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| Memories of a metropolis |
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From Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain to Jawaharlal Nehru, Günter Grass and V.S. Naipaul, Calcutta has provoked extreme reactions from anyone who has encountered it. Despite doomsday predictions of its being a ‘dying city’, it throbs with a life and vitality all its own, drawing people from all walks of life to engage with it. An extraordinary anthology of literary works, Memory’s Gold: writings on Calcutta, brings together essays, stories, poems and memoirs of people who have shared an ardent relationship with the city. This sumptuous collection, edited and meticulously put together by Amit Chaudhuri, one of India’s foremost novelists and writers, addresses almost all aspects of life in the metropolis. While Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s letter talks about the city’s amazing literary acumen, Nirad Chaudhuri’s account introduces us to the ‘natives’ and mansions of Calcutta. Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay’s realistic portrayal of an occupation typical to Calcutta offers a striking contrast to Utpalkumar Basu’s surreal take on office culture in the city. Fervent, passionate and nostalgic, the chronicles of Buddhadeva Bose, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay and Jug Suraiya, among others, bring to the fore various perspectives on the city, all of which celebrate Calcutta with as much gusto as the severity with which they often despair of it. This evening, eminent author Sunil Gangopadhyay will release the book, to be followed by readings and discussions with contributors to the anthology. Hosted by Penguin Books India and Oxford Bookstore Calcutta.
Event: Launch of Memory’s Gold: writings on Calcutta When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street
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art
Till January 24 (except Sundays & holidays) at CIMA Gallery; 3 pm - 7 pm (Mondays) 2 pm - 7 pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays): Review, an exhibition of artworks that aspires to redefine our perception and understanding of art of the 20th century. Participating artitsts: Abir Karmakar, Alok Bal, Debraj Goswami, Farhad Hussain, Jogen Chowdhury, Kingshuk Sarkar, Mayank Kumar Shyam, Mithu Sen, Paresh Maity, Partha Pratim Deb, Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Samit Das, Santosh More, Sumitro Basak and Swarna Chitrakar.
Till December 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: Mukta Shilpa presents Tangent Flow, the fifth annual exhibition of paintings and sculptures by well-known artists.
DRAMA
December 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Howrah Dakshinayan presents Hawa Badal. Dir: Kunal Mukhopadhyay.
December 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Nat-Ranga presents Gulbaaj, the Man of the Match, Dir: Sohan Bandyopadhyay.
December 13 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Niva Arts presents Astaraag. Dir & acting: Ashok Chattopadhyay.
December 13 at Padatik’s Buildwell Theatre, 6/7 AJC Bose Road; 7 pm: Little Thespian will stage Katha Collage-1 dedicated to Saadat Hassan Manto. The collage consists of three stories by Manto: Khol Do, Thanda Ghost and Aulaad. Design & direction: S.M. Azhar Aalam.
December 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Pancham Vaidic will stage Naathabati Anaathabat. Drama, direction & acting: Saoli Mitra.
December 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Bohurupee presents Buddhadeva Bose’s Kaal Sandhya. Direction: Kumar Roy.
December 14 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Sanglap Kolkata presents Lathi-Kando. Drama & direction: Kuntal Mukhopadhyay.
December 14 at Bijon Theatre; 6.30 pm: Arghya presents Meghdootam. Dir: Manish Mitra.
December 14 at Mukta Angan Rangalaya; 6.30 pm: Shouvanik presents Fakka, directed by Chandan Das.
December 14 at Sodpur Lok Sanskriti Bhavan; 6.30 pm: Sukhchar Pacham Repertory Theatre presents Jaya Mitra’s Amarlata Nadir Naam. Direction: Pralay Mitra.
DRAMA FESTIVAL
December 14 - 21 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Calcutta Comedy Carnival. Dec. 14: Chalo Tatol Tuli (Dir: Arindam Ganguly) by Charbak.
DANCE FESTIVAL
Till December 15 at Rabindra Sadan & till December 14 at Rabindra Sadan complex; 5.30 pm: Uday Shankar Nrityotsav 2008, hosted by West Bengal State Music Academy, Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal, EZCC and West Bengal Dance Group Federation. Today at Rabindra Sadan: Deepsikha Das, Nagpur (Bharata Natyam), Mitul Ghosh Sengupta (Kathak), Reena Jana and Kalamandalam Piyal (Odissi & Kathakali), Ananda Chandrika (Dir: Amita Dutt), Srijan, Orissa (Dir: Ratikanta Mahapatra), and Niharika Centre for Performing Arts (Dir: Arkadev and Mrittika Bhattacharya). At Rabindra Sadan complex: Sriparna Chakraborty (Kathak), Saswati Garai Ghosh (Odissi), Kashiram Hazra (Bharata Natyam), Shilpangan (Dir: Jayasree Biswas), Chhandamanjari (Dir: Manjusri Banerjee), and Shatabdi Ballet Troupe (Dir: Shatabdi and Debashis Basu). Tomorrow at Rabindra Sadan, 3 pm: Anjana Banerjee Thakurta (Bharata Natyam), Nandini Ghosal (Odissi), Pallabi Dey, Delhi (Kathak), Mayur Lalit (Dir: Debamitra Sengupta) and Ranan (Dir: Vikram Iyengar and Debashree Bhattacharya); at 5.30 pm: Bobby Chakraborty,Tripura (Kuchipudi), Sreyashi Dey, USA (Odissi), Alokparna Chatterjee (Kathak), Saraswat (Dir: Anita Mullick), Kankangi (Dir: Ambali Praharaj) and Ananda Shankar Centre for Performing Arts (Dir: Tanusree Shankar). At Rabindra Sadan complex, 5.30 pm: Taraknath Saha and Sumit Paramanik (Gaudiya), Lovely Tarafdar (Bharata Natyam), Krishnendu Roy (Odissi), Manojit Saha (Bharata Natyam), Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra (Dir: Malabika Mitra) and Nandanik Manipuri Dance Academy (Dir: Poushali Chatterjee).
PERFORMING ARTS
December 13 from Jorasanko Thakurbari; 2 pm: The Great Shakespeare Walk organised by Rabindra Bharati University and Shakespeare Society of Eastern India to commemorate World Shakespeare Conference.
December 13 - 15 at Bhowanipore Sangeet Sammilani, 4 Ramesh Mitra Road; 5.30 pm: Foundation Day celebrations with classical music programmes. Today: Dipankar Mukherjee (flute), Sahana Banerjee (sitar) and Prof. Santosh Banerjee and Ujjwal Chakraborty (surbahar). Tomorrow: Chitrita Sinha (vocal), and Pandit Kamal Mallick and Chandan Mallick (sarod).
December 13 at Uttam Mancha; 6 pm: The Calcutta Ensemble, on its 30th anniversary, presents Gaane Gaane Uttam — a musical tribute to Uttam Kumar. Direction: Soumyen Sarkar.
December 14 at Satyajit Ray Auditorium, Harrington Street; 6 pm: Padatik presents dance-drama Rasik Shiromani Srikrishna, produced by Padma Binani Foundation.
DEBATE
December 13 at the Sarat Bose Hall, Netaji Bhawan, 38/2 Elgin Road; 6.30 pm: Netaji Research Bureau hosts a debate on This is Bengal’s Darkest Hour. Speakers: Dr Kunal Sarkar, Dr Sandip Chatterjee, Saugata Roy, Samik Lahiri, Pradip Gooptu, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Roopendra Narayan Roy and S.B. Ganguly. Moderator: Prof. Sumantra Bose.
ALBUM LAUNCH
December 13 at Alibaba Lounge, Stephen Court, Flat 12/1A, 3rd floor, Lift 2, 18A Park Street; 6.30 pm: Sunil Gangopadhyay will formally launch Samparka, an album of Prabalkumar Basu’s poetry-reading and Rajeeb Chakraborty’s sarod recital.
CONFERENCE
December 14 - 17 at heritage site Jorasanko Thakurbari; 11 am - 6 pm: 5th World Shakespeare Conference hosted by Shakespeare Centre for Advanced Research, Rabindra Bharati University and Shakespeare Society of Eastern India.
talk
December 13 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 5.30 pm: Swami Atmapriyananda will speak on Kathopanishad.
December 13 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 5.45 pm: Discourse on Sri Ramakrishna and Shibnath Shastri by Parimal Kanti Das.
December 13 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Tyagananda will speak in English on Growing Old, Being Young.
December 13 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Paramatmananda will speak in Bengali on Siksha, Samaj O Dharma.
December 14 at Krishnamurti Foundation India, 30 Deodar Street; 6 pm: Swami Atmapriyananda will speak on The Teachings of J. Krishnamurti.
FILM SHOW
Till December 13 at 31A S.P. Mukherjee Road (above Seagull Bookstore), #24556942/ 43; 6 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts and Open Space present Be Positive — short films on HIV/AIDS. Today: Blood Brothers (20 min.; Dir: Vishal Bhardwaj), Unheard Voices (27 min., DVD, English, 2006; Dir: KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro), and Positive (20 min.; Dir: Farhan Akhtar).
WORKSHOP
December 14 at Jorasanko Thakurbari; 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm: Workshop on Teaching Shakespeare in the Indian Classroom: Performative Modes. To be conducted by Dr Saibal Bose, Prof. Subir Dhar and Prof. Amitava Roy.
BOOK RELEASE
December 14 at Vidya Mandir; 6.30 pm: Padma Vibhushan Dr Karan Singh, MP, Rajya Sabha to release book on Indian Culture edited by JK Sadani & co-edited by BD Mundhra.
EDUCATION
Till December 13 at Shikshamitra, 62B Alipore Road, #2479 9271; 3 pm - 7 pm: Hoyto Anyorakam — an art exhibition of schoolwork by the students of Shikshamitra. On display will be material showing how art is integrated in teaching various subjects, use of art in exam and various art forms like drawings, paintings, terracotta, embroidery that are taught regularly. A counter will also sell some items made by children and storybooks, written and illustrated by them.
READING
December 14 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 11 am: Professor P. Lal reads Sanjaya's report of Sahadeva killing Uluka and Sakuni, and a despondent, defeated Duryodhana fleeing Kuruksetra, in the 452nd weekly session of his sloka-by-sloka English transcreation of Vyasa's Mahabharata.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244
All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less
than a week ahead to:
Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244
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