The much-awaited exhibition of the works of Abanindranath Tagore opened in the Portrait Gallery of the Victoria Memorial Hall on Tuesday.

Some of the 123 works, many of them unseen, were in the custody of the Rabindra Bharati Society, not known to be the most caring custodian of this invaluable trove of the works of Bengal artists. The works were selected by the Baroda-based scholar, Ratan Parimoo, and the exhibition was inaugurated by professor R. Siva Kumar of Visva-Bharati. The paintings have been handed over to the Victoria Memorial Hall as an "enduring loan", said Jayanta Sengupta, secretary and curator of the Victoria Memorial Hall, at the opening ceremony.

The works on view contain examples from the master's entire oeuvre. There are much-loved works like Bharat Mata and the Passing of Shah Jahan and also works from the celebrated series on Krishna Leela (with a story from ancient texts, a very Edwardian Krishna and Bengali written in a Persianised calligraphy recalling Mughal miniature), the Arabian Nights, and his masks with their cheeky humour, a quality seen in some of his self-portraits like the one at the beginning of the exhibition meant for his little granddaughter.

Introducing the paintings and Abanindranath the artist, R. Siva Kumar said the master was a great storyteller but his focus was not on the revival of the story but on the revival of storytelling. He presented a collage of styles and his paintings were technically refined. Being an artist under colonial rule, his paintings harked back to the glorious past as if recalling the history that was being obliterated, but at the same time acknowledging the truth of colonialism through a hybrid and secular present. Even when he was depicting Sindabad, his paintings were more about his experiences in Calcutta. His storyteller was a man like him who had not travelled. He does not move, but his listeners were from all over the world, said Siva Kumar. So it was like modern art, travelling in the realm of imagination.

The lights in the gallery are relatively dim, and deliberately so, as these are mostly watercolours and these paper works need to be protected from direct light.

Cop turns playwright

A full-time cop and a part-time writer - meet Mrityunjay Kumar Singh, additional DG, Bengal police. Dev Sabha, Singh's satirical take on the plight of women in contemporary society, was staged at ICCR recently.

"This is my first play and the response has been great. We have been approached by several organisations to present the play. I have always been very passionate about reading and writing. I have been writing poems for a while but this is my first play and I am happy the way it turned out," Singh said.

The play's central character was inspired by the victim of the 2012 Delhi gang rape. "After the Nirbhaya incident, I had written a poem Nirbhaya ki Aatma. For the past few years, such incidents have been happening one after another and it's very disturbing," said the cop.

The play directed by Kartikey Tripathi raises several pertinent questions. It begins with a council of gods gathered to decide where to accommodate the souls of women who have suffered violent and untimely deaths.

White world

If you are an Ice Age fan, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild is your kind of movie. The 41-minute Academy Award-nominated documentary film is showing at Science City.

Released in 1997 by IMAX theatres, director George Casey's film is sure to keep the audience glued to their seat for more reasons than one. Charlton Heston's narration of how life came into existence on the continent tracing it right back to ice age is definitely one of them. From ice thawing in the six weeks of summer to caving glaciers giving way to sudden springs and hordes of salmon breeding in the icy water, the film captures every detail of life in Alaska.

"There are three things we keep in mind while choosing a film - educational content, special effects and entertainment value," said A.D. Choudhury, the director of Science City.

"We will screen this film for six months. There are seven shows every day, beginning 11.30 in the morning. We can also make arrangements for school groups on request. A film like this will open up a child's horizon about animal life and nature," he said.

SOUTHERN SPICES

The mouth-watering aroma of Malabar Chicken Biryani welcomed guests who dropped in for an authentic taste at the Kerala Food Festival presented by Calcutta Malayalee Samajam at Thyagaraja Hall. Hosted by the ladies’ wing of the samajam, the festival had on offer tasty treats such as Palappam and Chicken Curry, Malabar Porotta and Chicken Curry, Kappa and Fish Curry, Malabar Pathiri, Idiyappam and Vegetable Kurma, Puttu-Kadala Curry, Banana Fry, Neyyappam, Payasam, Elayada and more. “This is an annual affair and the response has been overwhelming. The crowd keeps increasing every year. We have all the exclusive Kerala dishes here,” said N. Gopi, the convener of the food festival and a senior member of the Samajam.

Gen Y, too, yearns for traditional cuisine. “Staying in Calcutta we don’t get to eat this kind of food all the time. For that we have to go to Kerala. Hence this festival is a great opportunity for us to enjoy authentic Kerala cuisine,” said Anish Rajan.

A science writer based in the US, Soma Chowdhury was here on vacation. “I love south Indian food and I had to check out this festival. The food here is awesome and I am having the Plain Dosa, Kappa and Meen Curry,” said Soma.

Friends Parvathi Pillai and Ipsita Debnath had a lovely time digging into some yummy Malabar treats. “I am from Kerala but raised in Calcutta. I am enjoying the Kappa and Meen Curry and some Malabar Pathiri and Chicken Curry,” said Parvathi. Bengali girl Ipsita too savoured the southern spices. “I love the fact that Kerala food is spicy yet balanced. The flavours are mind-blowing,” she said.