Rebels with a cause On April 18, 1930 at around 10 pm, a clutch of young men, most of them still in their teens, challenged the might of the British Empire through a series of raids in Chittagong. Their actions stunned the colonial power and ignited the spark of rebellion throughout Bengal. In Do & Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34, perhaps the first book of its kind, journalist Manini Chatterjee of The Telegraph gives a riveting account of the dramatic events that unfolded over three years. Drawing on police records and government files and interviews with revolutionaries, Chatterjee reconstructs the events of that fateful night when six ex-detenus, inspired by the famous Easter Uprising in Dublin (1916), attacked the armouries of the police and the Auxillary Force in Chittagong. What followed were the battles of Jalalabad, the encounter at Dhalghat, the attack at Pahartali and the underground resistance, all led by the mysterious Masterda, Surya Sen, the irrepressible Kalpana Dutt and the brooding, tragic Pritilata Waddedar. This is a story of their zeal and fervour, love and loss. Meticulously researched and skillfully narrated, it is the story of young idealists, heady with patriotism and ready to die for their cause. Most of all, it records an important, yet so far neglected story of the freedom struggle in India. Published by Picador India, the book will be launched this evening. lEvent: The launch of Manini Chatterjee’s Do & Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 lWhen: Today at 6.30 pm lWhere: Starmark, South City Mall

ART

Till November 23 at Academy of Fine Arts; 11 am - 7 pm: Solo exhibition of paintings by Nitai Das. Till November 23 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South ‘A’ Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Mood presents a solo exhibition of paintings (watercolour and acrylic) by Aroup Lodh. Till November 23 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South ‘B’ Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Transcending Naturalism — a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Tapas Sardar. Till November 26 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 at Chitrakoot Art gallery, 55 Gariahat Road, 24752275, 24618812; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Melanie Richter-Hood. Till November 30 at Gallery Sanskriti, 5C Alipore Park Road, 24484925 / 24497931: Rooted Landscapes — an exhibition of recent works by Rini Dhumal. Till November 30 (except Sunday) at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, 24653212; 11 am - 7 pm: Ganges Art Gallery presents Jogen Chowdhury: Drawings, Doodles and Sketches. Till November 30 (except Sunday) at Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park, 2464 2617; 2 pm - 7 pm: Ecriture III...and a few others things — recent works by Manjari Chakravarti. Till December 4 (except Sunday) at Experimenter, 2/1 Hindusthan Road, 2463 0465 / 4001 2289: Where Am I? — an exhibition of the works of four German artists Anja Ciupka, Stefan Panhans, Sebastian Stumpf and Claudia Wieser. Curated by Dr Barbara J. Scheuermann. Till December 4 (except Sunday) at Emami Chisel Art Pvt. Ltd, Emami Towers, 687 Anandapur, EM Bypass, 40113182/83; 11 am - 7 pm: The Story of the Multiples — an exhibition of new media works. Till December 11 (except Sundays) at Aakriti Art Gallery, 12/3A Hungerford Street, 2289 3027/5041; 12 noon - 7 pm: Projection of Disjointed Times — an exhibition of sculptures by Akhil Chandra Das.

DRAMA

November 23 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Chetana will stage Tagore’s Chirokumar Sabha. Direction: Arun Mukhopadhyay. Till November 28 at Mukta Angan Rangalaya: A drama festival, to mark the golden jubilee of Mukta Angan Rangalaya, organised by Shouvanik. Today at 6.30 pm: Chetla Krishti Sansad presents Bhuture Naksha (Drama & direction: Pinaki Guha). November 23 at Gyan Manch; 6.30 pm: Noutonki Kolkata presents Dhorai Charit Manas, directed by Abhishek Basu. November 24 - 28: Kumar Roy Smarane — Bohurupee will stage five plays directed by Kumar Roy. Featuring Kinu Kaharer Thetar (Nov. 24), Kaal Sandhya (Nov. 25) and Fullaketur Pala (Nov. 26) at Academy of Fine Arts, 6.30 pm; Deepadanda (Nov. 27) at Rabindra Sadan, 6.30 pm; and Mister Kakatua (Nov. 28) at B.D. Auditorium, Salt Lake, 6.30 pm. November 25 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Cinetel will stage Homa Pakhi. Direction & performance: Soumitra Chatterjee. November 27 at Rabindra Bhavan, Chinsurah; 6 pm: Jouthik presents Amritalal Basu’s Byapika Bidai. Direction: Utpal Dutta.

PERFORMING ARTS

November 23 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 7 pm: Techno India Group, in association with Sa Re Ga Ma, presents Nutan Yuger Bhorey: Timeless Tagore tunes, today & tomorrow — a solo recital of Tagore songs by Kamalini Mukherji that seeks to be a bridge between traditional Rabindrasangeet and its innovative, contemporary approach. Music arrangement: Shubhayu Sen Majumdar. Anchors: Chaiti Ghoshal and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. November 23 at Jibanananda Sabhagriha, Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi; 5 pm: Rabi-Purabi presents Aalapan, a programme of songs, recitation and reading. Participants: Shaktipada Mukhopadhyay, Debashis Mitra, Krishnakali Basu, Ishita Das Adhikary and others in reading of rhymes and poems, and Tagore songs by Shikha Dutta, Uma Mukhopadhyay, Kajal Sengupta, Bivas Chattopadhyay and others. November 23 at Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi; 5.30 pm: Chhandak presents an evening of recitation in solos and duets, and audio-play. Participants include Kajal Sur, Ramen Chattopadhyay, Ushasi Sengupta, Anindita Mitra, Swapan Ganguly, Papia Chakraborty and others.

SCREENING

November 23 at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) main auditorium; 6 pm: Cine Central, Calcutta presents a special screening of Aamir Bashir’s film, Harud (Autumn) / India, 2010.

BOOK LAUNCH

November 23 at Crossword, Elgin Road; 6 pm: Shankar Sen’s Betrothed (English translation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Datta) will be launched by Samaresh Majumdar. November 23 at Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street; 6.30 pm: Oxford Bookstore, Calcutta and Millennium host the launch of The Soiled Sea and Other Stories, a collection of 21 short stories depicting different views of life, by Kishwar Musa Bhatt. The book will be released by Ashoke Viswanathan.

READING

November 23 at Seagull Bookstore, 31A S.P. Mukherjee Road, 24556942/42; 6.30 pm: On the occasion of the 90th birth anniversary of German poet Paul Celan, Seagull Books, in association with Goethe Institut Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta, presents readings from Correspondence - Ingeborg Bachman and Paul Celan (translated by Wieland Hoban and published by Seagull Books as part of its The German List series) by Anjum Katyal and Vinay Sharma. November 24 at Starmark, South City Mall; 6.30 pm: Launch of The Ghost of Gosain Bagan, a graphic novel in English based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s well-known story in Bengali. Illustrations: Avijit Chatterjee

TALK

November 23 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 5.45 pm: Discourse on Vivek Chudamani by Swami Jnanalokananda. November 23 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Vedaswarupananda will speak in Bengali on Gita. November 23 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake; 6.30 pm: Prof. Amarendra Das will speak on Sri Sri Sarada Devi. November 23 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Swami Abhedananda Memorial Lecture Hall; 7 pm: Parimal Kanti Das will speak on Sri Ramakrishna Prasanga.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till November 26 at Creative Ritu, 3/2A C N C Street, Bhowanipore, 9831001947; 4 pm - 8 pm: The first solo exhibition of travel photographs by Raja Abhimanyu. Till December 3 (except Sunday & national holidays) at The Harrington Street Arts Centre, 8 Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Harrington Mansions, 2nd floor; 12 noon - 7 pm: The Australian High Commission, The Harrington Street Arts Centre, and Drik India present Crossing Paths — images by Australian photojournalists in South Asia, Daniel Berehulak, Graham Crouch, Adam Ferguson and Wayne McAlister. Till December 4 (except Sunday) at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road, 2455 6942/43; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Incidents, photographs by Bishan Samaddar.

EXHIBITION

Till November 25 at 16/2 Gariahat Road, 9830054718; 11 am - 9 pm: Joyita’s Selection presents Winter Fete which includes hand-embroidered designer dresses and saris in cotton, tussar, silk & matka, fashionable kurtas & kurtis, Kashmiri shawls and woolens, Lucknow chikan, gift items and tupperware.

QUIZ

November 28 at The Circle; 2 pm: Movie Quiz for four-member teams. Entry fee Rs 200 per team. QMs: Ashoke Sanyal and Somnath Chanda. For details, contact Ashoke (9830190982) or Somnath (9874056162).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