Professor, we miss you Prof. P. Lal (1929-2010) was an institution in Calcutta’s literary, cultural, educational and intellectual life, giving the city its reputation as the nursery of post-Independence Indian writing in English, through his publishing house named Writers Workshop, at a time when the fledgling group faced virulent attacks from many quarters as derivative or unpatriotic. The children of that movement have now won worldwide acclaim as post-colonial authors. But P. Lal was more than just a publisher. He was a poet, essayist, and transcreator of many Hindu texts and The Mahabharata. He taught for 50 years at St Xavier’s College and Calcutta University. He was also invited to prestigious visiting professorships by many foreign universities. And there were other, less known sides to him: the calligrapher, the patron of folk painters, the culinary enthusiast, the comic-book collector, the children’s playmate, the lover of birds and trees. Friends, well-wishers and students are invited to the memorial meeting hosted by St Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association. Event: A condolence meeting for P. Lal When: Today; 3 pm onwards Where: St Xavier’s College auditorium

ART

Till November 20 (except Sundays & public holidays) at CIMA Gallery, Sunny Towers (2nd floor), 43 Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue, 2485 8509 / 8717; Mondays (3 pm - 7 pm), Tuesdays - Saturdays (2 pm - 7 pm): Yeh Image Mahaan: India meets Bharat. Participating artists: Manas Acharya, Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Sumitro Basak, Jyoti Bhatt, Shreyasi Chatterjee, Jogen Chowdhury, Meera Devidayal, Ashish Ghosh, Debraj Goswami, M.F. Husain, Farhad Hussain, Ganesh Pyne, Jamini Roy, Kingshuk Sarkar, Shakila, Mayank Kumar Shyam, Sanjeev Sonpimpare, Abanindranath Tagore, Chintan Upadhyay, JWT, Rediffusion Dentsu Young & Rubican Pvt. Ltd, and other works. Till November 14 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road, 2475 2275; 3 pm - 8 pm: A group show by the members of Germination. Till November 14 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: The Canvas Artists’ Circle presents its 49th annual exhibition. Till November 16 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South Gallery (A); 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Tilok Mandal and Sudip Banerjee. Till November 16 at Academy of Fine Arts, West Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Colours and Beyond — an exhibition of paintings by Swapan Sarkar and Nabanita Banerjee. Till November 16 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: The Group, an association of women artists, presents its 27th annual exhibition of paintings and sculptures. Till November 21 at Taj Bengal, Promenade Lounge; 11 am - 11 pm: A solo exhibition of Dhiren Sasmal’s canvases. Till November 26 (except Mondays & November 21) at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 1st floor; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of works of two masters Ajit Chakraborty (sculptor) and Sailen Mitra (painter). Till November 30 (except Sundays) at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, 24653212; 11 am - 7 pm: Ganges Art Gallery presents Jogen Chowdhury: Drawings, Doodles and Sketches. Till December 4 (except Sundays) at Experimenter, 2/1 Hindusthan Road, 2463 0465 / 4001 2289: Where Am I? — an exhibition of the works of for German artists Anja Ciupka, Stefan Panhans, Sebastian Stumpf and Claudia Wieser. Curated by Dr Barbara J. Scheuermann.

DRAMA

November 13 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Natasena presents Fata Gopal. Direction: Durga Chakraborty. November 13 at Tapan Theatre; 6 pm: Barta Theatre presents Shakespeare’s King Lear. Translated, directed and performed by Swapan Baran Acharya. November 13 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Bohurupee presents its latest production, Alakh Mukhopadhyay’s Chaitanya. Direction: Tarapada Mukhopadhyay. November 13 at Academy of Fine Arts & November 14 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Gandhar will stage Kachher Manush, with Debshankar Halder and Bijoylakshmi Barman in the lead. Play: Dr Shirish Athwala. Translated by Kamal Sanyal and Bijoylakshmi Barman. Direction: Gautam Halder, filmmaker. November 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 10.30 am: Shruti Creations presents Bisamrekha. Drama & direction: Soumitra Basu. November 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3.30 pm: Mukti! Mukti! — Sayak’s latest production based on Tagore’s Muktir Upay. Direction & acting: Meghnad Bhattacharya. November 14, 15 & 16 at Minerva Theatre; 6 pm: William Shakespeare’s Raja Lear — a Minerva Repertory Theatre production, directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay. Soumitra Chatterjee appears in the main role. November 14 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.45 pm: Rang Roop will stage its latest play, Mayer Moto. Direction & performance: Seema Mukhopadhyay. November 14 at Gyan Manch; 7 pm: Kalapremee will stage Kuttey ki Maut. Direction: Shah Jahan Khan.

PERFORMING ARTS

Till November 14 at Uttam Mancha: Rasikhapriya celebrates its 18th anniversary with a festival of Carnatic music dedicated in memory of K.S. Krishnamurthi. Today at 5.15 pm: Vocal recital by Sudha Ragunathan, accompanied by B.V. Raghavendra Rao (vioiln), Neyveli S. Skandasubramanian (mridangam) and Trichy K. Murali (ghatam). Tomorrow at 5.15 pm: Vocal recital by Priya Sisters (Shanmugapriya & Haripriya), accompanied by B.V. Raghavendra Rao (vioiln), Neyveli S. Skandasubramanian (mridangam) and Trichy K. Murali (ghatam). November 13 at Kala Mandir; 6.30 pm: As a fundraising exercise, Mahila Seva Samity presents a Bharata Natyam recital by Alarmel Valli. November 14 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 10.30 am: Vocal recital by Vidushi Manjusha Patil, accompanied by Ramdas Palsule (tabla) and Shriram Hasabnis (harmonium). November 14 at Prinsep Memorial, Prinsep Ghat; 6 pm: Sangam — a tribute to the Ganga through dance by the students of Anjika, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Akshar, Mentaid, Manovikas Kendra and Rhythmosaic Dance Company. Presented by Patton, Jet Airways, EZCC, Open Doors and Anjika. Concept & direction: Priti Patel.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till November 13 at The Harrington Street Arts Centre, 8 Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Harrington Mansions, Flat # 5 & 25B, 2nd floor; 2282 9220/1; 12 noon - 7 pm: The Harrington Street Arts Centre hosts Raghu Rai: Calcutta, Kolkata “It Never Begins, It Never Ends”, an exhibition of the works by the country’s most renowned photographer. Presented by Ina Puri. Till November 14 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; 10 am - 6.30 pm: Apertures — an exhibition of photographs by Jyotica Sikand.

TALK

November 13 at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math; 2.15 pm: Acharya Shrivatsa Goswami Gambhira, Vrindavan will speak on Sri Ramakrishna and Vaishnava Sadhana. November 13 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 5.45 pm: Dr Bhupendra Nath Seal will speak on Sri Ramakrishna Punthi. November 13 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6 pm: Dr Samiran Chandra Chakraborty will speak in Bengali on Prasthanabheda. November 13 at Ramakrishna Mancha, Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House and Cultural Centre, 3 Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street; 6.30 pm: Swami Satyapriyananda will speak on Narada-Bhaktisutra. November 13 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake; 6.30 pm: Deepak Gupta will speak on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. November 13 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math; 7 pm: Swami Paramatmananda will speak on Mrityu Rahasya. November 14 at J Krishnamurti Study Centre, 30 Deodar Street; 10.45 am: Why are we educating our children? — Talk by Prof. P Krishna, head, J Krishnamurti Study Centre, Varanasi.

IN MEMORIAM

November 13 at St Xavier’s College Auditorium; 3 pm onwards: The family of Prof. P. Lal and St Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association invite all friends, well-wishers and his students to the memorial and condolence meeting. Speakers will include the Reverend Fathers representing the College, Dr Pradip Bhattacharya, Prof. Subhas Saha, Prof. Chinmoy Guha and others from the gathering.

SIT ’N’ DRAW

November 13 at Starmark, Mani Square (2nd floor); 3 pm - 5 pm: Starmark will hold a sit ’n’ draw competition on the theme, Green Calcutta, for children in the age-groups 3 years to 5 years, 5 years to 8 years and 8 years to 12 years, and, at all its city outlets, lucky dips and gifts on purchases by children. For more details, call 99039 85097.

WORKSHOP

November 14 at 27B Camac Street; 11 am - 1.30 pm: Workshop on public speaking (to increase confidence and motivation) for the age group 7 yrs to 15 yrs. For details, call 9836665651.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-700001; 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