When everybody else was busy preparing for exams, he was lost in the wilderness with his new friends from Gerald Durrell's The Drunken Forest. Shamu was different from boys his age. Physics and maths did not interest him and rote learning was not his cup of tea. He would rather spend time watching birds.

The image of the famished elephant in shackles at the circus he visited recently had stayed with him. When Monu, the street dog, was stoned to death by some rogues, Shamu could not concentrate. He wanted to do something for Monu and animals that faced a similar plight but he didn't know how to go about it.

Shubhobroto Ghosh's fight to free animals from captivity and his experiences are naturally mirrored in his maiden venture as author, Dreaming in Calcutta and Channel Islands.

At the launch of the book, Ghosh called for greater individual efforts to generate awareness for every living creature. "Kids, these days, find no time to read fantasies. They are busy attending tuitions or updating their Facebook status. I would want to reach out to as many of them as possible with a simple message - live and let live," he said.

Actress Koneenica Banerjee, a guest of honour on the occasion, also gave insights into how animals are treated on film sets.

Sanskrit tome

The Sanskrit department of Calcutta University recently released a book on the life of Pandit Premchandra Tarkabagish, a celebrated Sanskrit and Bengali scholar of the 19th century, famously known for being the editor of the first Bengali weekly, Sambad Prabhakar.

Premchandra Tarkabagish was regarded as the foremost opinion-maker during the Bengal Renaissance and wrote extensively in Sambad Prabhakar, Sambad Bhaskar and other journals of the time. He was also a professor of rhetoric at Sanskrit College and was known for being an inspirational teacher to noted scholar and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Modern-day readers, otherwise unfamiliar with Sanskrit literature, would perhaps remember his mention in Sunil Gangopadhyay's Sei Samay, where the author wrote about an interaction between Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Premchandra Tarkabagish.

The Darbhanga Hall of Calcutta University saw stalwarts of the Sanskrit language come together for the launch of the sixth edition of Premchandra Tarkabagisher Jibancharit o Kabitabali by Ramakshyay Chattopadhyay. The first edition was printed in 1812. Published on the 210th birth anniversary of the scholar, the book was released by another noted Sanskrit scholar, centenarian Mahamahopadhyay Dinanath Tripathy.