

25th January 2010 at 4:30 pm

Venue :

Milan Mela Prangan

Total Area :

609840 sq.ft. (Approx)

Covered Area :

300, 000 sq.ft. (Approx)

Focal Theme and Partner Country :

MEXICO

Inaugurator:

Mr. Jorge Volpi

Chief Guest Of Honour :

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Hon’ble Chief Minister, West Bengal

Foreign Participants :

Bangladesh Complex

Britain

France

Germany

The African Union

Japan

Spain

Italy

European Union

Sweden

Romania

14 Latin American Countries

Vietnam

Cuba

Other Participating States:

Andhra Pradesh

Bihar

Delhi

Gujarat

Haryana

Karnataka

Kasmir

Maharastra

Punjab

Tamil Nadu

Tripura

Uttar Pradesh

Jharkhand

Ashoke Kumar Sarkar Memorial Lecture :

Alberto Ruy Sanchez

Sushil Mukherjea Memorial Lecture :

Ms. Margo Glang

Relation-Next - the show from SANATAN DINDA

 

Mona Lisa inspired me to paint

Sanatan Dinda's current exhibition of paintings is titled Relation-Next. and this is what he say about his work and style :

"Yes. My current exhibition delves into different facets of relationships. This relationship can be between two individuals or between an individual and a non-living object. There is nothing new in terms of subject in my paintings but the perspective of looking at those known objects is very different. I have painted Ahalya, Panchali, Durga, characters from the Old Testament. That apart, there’s Oedipus and even David. All of them are known characters. It’s my way of looking at them that is different from others. The first time that I saw Mona Lisa’s picture was as a child. It was on a packet made out of a newspaper. I was so awestruck by what I had seen. That picture motivated me to become a painter. So as a child I developed a relation with that painting. This stayed on in my mind when I later drew a boy staring at the Mona Lisa painting on the wall. Similarly I have visualized David as a navigator who is waiting on the banks of the Ganges. Again I inherited a few oleographs from my grandfather. These are the things which stayed with me over the years and compelled me to move ahead in life and pursue my dreams."

"There are a few motifs that I have used in my works, which are ugely suggestive. For instance, I have used a pendulum and a single eye in my version of Durga. I call the girl in the picture, Dugga. The pendulum here stands for sperm and the single eye symbolizes vagina. There is a picture called Banalata. She is not the famous Banalata Sen. I have used PVC tape to hide some of her feminine parts. This picture of mine is based on the poem written by Binoy Majumder which says: “Bhalobasha ditey paari, tumi grohone sakhham ki?” Similarly I have painted a reflection of the Taj Mahal and also added a few barcodes. Here the barcodes signify the consumerist society of today. Today, everything including me, has become a prey in the hands of consumerism. There is an amount of satire too in my paintings. In this context, I’d want to quote a few lines I had once jotted down: “Footpath theke akash dekhechhi ami/pash diye horidhhoni khoi/ amar shakol gaaye lege ache chinhoguli shob/ rupali jorir moto/ kintu sei mukhguli koi?” I have spent my childhood in the footpaths and used to watch corpses being brought each night near the burning ghat. When everyone slept, I used to watch the rituals being conducted before the bodies were finally charred. As a part of the ritual, khoi were thrown. That khoi looked more like dead stars to me. This was how my magical realism was born.
Is there any specific reason why you only paint with the 3D technique?"

"I use a technique through which I want to create a super and a magical realism. This concept of a ceiling, wall and floor together can be brought to life only by using this technique. It also lends a certain amount of movement to my works. " 

KNOW YOUR ARTIST
    On a purely visual level Dinda’s works are an eye candy. The very mastery of the man over his medium hits one in the solar plexus as one stands mesmerized, feasting the eyes on canvasses that communicate – super realism, or if there is something “ultra” beyond it, weaving its sensory spell.
    Dinda has chosen to pour feelings from the innermost recesses of his heart into his creations. His work is laden with statements, questions, suggestive references.
    The deft strokes, that have breathed life into the canvasses, compelling one, to salute the creator.  

Solo Show Academy of Fine Arts
February 11-17
3 pm-8 pm  

Runa Laila at Kolkata festival

Recently Runa Laila was at kolkata to participate at "Kolkata Festival", which is fast becoming another "parban"(festive season ) for the people of kolkata.
As we all know that kolkata is all about a distinct mix of old and new, pride and nostalgia and so was Runa Laila.There was a time when she was big in Bollywood, she recorded with Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and with Bappi Lahiri for Man Ki Jeet in which she sang a duet with Rafi saab; she counts her title track in Ek Se Badkar Ek that was picturised on Helenji as a huge hit, her number Do Deewane Shaher Mein from Gharonda is still remembered, and she’s proud of the work she did on films like Agneepath and Sapno Ka Mandir. Then just when Bollywood was getting used to her voice, Runa disappeared. “I didn’t stop, the work stopped,” she admitted candidly. “The fact is that I wasn’t living in India, and the hassles that Bollywood producers and music composers had to go through to get me down to record one song, permissions from the government, sanctions from the RBI, was strong reason for them to use someone else from here,” she revealed. And Bollywood’s loss has been Pakistan’s and Bangladesh’s gains, because Runa is actively singing for films in those countries, and she’s even married to Bangla actor Alamgir.
She is looking forward to teasing the audience with Dama Dam... and Mera Babu... “Dama Dam... is a devotional song, it’s in Seraiki dialect, a mix of Sindhi and Punjabi, and kya kehte hai... Sufi and Qawalli singers have done it,  In that respect and because of these two songs, even though she sings just about everything from pop to folk and ghazals to semi-classical, Runa Laila’s voice will remain evergreen. She has old fans and new everywhere. “The newcomers don’t recognise the face but know the voice,” she smiled.

Vanishing Double Decker from kolkata roads

hello kolkata,
have you noticed that the double deckers which used to ply in the city and transport us to our destination for decades has suddenly vanished from the roads.Have you ever wonder where they gone.I suppose not, because kolkata is fast becoming faster and faster day by day and we prefer Volvo's and Mercedes in our daily life not those old fashioned scraps which doesn't have ac or comfortable couch and runs less than 60kmps speed.So, they must go isn't it. Here is my point, is that what kolkata do, is that what our culture taught us .Isn't kolkata all about Past and Present existing side by side and creating an amazing harmony.YES it is. Kolkata have always created new but it had also preserved it's soul its past and tried to coexist .That's what we are.It is kolkata where we still seat on hand rickshaw, prefer an Ambassador that a maruti, love to get into a tram from maidan to khidirpur in the week ends.So how could we forget the red jumbos which used to be the king of the roads of kolkata.These RED double decker are our past our heritage our glorious history and should not let the government to scrap it.Rather we should declare those existing Red Jumbos as heritage vehicles.

If think that these beautiful Red Deckers should be preserved and declared as Heritage vehicles by the government then please raise your voice and make your opinion publish here and share with others.We, "kolkata Today", on behalf of you will forward each comment to the transport dept and apple the World Heritage Council. so friends please do make an effort to save these Red Jumbos of Kolkata and save our rich culture.

thank you,
hello kolkata

Hello Kolkata...........

hello !!! everybody. how r you? hope fine.
This is "hello Kolkata " at your service. You know i have been thinking of writing about my dear city for a long time. In my school days i wrote many articles for my school magazine , many of them were highly acclaimed by my teachers. They used to say that I am a true Kolkatan (citizen of Kolkata). I don't know how , but I used to process a deep love and affection for my city.I dream to make mu city look like Shanghai or Honkong . People do complains about the degrading infrastructure,bad transport medium,political unrest, bandh,water logging,dusty roads and poor maintenance of our city.But still I feel an amazing attraction towards my kolkata. After i completed my post graduation for CU, I got a job offer from Noida with a good pay package. I went their and worked for just 3months but couldn't survive for long . I feel clogged there, everything was there to enjoy, good friends, good money, better night life, better roads,transports, infrastructure and a well maintained city. But still i was unable to enjoy in full.I feel as if I am missing something. I resigned and came back to kolkata and spend a whole year without a proper job but I never regret it.Now i an employee of a MNC and in service for 2yrs now.
I feel exhausted,tired,sad,unhappy,emotional but never feel out of the pot.It's like a second home to me. So, now, as I have the opportunity to share my thoughts through blogging which is the best medium available to reach as many people in easy way, I decided to write my experience and facts about my lovely city , The City Of Joy - KOLKATA at KOLkata today.

Hope you ,who lives in kolkata or somehow associated to kolkata would enjoy my blog.

thank you,
Hello Kolkata.