• With the pandemic taking a toll both on regular health monitoring and people’s capacity to invest in healthcare, Rotary Club of Calcutta-Uniworld City organised a free eye check-up camp recently at Hajra Kali Mandir grounds, New Town.
It was the second event that had been organised by the fledgling club, formed in September, and was held in collaboration with GKB Optical, Vision RX Lab and the Hajra Kali temple management.
“The camp is being organised to help the poor from the surrounding areas get their eyes tested and give them spectacles and lenses free of cost amidst the uncertainties of the pandemic,” president of the Rotary club A.S. Rao said.
The camp took place from 10am to 5pm. Visitors were required to bring identity proof in order to register for the examination. But those who came without any documents were not turned away, the club members said. The patients were handed eye drops after the check-up in case of requirement. A pair of spectacles too would be gifted free in due course for those who were being so prescribed. Patients diagnosed with cataract were enlisted for further action.
A total of 175 needy patients from villages surrounding the temple and workers of Uniworld City who resided nearby queued up for the check-up, sometimes ignoring social distancing protocol. There were four ophthalmologists at the camp to treat them.
The event, secretary of the club Ratan Dutta, declared, was “a success”. “The visitors we have received are very needy and they have little or no awareness regarding optical health. We are trying to make them realise that the eye is as important as other organ and needs regular care,” a supervisor said.
The organisers claimed that more such initiatives would be taken to lend a hand to the underprivileged living around the housing complex in various fields.
Residents from nearby complexes can also enrol in the club as members, Dutta said.
Rushil Sengupta
• Ananda Chandrika, a New Town-based troupe, led by kathak exponent Amita Dutt, presented a virtual dance tribute titled Janani Janmabhumi on the social media page of Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre.
The programme was part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a government of India initiative to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.
Inaugurating the show and paying tribute to the nation, Dutt, a resident of Uniworld City, said: “I congratulate each and every Indian on completion of seven decades of our freedom. We, who were born in an independent country, always look back with reverence to those great souls who sacrificed their lives so that we could be born free.”
The virtual show commenced with a group dance recital to Vande Mataram, India’s national song, the lyrics of which were penned in 1875 by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. The second performance was on Sarthok janam amar, written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905 with a tune set on raga Bhairavi.
Each performance was followed by a narrative on the song’s background. Thus viewers learnt when Atul Prasad Sen was sailing to England to study law, one night his ship was anchored at the port of Venice. “There he heard a song of gondoliers. Inspired by its melody, he composed Utho go Bharatlakshmi in 1892, beseeching the nation to rise and shake off her shackles,” the narrator said.
After Dwijendralal Roy’s Jedin sunil jaladhi hoite uthilo janani Bharatbarsho, the performance concluded with Mohd. Iqbal’s 1904 composition Saare jahan se achchha.
The final performance commenced with the chanting of Jai Hind, accompanied by kathak steps and culminated in fast rhythmic steps with dancers holding the Tricolour, which garnered appreciative comments from viewers who had logged in from different corners.
Bharati Kanjilal
