Potpourri

RHYTHM DIVINE: Governor M.K. Narayanan along with familiar faces from the film, television and music fraternity and foreign diplomats got together for a bout of pre-Puja fun on Wednesday afternoon. The occasion was the Kutchina Dhaak Mahotsav 2012 organised by the Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja Committee. Swapping his suit for an ethnic look, the governor tried his hand at the dhaak and raised his hands chanting “Bolo Durga Mata ki jai!” In attendance was Tanmoy Bose, Bickram Ghosh, Sujoy Ghosh, Gargi Roy Chowdhury, Locket Chatterjee, Arijit Dutta, Maneka Sorcar, Chaiti Ghoshal, Debleena Dutt, Abhishek Dutta, P.K. Banerjee, Dibyendu Barua, Jeffrey K. Reneau, Italian consul-general Joel Melchiori and his wife Elisa, Stephane Amalir, director of Alliance Francaise, and his wife Laura, Namit Bajoria, MD, Kutchina and DJ Aakash. All of them did an impromptu session of dhunuchi naach and dhaak. “Chaltabagan is always known for doing things differently. Dhaak and dhunuchi are the two traditional symbols of Durga Puja so we wanted to focus on having a dhaak utsav where people from all walks of life could celebrate,” said Sundeep Bhutoria, chairman of the committee. The governor was also presented with a cheque of Rs 1 lakh towards the Governor’s Relief Fund by the committee. Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty was inducted into the True Spirit Puja Hall of Fame in 2010. Pictures by Rashbehari Das