Inspirational insights In a world that is increasingly becoming antagonistic, insular and prejudiced, Nandikar’s plays make persistent effort to restore the light of faith, confidence and optimism in our lives. This evening, it stages two simple, fable-like stories by Leela Mazumder, that carry a message of abiding, unconditional love, kindness, hope and inspiration for children and adults alike. Pakhi (direction: Swatilekha Sengupta) illustrates, through poignant parallels, how a wounded goose which cannot fly is able to inspire a little girl with walking disability. Dulia (a scene from the play appears above) tells the heart-rending story of an old milkmaid, who is going from Doiwalla station to Dulia station by train. On her head, she carries three shiny brass pitchers, full of fresh milk for her grandfather, father, husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Yet, when she meets some poor, hungry urchins during the journey, she instinctively feeds them the milk, as they are no less dear to her than her own family. Direction: Swatilekha Sengupta and Goutam Halder. Event: Plays in Bengali, Pakhi and Dulia, by Nandikar When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Madhusudan Mancha

art

December 12 - December 18 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings and drawings by Samir Ghosh and Madhab Nath. December 12 - December 17 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Sujit Kumar Ghosh. Till December 12 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Beautiful Bengal, paintings by Mokhlesur Rahman. Till December 12 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: 3-Dimensions, drawings, paintings and sculptures by Jahar Dasgupta, Sisir Kanjilal and Uma Roychowdhury. Till December 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: Mukta Shilpa presents the recent works of Ashit Paul, in aid of Charuchetana, an institution for underprivileged children. Till December 15 at Gandhara Art Gallery, 1B Gurusaday Road, Flat 5A; 12 noon - 7 pm: Works of Prasun Ghosh. Till December 15 at Mon Art Gallerie, 6 Hungerford Street, Regency, 3rd floor; 11 am - 7 pm: Works by 35 well-known artists including Jogen Chowdhury, Paritosh Sen, Lalu Prosad Shaw, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Shyamal Dutta Ray and T. Vaikuntham. Till December 15 at Artspace India, 7 Deodar Street; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Somenath Maity. Till December 16 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: Figure in Nature, an exhibition of Indian contemporary art by 54 well-known artists. Till December 23 at Spandan Art Gallery, 87 Park Street, 1st floor; 10 am - 7 pm: Harmony, paintings by Keshav Roy, Rana Roy, Shyamal Ganguly and Samir Paul. Till December 23 (weekdays only) at Masters Collection Art Gallery, G7 Malayalay Apts, 3 Woodburn Park; 11 am - 7 pm: Expressions, figurative artworks of 33 contemporary artists. Till December 30 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road; 10.30 am - 7.30 pm: The Pageant of Life, art and sculpture by well-known artists.

drama

December 12 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB-201 Salt Lake; 6.30 pm: Sundaram presents Ranger Haat. Drama and direction: Manoj Mitra. December 12 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6 pm: Mangalik presents Haroon-al-Rashid. Direction: Samir Biswas. To be preceded by nataker gaan presented by Prasun Bandyopadhyay. December 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Charbak presents Chalo Patal Tuli. Direction: Arindam Ganguli. December 13 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Mangalik presents Bhoomidaan. Direction: Samir Biswas. December 13 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Nandipat presents Ramanimohan. Direction: Prakash Bhattacharya. December 15 at Sarala Memorial Hall; 6.30 pm: Total Theatre presents its latest production Vyasa. Direction: Santanu Bandyopadhyay. December 16 - 25 at Academy of Fine Arts: Nandikar’s 23rd National Theatre Festival.

performing arts

Till December 13 at Rabindra Sadan: Paschimbanga Rajya Sangeet Akademi and West Bengal Dance Group Federation host Uday Shankar Nrityotsav 2006. Today at 6 pm: Manipuri recital by Soma Dutta, Odissi recital by Rajeeb Bhattacharya, Bharata Natyam recital by Souraja Tagore, dance presentation by Calcutta Dance Theatre (dir: Goutam and Shaili Sarkar) and Sambalpur Loknritya of Orissa (courtesy: government of Orissa). December 12 at Aikatan, IA-290 Salt Lake; 6 pm: A musical soiree of Rabindrasangeet and Bengali folk songs to be presented by Indrani Dutta and Mousumi Karmakar. Hosted by EZCC. December 16 at Laban Hrad Mancha, BD-303 Salt Lake; 4 pm: Talented child artistes will present vocal and instrumental music and dance at the 34th annual conference of Children Music Conference. December 17 at Jibanananda Sabhaghar; 5.40 pm: To commemorate the birth centenary of Bidhayak Bhattacharya, Sricharaneshu presents a programme of reminiscences by Banani Mukhopadhyay and Meenakshi Sinha; Tagore songs by Rupa Bhattacharya and Meera Gopalakrishnan and audio-play, Tahar Naamti Ranjana (participants: Janardan Ghosh, Swapna Dey and Supriti Mukhopadhyay).

talk

December 12 at Matrisangha Janakalyan Ashram, 41B Chakraberia Road (North); 12 noon: K. Venkatapathy, minister of state for law and justice, government of India, will deliver the inaugural address on Development of Legal Aid Clinics for Community Support, Legal Literacy Classes and Development of Barefoot Lawyers for Facilitating Access to Justice for Legal Empowerment of Communities. December 12 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Frank Neubert will speak on Swami Vivekananda and the Beginning of Hinduism in the West. December 12 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Atmabodhananda will discuss in Bengali on Sri Sri Mayer Katha.

photographs

Till December 24 at Max Mueller Bhavan foyer; 10 am - 8 pm: Artist Portraits, photographs by German photographer Barbara Klemm.

camp

December 12 - 24 at Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, 69K Prince Bakhtiar Shah Road, Tollygunge: Yoga therapy camp. For details, call #24241340 / 9830690539 / 9339610168.

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