Melodious tribute to Swamiji A musician par excellence, Swami Vivekananda believed that music is the highest form of worship. His belief was rooted to his self-realisation and, of course, on Indian mythology, philosophy and science. According to their principles, a living human body is the micro-cosmic representation of the macro-cosmic universe. Omkaar, the anaahat (un-struck) aadi-naad (first sound), is operative through the subtlest nerve (sushumna) inside the spinal cord of a living being. This celestial, un-struck sound becomes aahat by means of a stroke or friction of objects, nerves or vocal cords. Such sound, organised and harmonised, is the base of transient worldly music. But moving from the broad-based sound-waves to the finely-tuned waves, this worldly music again moves towards celestial purity — towards the Almighty. To mark the auspicious occasion of Swamiji’s 148th birth anniversary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture hosts a day-long festival of music, featuring performances by both veteran and upcoming artistes. To be inaugurated by Swami Smaranananda, the day’s programme features a shehnai recital by Rajendra Prasanna, vocal recital by Ulhas Kashalkar and flute recital by Hari Prasad Chaurasia (morning session; 9 am); Kathak duet by Krishna Mohan Maharaj and Ram Mohan Maharaj and vocal recital by Zeeshan Khan (afternoon session; 2 pm); and sarod recital by Alam Khan and vocal recital by Rashid Khan (evening session; 6 pm). Event: Music festival to celebrate Swami Vivekananda’s 148th birth anniversary When: Today; 9 am onwards Where: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall, Gol Park

ART

Till January 12 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Exposition II — Dristikon presents a group exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculpture. Participating artists: Samir Banerjee, Shekhar Das, Shiben Chattopadhyay, Shuvankar Biswas, Saumen Das, Baishali Sarkar, Shyamal Chakraborty, Satyaki Banerjee, Prasenjit Debnath and Priyabrata Halder. Till January 12 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South ‘B’ Gallery; 3 pm - 7.30 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Sushanta Dutta and Swapan Das. Till January 12 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 11 am - 8 pm: Tranquility — an exhibition of paintings by Subrata Modak, Jyotirmoy Ash, Arpan Bhowmik, Chinmoy Ash, Gopal Roy, Jayeeta Ghosh, Moumita Das, Pritam Das, Paresh Modak, Somneel Saha, Manash Roy, Saptarshi Nandi, Gadadhar Das and Oli Mishra. January 12 - 29 (except Sundays) at Aakriti Art Gallery, Orbit Enclave, 1st floor, 12/3A Hungerford Street, 2289 3027/ 5041; 12 noon - 7 pm: A Fleeting World: Paintings by Sunil De. January 12 - 16 at Rashbehari Avenue - S.P. Mukherjee Road crossing (Kalighat Metro station railings): The 19th Annual Street Art Exhibition by Achin Potua. Till January 14 at Galerie La Mere, 3 Regent Park, 24712612/24811557; 4 pm - 8 pm: La Mere Annual, 2011. Featuring works by Amritah Sen, Arindam Chatterjee, Asoke Mullick, Atin Basak, B.R. Panesar, Bratin Khan, Chandra Bhattacharyya, Chhatrapati Dutta, Debabrata Chakrabarti, Dhiraj Chowdhury, Diptish Ghoshdastidar, Dipali Bhattacharyya, Ganesh Haloi, Hiran Mitra, Jaya Ganguly, Jogen Chowdhury, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Monoj Datta, Niranjan Pradhan, Parag Roy, Partha Pratim Deb, Prosenjit Sengupta, Rabin Mondal, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Samir Aich, Sanatan Dinda, Seikh Sahajahan, Sekhar Roy, Shymakanu Borthakur, Sreosi Chatterjee, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Sunil Das, Sunil De, Tanup Nath, Tapas Konar and Wasim Kapoor. Till January 14 at Gorky Sadan; 4 pm - 7 pm: A solo exhibition of paintings by Kanti Choudhury. Till January 15 at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani, 2290 2274; 11 am - 7 pm, Monday: 2 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of recent works by Dipak Banerjee. Till January 16 at 93 Chowringhee Road; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Calcutta Port Officers’ Club presents a group exhibition of sculptures. Till January 16 at ECA Art Walk, South City Mall; 12 noon - 8 pm: An exhibition of the works of young artists from the collection of Aspect Art Gallery. Till January 16 at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartment, Flat no. 61, 30222040; 3 pm - 7 pm: Paintings by Debabrata Chakraborty, Dipti Chakraborty, Samil Paul, Nitya Kundu, Milanendu Mondal, P.C. Sen, Arun Samaddar, Subrata Das, Pramathesh Chandra, Chandidas Bhattacharya, Ananda Das, Deben Laha, Prabal Roy, Tanmoy Roychowdhury, Aditi Chakraborty Sadhu, Ashis Mondal, Jibon Biswas, Ranadip Das, Khokon Raut, Ramaprasad De and others. Till January 16 at Society of Contemporary Artists’ Gallery, 398 Rashbehari Avenue Bypass Connector Road; 4 pm - 8 pm: The Lost North Wind — paintings and sculpture by four contemporary artistsBibhuti Chakraborty, Nirmal Kanti Chakraborty, Pradip Bhowmick and Ratan Saha. Till January 23 at Presidency Court, 55 Gariahat Road; 3 pm - 7 pm: HSBC InvestDirect, in association with Chitrakoot Art Gallery, presents an exhibition of paintings, titled Early Paintings of Bengal in Oil. Till January 30 (except Mondays & January 23, 26) at Birla Academy; 3 pm - 8 pm: Birla Academy of Art & Culture presents 44th Annual Exhibition 2011. Till January 30 (except Mondays & January 26) at Victoria Memorial Hall, Portrait Gallery; 10 am - 5 pm: An exhibition of paintings from the collection of Victoria Memorial Hall: India: Land and People by Western Artists.

exhibition

Till January 23 at Abanindranath Gallery, Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, 9A Ho Chi Minh Sarani; 10 am - 6 pm: A spectacular collection of mainly traditional Japanese dolls of various forms, sunch as Miyabi, Tsubaki, etc., in a typical Japanese ambience. Till January 13 at Bajoria Banquet Hall, opp. Southern Market; 11 am - 8 pm: Rakamari presents designer saris, dress material, home decors, jewellery, cosmetics, utility items, etc. Details at 9874293324, 9748755183. Till January 14 at Ekadila crossing Banquet Hall, 16/2 Gariahat Road, 9830054718; 11 am - 8.30 pm: Joyita’s Selection presents Barsha Baran Utsav, which includes designer clothes, Lucknow chikan, costume jewellery and gift items.

pERFORMING ARTS

January 12 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 9 am, 2 pm & 6 pm: A music festival to mark the 148th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. At 9 am: Rajendra Prasanna (shehnai) with Mangal Prasad (dukkad), with shehnai support by Vikas Babu, Pramod Prasanna, Sunil Prasanna and Rudra Kumar; Ulhas Kashalkar (vocal) with Suresh Talwalkar (tabla), Jyoti Goho (harmonium) and Sarwar Hussain (sarengi); and Hari Prasad Chaurasia (flute) with Anindo Chatterjee (tabla) and Abhiram Nanda (flute support). At 2 pm: Kathak duet by Krishna Mohan Maharaj and Ram Mohan Maharaj, accompanied by Subhankar Banerjee (tabla), Debasish Sarkar (vocal), Chandrachur Bhattacharya (sitar) and Ramesh Mishra (sarengi); and Zeeshan Khan (vocal) with Samar Saha (tabla) and Sanatan Goswami (harmonium). At 6 pm: Alam Khan (sarod) with Tanmoy Bose (tabla); and Rashid Khan (vocal) with Subhankar Banerjee (tabla), Jyoti Goho (harmonium) and Ramesh Mishra (sarengi). January 12 at Moulali Yuva Kendra; 3 pm: Raag-Rangam presents a programme of songs and recitation in memory of Suchitra Mitra. Participants: Gopal Patra, Dr Sreekumar Chattopadhyay, Agnibha Bandyopadhyay, Anushila Basu, Manosree Lahiri, Uma Mukhopadhyay, Kazi Kamal Naser and others in songs, and Jagannath Basu, Chitra Lahiri, Subhro Mukhopadhyay, Tapas Nag, Selim Durrani and others in recitation.

DRAMA

January 12 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sanglap Kolkata will stage Ratnakar. Drama & direction: Kuntal Mukhopadhyay. January 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Purba Paschim presents Tagore’s Raktokarabi, with Chaiti Ghoshal, Subhrajit Dutta and Soumitra Mitra comprising the main cast. Music: Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan. Direction: Gautam Haldar, filmmaker. January 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Nandikar will stage Madhabi. Drama : Bhisham Sahni. Direction : Swatilekha Sengupta. Cast : Rudraprasad Sengupta, Debsankar Halder, Partha Pratim Deb, Sumanta Gangopadhyay & Sohini Sengupta

TALK

January 12 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Abhedananda Memorial Hall; 7 pm: Swami Buddhatmananda will speak on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.

FESTIVAL

January 13 - 19 at Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR: Rabi Bichitra, the week-long festival of Academy Theatre endeavours to presents a selection of Tagore’s genius with varied stage productions, film shows, lectures and exhibition of visuals and paintings on and by Rabindranath. /B> January 14 - 16 at various heritage sites and at Oxford Bookstore: Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2011 celebrates the spirit of books, music, art, film and much more with the country’s leading creative minds.

READING

January 12 at 4 Bishop Lefroy Road; 6 pm: Anamika invites all for the play-reading of Sakar Hota Sapna by Bimal Lath. /B>

YOUTH DAY

January 12 at Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House and Cultural Centre, 3 Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street; 5.30 am onwards: Swami Vivekananda’s birthday celebration: Mangalarati at Swamiji’s birthplace, Vedic chants & devotional songs (5.30 am), Procession (9 am); inauguration of celebration & release of annual souvenir (4.30 pm); and cultural programme (6.30 pm). January 12 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake City; 8 am onwards: Procession with Swamiji’s portrait; sit-and-draw contest (12 noon), essay writing (1 pm), quiz (2 pm), recitation comptetition (3 pm), prize distribution (4 pm) and talk on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Satprabhananda at 6 pm. January 12 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 9.30 am: Swami Vivekananda’s 27th National Youth Day Celebration. January 12 at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan, Salt Lake; 1 am: Vivekananda Institute of Environment and Management, Calcutta celebrates National Youth Day 2011 with competitions and cultural programmes by students, programme by visuall handicapped and distribution of prasad (lunch).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till January 12 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Travelscapes — the second solo exhibition of photographs by Balaram Bose. Till January 14 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts & Tasveer with Bernard J Shapero Rare Books, in association with Ganjam, present One Hundred Vintage Views of India. A selection of early views of the great cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and many others, or the rich cultural heritage as seen in the earliest photographs of Mughal and Hindu archaeological sites. Till January 14 at Earthcare Books and Resource Centre, 10 Middleton Street, 22296551; 11 am - 7 pm: My Kumartuli — an exhibition of photographs by Wera Saether.

WORKSHOP

January 12 - 16 at Vivekananda Park, Southern Avenue; 6.30 am - 8.30 am: The Art of Living is organising a mega Sri Sri Yoga course. For details, call 9831013366, 9831034599. January 16, 23 & 30 at Eduzone, Southern Avenue; 11 am onwards: One hour free diagnostic test & a free workshop on SAT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL & IELTS. Certification courses in basic, intermediate and advanced French & Spanish. Public speaking, personality enhancement, spoken English and soft skill courses on offer. See www. eduzoneindia.com. Register at eduzoneindia@gmail.com or call 9830020277, 92306135278.

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