Music in his veins Alegend in the world of Hindustani classical music, Ustad Alauddin Khan introduced this form of music to the Western world, thus opening up to that part of the world a new musical horizon. Known as Baba to music-lovers in India and other countries of South Asia, he is revered as a saint and considered an institution. He established a distinctive sangeet gharana of his own, the Maihar gharana. The story of Boro Baba (a name by which author Sahana Gupta fondly addresses her great-grandfather Ustad Alauddin Khan), Ustad Alauddin Khan is the story of a simple man who dedicated his life to attain oneness with God through different forms of music. The author draws the story of his life from his handwritten manuscript, photographs and letters, painstakingly archived by her father and Baba’s grandson, Dhyanesh Khan. In the process, she takes us through his chequered and fascinating life — from the time he survived on alms just to learn music, to his achieving the status of a maestro. The book is a tribute to a legend, an attempt to reflect on the life of a man whose unparalleled ambition, will-power, dedication and discipline placed him among the finest musicians of the world. This evening, Ustad Aashish Khan, grandson of Baba Alauddin, will release the book. On the occasion, Shiraz Ali Khan, great-grandson of Baba Alauddin and brother of the author, will present a sarod recital. Hosted by Roli Books and Oxford Bookstore, Calcutta. Event: Launch of the book, Ustad Alauddin Khan When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Oxford Bookstore

Art

Till September 9 (except Sunday) at Emami Chisel Art Pvt. Ltd, Emami Towers, 687 Anandapur, E.M. Bypass, #40113182/83; 11 am - 7 pm: Emami Chisel presents Bikash Bhattacharjee: A retrospective exhibition of paintings. Till September 5 at G.C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery, 7 Chittaranjan Avenue, 1st floor; 2 pm - 7 pm: Verse on Canvas: A tribute to Michael Jackson on his 51st birthday. Featuring works by Ranjay Ray Choudhury, Ashna Rupani, Geeta Doshi, Sarmita Das and Hem Kakkad. Till September 6 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of Beena Pradhan’s latest paintings. Till September 6 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 2 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of drawings, paintings and sculptures by contemporary artists of Calcutta. Till September 6 at The Promenade Lounge, Taj Bengal; 10 am - 11 pm: A solo exhibition of recent works by Dilip Chaudhury. The artist will be painting live from 3 pm to 6 pm.

PERFORMING ARTS

September 5 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; 6.30 pm: Nonsense Evening, based on Sukumar Ray’s works, both rhythmic and nostalgic. Presented by Mahul recitation band. September 5 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani; 6.30 pm: Sur-Shikha presents an evening of songs of Tagore, Atulprasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendralal Roy and Dilip Kumar Roy. Direction: Shikha Basu. Narration: Santwana Choudhury. September 5 at Someplace Else, The Park; 9 pm onwards: Kingfisher presents PubRock Fest 2009 with a performance by the band, Great Society (Shillong).

DRAMA

September 5 at Kala Mandir; 6 pm: Sangit Kala Mandir presents Aapki Lajja, a Hindi adaptation of a Gujarati hit presented by AVNI in association with INT. September 5 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Ajnatobass — Nandikar’s latest production, directed by Sumanta Gangopadhyay. Story: Sukanta Gangopadhyay. The cast includes Swatilekha Sengupta, Sohini Sengupta, Sumana Mukherjee, Sumanta Gangopadhyay, Swajan Srijan Mukherjee and Rudraprasad Sengupta. Directorial adviser: Rudraprasad Sengupta. September 5 at Bharatiya Bhasa Parishad auditorium; 6.30 pm: Little Thespian presents Katha Collage-1, consisting of two stories by Saadat Hassan Manto, Thanda Ghost and Aulaad. Design & direction: S.M. Azhar Aalam. September 5 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Sayak will stage two short plays: Gadhar Gaan (Na) Gyan (Dir: Moloy Mitra) and Swarna Champa (Dir: Meghnad Bhattacharya) September 5 at Mukta Angan Rangalaya; 6.30 pm: Kasba Ashani will stage Beetansha. Drama: Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay. Direction: Rupankar Sarkar. September 6 at Minerva Theatre; 6.30 pm: Shohan presents Helmet. Dir: Anish Ghosh. September 6 at Sodpur Lok Sanskriti Bhavan; 6 pm: Sukhchar Pancham repertory Theatre presents Pancha Tantra.

TALK

September 5 at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Vivekananda Sabhagriha, Belur Math; 2.20 pm: Swami Tejasananda Memorial Lecture organised by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira Alumni Association. Topic: Ramakrishna Mission: Adarsha O Itihas. Speaker: Swami Vimalatmanandaji Maharaj. September 5 at Institute of Historical Studies; 3.30 pm: Prof. Nikhiles Guha will speak on Reconstructing History in the Swadeshi Era. September 5 at Indumati Sabhagriha; 5.15 pm: Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal presents the 24th Annual Dr Labanya Kumar Ganguli Memorial Oration by Professor Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri on Human Values in the Mahabharata. September 5 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Parasharananda will speak in Bengali on Swami Saradanander Sevadarsha. September 5 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 6 pm: Swami Tyagarupananda will speak on Gitar Vani. September 5 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Paramatmananda will speak on Mrityu Rahasya. September 6 at Bangiyo Sahitya Parishad Sabhaghar, 243/1 APC Road; 5 pm: Bejoynath Mukhopadhyay Memorial Lecture. Topic: Sri Chaitanya Aandolaner Guruttwa. Speaker: Professor Dr Ramakanta Chakraborty.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

September 5 at Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi Sabhaghar; 6 pm: The 90th birth anniversary of litterateur Sachindra Nath Bandyopadhyay. Sachindra Sahitya Purashkar will be awarded to Bani Basu. A discussion on Bandyopadhyay’s works by Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay, Sunil Das, Arun Mukhopadhyay and Bhagirath Misra. Also, audio-play by Tirthankar Mitra, Swati Pal Chowdhury and Subhashis Sen, and songs by Biswajit Dasgupta. September 6 at Sisir Manha; 6.15 pm: The 120th birth anniversary programme of Sarat Chandra Bose. Justice (Retd) Ruma Pal will deliver the Sarat Chandra Bose Memorial Lecture 2009 on Information and Fundamental Rights. Shikha Basu and her group, Surashikha, will render patriotic songs.

FILM SHOW

September 5 at Calcutta Press Club; 4 pm: Screening of Matir Behala, a documentary film, produced and directed by Abhijit Sarkar.

EXHIBITION

Till September 24 at CIMA Gallery; 11 am - 8 pm: Art in Life 2009 — Exclusive sarees, fashion wear, stoles & scarves, jewellery, brocade handbags, T-shirts, books, masks, exclusive textiles, bed spreads, table linen, decorative arts, brass items, wall hangings, carpets and dhurries. Till September 5 at Weavers Studio, 5/1 Anil Moitra Road, #24408926/7; 9.30 am - 7 pm: Exhibition of salwar, saree, kurta, shawl, fabrics, scarves and shirts. Till September 5 at Senbati, opp. Gariahat Pantaloons, #9831030737; 11 am - 8 pm: Jo’s Brinvs exclusive range of kalam kari, kurtas, tunics, patialla and dupatta sets, short kurtis and handbags. Till September 5 at Weavers Studio, 5/1 Anil Moitra Road, #24613147; 10 am - 7 pm: A colelction of fashion jewellery by Sonal Mehta. Till September 5 at Senbati, 3A Mandeville Gardens, #9830054718; 11 am - 8.30 pm: Joyita’s Selection presents the third part of its designer boutique festival. Till September 6 at 14/97 Golf Club Road, #9830027308; 2 pm - 8 pm: Sravasti presents KeyaChaitali’s exclusive fair of kurtas, photuas, short kurtas, T-shirts, salwar-kurtas, wrap-around sets, saradins, nakshikantha, batik, appliqued, block-printed cotton and silk sarees, dupattas and scrafs, blouse pieces, costume jewellery and bags. Till September 6 at Jain House, 8/1 Esplanade East, #9831604270; 11 am - 8 pm: Studio opening exhibition: hand-woven, block-printed, hand-embroidered sarees, dupattas, scarves from the looms of Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh by Sujata Sarawgi. Till September 7 at 10 Satyen Dutta Road, #2465 1697; 11 am - 8 pm: Toontooni holds a Puja collection of exclusive sarees and kantha items for men and women.

BOOK LAUNCH

September 5 at the Palladian Lounge, Bengal Chamber of Commerce; 6.30 pm: Prativash presents the launch of the books, Her Highness and Athen, Helen O Sei Krandasi, both written by Sankarlal Bhattacharya. Also, Rabindrasangeet, and songs from Bengali and Hindi films by Indrani Bhattacharya and Tapan Chattopadhyay.

ALBUM LAUNCH

September 5 at Music World, Park Street; 2.30 pm: Launch of Anandadhara, a synthesis of literature, music and painting with vocal by Nupurchhanda Ghosh, visuals (paintings) by Babita Das and sayings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

IN MEMORIAM

September 5 at Shamiana on Main Lawn, Tollygunge Club; 7.15 pm: Bimal Roy: In Black & White. A discussion on the legendary filmmaker by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya who has edited a book on her father, The Man who Spoke in Pictures, and economist-writer Lord Meghnad Desai, who has contributed to it. Images from the book will be shown on screen and songs from his films will be rendered by Sreeradha Banerjee and Saikat Mitra. Presented by Seagram 100 Pipers, Open Doors, Club7 Holidays and Tollygunge Club.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244