A race in vain In a world full of attractions and enticements, man is engaged in perpetual pursuit to attain life?s pleasures. Not content with his achievements so far, he seeks to further his success by any means, even at the cost of overstepping others? aspirations. Thus, all men become participants in a race where they fiercely compete with one another in their urge to reach their coveted goal. Barasat Anusilani?s latest production, Chhut, plays out the story of such individuals, who are constantly running after something. Its plot revolves around Guru Sharan, who is well-known for his philanthropic activities. Having amassed great wealth, he now yearns for fame and glory. Jatin, in love with Guru Sharan?s wife, Bharati, seeks gratification of his passion. While some are in a hurry to avenge a misdeed, others have no idea what they are running for. The play ends with the realisation that it is foolish to run this race as it cannot end in happiness for anybody. Instead, it leads the audience to contemplate the possibility of walking hand in hand towards a common goal. Drama and direction: Romaprasad Banik. Event: Play in Bengali, Chhut, produced by Barasat Anusilani When: Today at Madhusudan Mancha and tomorrow at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm

Art

July 5 - July 18 at The Palladian Lounge, Third Level, 6 Netaji Subhas Road; 11 am - 7 pm: From the City of Joy, paintings curated by Ratnottama Sengupta. Inauguration today at 7 pm. Till July 5 at Academy of Fine Arts, West Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings and sculptures by Sharmila Majunder, Kanika Biswas and Tapan Kumar Das. Till July 7 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Fits of Passion, drawing and painting exhibition by Lalit Maity. Till July 8 at Anant Art Gallery, 18A Alipore Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Anant Art Gallery presents Summer Exhibition 2006. Featuring works by Farhad Hussain, Prasanta Kalita, Pratul Dash, Sambit Panda, Samit Das, Sharanu Pareet, Suchender P and Tanmoy Samanta. Till July 8 at Gallery Rasa, 828/1 Block P, New Alipore; 4 pm - 8 pm: Sculptures: The Bengal Connection, sculptures by Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij, Chintamoni Kar, Sankho Chaudhuri, Kamala Das Gupta, Somenath Hore, Uma Siddhanta and others. Till July 9 at Birla Academy of Art and Culture Gallery, 2nd floor; 4 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by six contemporary artists of Orissa. Till July 10 at Gallery 79, 79 Raja Basanta Roy Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Collages by Mitali Dey and paintings by Prithwis Sikdar, Manimala Dey Basu, Naba Kishore Chanda and Mitali Dey.

drama

July 6 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Ensemble presents Shirir Neeche. Direction: Sohag Sen. July 7 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Nandiranga presents Trinayan. Direction: Somenath Mukhopadhyay. July 8 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Aneek presents Dwitio Basanta. Direction: Malay Biswas. July 8 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Sundaram presents Munni O Saat Chowkidar. Drama, direction and acting: Manoj Mitra. July 9 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Rangakarmee presents Rudali. Design and direction: Usha Ganguli. July 9 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Shohan presents Utpal Dutt?s Megh. Direction: Anish Ghosh.

talk

July 5 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 6 pm: Swami Shastrajnananda will speak on Vivek Chudamoni. July 5 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Prabhananda will speak in English on Chhandogya Upanishad.

PERFORMING ARTS

July 5 at The Palladian Lounge, Third Level, 6 Netaji Subhas Road; 7 pm: This Is Not Fusion, music recital by Amit Chaudhuri. July 6 at Sisir Mancha; 5.45 pm: Krishnakali presents Imane Kedare Behage Bahare, Tagore songs in classical tunes presented by students of Krishnakali (direction: Shyamal Saha), solo songs by Dhiren Basu and Shyamal Saha and recitation by Pranati Tagore. July 6 at Kala Mandir; 7 pm: Anamika Kala Sangam presents a musical extravaganza featuring Debojit and Keka. July 7 & July 8 at Rabindra Sadan; 5.45 pm: Samaroh presents Barsha Utsav, a programme of Tagore songs and poetry, featuring (on July 7) Purba Dam, Rajeswar Bhattacharya, Abhirup Guhathakurta, Pramita Mullick and others (songs) and Partho Ghosh, Gouri Ghosh, Subir Bandyopadhyay and Ishita Das Adhikari (recitation); (on July 8) Srikanto Acharya, Lopamudra Mitra, Swastika Mukhopadhyay, Pubali Debnath and others (songs), Chitra Lahiri (poetry-reading) and Bijoylakshmi Burman and Prabir Brahmachari (recitation). July 8 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6 pm: You & I ... Ek Raag Ek Shatabdi, the evolution of one raga over the last 200 years, presented by Soumyojit Das (vocals), Sourendro Mullick (piano) and Moubani Sorcar (compere). Also, an Odissi dance recital by Swapnakalpa Raychowdhury and students, and an audio-play by Jagannath Basu and Urmimala Basu. July 8 at Science City auditorium; 6.30 pm: Legends Live, presenting Ashish Khan (sarod) and Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), accompanied by Swapan Chowdhury (tabla), for the first time in concert.

oration

July 5 at Asutosh Memorial Hall, 92 S.P. Mookerjee Road; 6 pm: The Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Oration, on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

photographs

July 5 - July 8 at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala: The ninth annual exhibition and competition on nature and wildlife photography of Jadavpur Viveknangar Nature Lovers? Association. Till July 13 (except Sunday) at Calcutta International Foundation for Arts, Literature and Culture, 1 Rawdon Street, 6th floor; 2 pm - 7 pm: Solo photography exhibition by Sunil K. Dutt.

exhibition

July 5 - July 11 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Monsoon Magic, showcasing hand-crafted items made with paper, dokra, terracotta, wood, wax and cloth. Hosted by Nimble Fingers. Till July 7 at 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10 am - 8.30 pm: Soumya?s Creation presents an exhibition of costume jewellery in trendy and traditional designs.

rath yatra

Till July 5 at Swabhumi: Utkala?s Orissa festival featuring classical dances, music, traditional theatre, folk dance and music and display of handicraft and handloom.

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