Twin tales of pathos As a literary genre, the short story is remarkable for its power to articulate powerful statements and sentiments in a short span of time. This evening, Nandikar presents stage adaptations of two such stories written by two of the most popular authors of the preceding century. Chokh Gyalo (a scene from the play appears above), based on Tarashankar Bandopadhyay?s Daini, narrates the tragic tale of a woman, hounded as a witch all her life. Commenting on superstitious beliefs, born of illiteracy and ignorance, the play also examines the psychological impact of social ostracism on its victims. Directed by Goutam Halder; performed by Swatilekha Sengupta. In Barda, based on Munshi Premchand?s Bade Bhai Sahab, an old gentleman?s childhood reminiscences of his elder brother, touched with implicit pathos, remind us of the importance of traditional values, morals and an upright character. Direction and acting: Goutam Halder. Event: Plays in Bengali, Chokh Gyalo and Barda, produced by Nandikar When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Girish Mancha

Art

Till February 11 at J.C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery, 7 Chittaranjan Avenue; 4.30 pm - 8.30 pm: Paintings by the members of RAD (Reflection of Another Day). Participating artists include Santanu Roy, Sunita Verma, Puspen Roy, Mahuya Pan, Swarup Das, Soumen Ghosh, Sanjit Chakraborty and Shubhra Chand. Till February 11 at Metropolitan Art Salon, 7 Jawaharlal Nehru Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Annual exhibition of paintings and sculptures. Till February 11 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of the latest canvases of Baniprosonno. Till February 12 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: Expression of Twins, an exhibition of paintings by Ashis Kabasi and Debashis Kabasi. Till February 12 at Genesis Art Gallery; 11 am - 7 pm: An exhibition of contemporary aboriginal art from West Arnhem Land as part of AusArts: Celebrating Australian Arts and Culture 2006-2007. Till February 13 at Academy of Fine Arts, West Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Lines & Rhythm presents an exhibition of oil and acrylic paintings. Till February 13 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: The Colours of Italy ? watercolours by Sipra Dattagupta. Till February 14 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm, Saturday (10 am - 3 pm): Paintings by Asit Ghara. Till February 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Alfred Vaagsvold and Ganesh C. Basu. Till February 18 at Artists Circle, 46 Circus Avenue; 2 pm - 7 pm: A group exhibition on the theme of Vanishing Wetlands. Till February 18 (except Sunday) at Galerie 88; 3 pm - 7 pm: A Space so Rare, an exhibition of Amal Ghosh?s recent works and Beyond Space and Time, an exhibition of the recent works of Dipak Banerjee. Till February 19 (except Saturday) at Galerie La Mere, 3 Regent Park; 4 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Ramananda Bandyopadhyay.

DRAMA

February 9 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sundaram presents Operation Bhomragarh. Drama, direction & acting: Manoj Mitra. February 9 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: Sohan presents its new production, Utpal Dutt?s Megh. Direction: Anish Ghosh. February 9 at Bijon Theatre; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents two short plays, Bneche Thaka and Anubikshan. Dir: Meghnad Bhattacharya. February 10 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB 201 Salt Lake; 6 pm: Natasena presents Dhar Mundur Kissa. Dir: Durga Chakrabarti and Dipankar Chakrabarti. February 10 at Landmark Rooftop; 6.30 pm: The Creative Commune, in association with Landmark Book Store, presents An Evening with Tennessee Williams ? an open air performance of selections from A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie. Direction: Trina Nileena Banerjee. February 10 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Sundaram presents Sajano Bagan. Drama, direction & acting: Manoj Mitra. February 11 at Cultivation of Science; 5.30 pm: Nandikar presents Kabye Gane. Direction: Goutam Halder. February 11 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Gandhar presents Satyaasatya. Direction: Shyamal Chakraborty.

PERFORMING ARTS

February 11 at Padatik, 6/7 AJC Bose Road; 6 pm - 9 pm: Srijan?s Listeners? Forum presents recordings of the music of Jnanendra Prasad Goswami. February 12 at Bhowanipur Sangit Sammilani, 4 Ramesh Mitra Road; 5.30 pm: An evening of classical music featuring vocals by Vidisha Mukherjee and Chandralakha Banerjee, sarod by Abhisek Lahiri, tabla by Shaibal Chatterjee and Shubhojoti Guha and harmonium by Deboprasad Dey.

celebration

February 9 at Science City auditorium; 1 pm onwards: The second day of State Bank of India?s bicentennial celebrations features a quiz for college students, an art competition for children between 6 and 12 years, folk dances of Sikkim and Rhythmscape, a fusion music presentation by Bikram Ghosh.

SEMINAR

Till February 9 at Centre for Social Sciences & Humanities, CU, Alipore campus; 10 am onwards: Seminar on Globalisation and Post-colonial Writing: an Australia-India Exchange.

in memoriam

February 11 at Presidency College, Physics Lecture Theatre, Baker Laboratory Buliding, Ground floor; 1 pm: To remember the late Prof. Kajal Sengupta, Presidency College, Calcutta will hold a memorial meeting. All who knew her are welcome.

exhibition

Till February 15 at Indian Museum Exhibition Hall; 11 am - 7 pm: An exhibition on Glimpses of Burmese Arts & Crafts: In the Collection of Indian Museum. Till February 14 at Sasha Shop, 27 Mirza Ghalib Street; 10 am - 7 pm, Sunday (10 am - 1 pm): Accessorize, showcasing crafts-based women?s accessories like bags, purses, stoles and jewellery.

workshop

February 9 -11 at EZCC, Salt Lake; 11 am - 7 pm: Jain Misrilall Padmawati Foundation hosts a painting and sculpture workshop by eminent painters and sculptors, for the benefit of promising young artists.

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

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