Labour of love Though the philosopher may live remote ... the genius of philosophy, if carefully cultivated, must gradually diffuse itself throughout the whole society... — David Hume. It is very difficult, nay impossible, to actually categorise a multi-faceted talent of the stature of Buddhadeva Bose. A major author of the post-Tagorean period, Bose was versatile and was comfortable in every literary genre. He could consciously alienate himself from the much-practised, weather-beaten tract and legacy left behind by Rabindranath Tagore and venture into unknown territories. His intellect and genius helped him to tread those risky territories and then emerge a winner all along. A trend-setter, Bose was a brilliant poet who also wrote novels, short stories, plays in both prose and verse, and non-fictional prose such as travelogues, memoirs and literary essays. He was also an editor-publisher, a translator, a consummate critic who also penned children’s books. His style influenced an entire generation of authors in Bengal. In 1935, Bose founded Kavita, a quarterly magazine of poetry that he edited with utmost care for a quarter century. He introduced many new poets and new trends through this magazine, which was the first of its kind in the country. He introduced readers to the beauty of Kalidasa’s verses in Meghdootam as he translated the book in verse form. His translations of Baudelaire, Holderlin and Rilke effected a sea-change in the Bengali sensibility, and his well-written prefaces and scholarly notes to the translations enabled readers to contextualise the new concepts. Soon these French poets ceased to be “foreign poets” and became household names in Bengal. A renowned educationist, he founded the department of comparative literature at Jadavpur University in 1956. His death in 1974 has left a void in Bengali literature. On his 99th birth anniversary, the Buddhadeva Bose Centenary Committee (BBCC) has planned a series of programmes to celebrate the genius’ birth centenary. The programme begins with a formal Shraddharpan by Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Sibnarayan Ray (president of BBCC), Bangladeshi author Shamsul Haq, Bose’s associate Prof. Naresh Guha, and author-economist Dr Ashok Mitra. This will be followed by Lopamudra Mitra’s musical rendition of Bose’s poems, set to tunes by his wife, late Protiva Bose. Gautam Haldar will present a recitation and Nandikar will stage Bose’s one-act play, Pata Jhore Jaye. lEvent: Inauguration of Buddhadeva Bose’s birth centenary programme lWhen: Today at 5.45 pm lWhere: Rabindra Sadan

art

Till November 30 at Alliance Française du Bengale, 217 AJC Bose Road; 9.30 am - 6 pm: Improvisations, an exhibition of Susmit Biswas’ paintings. Till November 30 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings, glass painting and terracotta by 150 students of the Museum’s painting division. Till November 30 at Gallery Exposure, 54B Mahanirban Road; 1 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Sudipto Dutta and Utpal Dutta. Till November 30 at Srimati Art Gallery, 4 Elgin Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: The third solo exhibition of Aloke Kumar Paul’s work. Till November 30 at Gallery Yapan Chitra, 12/1A, 3rd floor, Lift no. 2, Stephen Court, 18A park Street; 11 am - 7 pm: Mind’s Eye, in association with Gallery Yapan Chitra, presents Touch of Winter, an exhibition of paintings and sculptures. Till November 30 at Gandhara Art Gallery, 1B Gurusaday Road, Flat 5A (Palm Spring), #22801790; 1 pm - 7 pm: Fire Somewhere, a solo exhibition of Amritah Sen’s work. Till November 30 at Artists Circle, 46 Circus Avenue, #22833176; 2 pm - 7 pm: Fusion, an exhibition of paintings by Maksudul Ahsan and Nazmul Ahsan. Till November 30 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #65508418; 10.30 am - 7.30 pm: Celebrations on Canvas, showcasing Indian art and sculpture by Gourango Beshai, Suhas Roy, Prokash Karmakar, Sanatan Dinda, Bratin Khan, Sibsaday, Subrata Pal, Tapas Sardar, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Kartick Pyne, Samir Paul, Sukanta Das, Subrata Das and others. Till November 30 at Gallery K2, Supra Court, 35 Lansdowne Terrace, #24651444; 11 am - 7 pm: Recent works by Tapas Ghosal. Till November 30 at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #24653212; 11 am - 7 pm: Paintings by Gopal Ghose. Till November 30 at Tejas Art Gallery, 11 Mayfair Road, opp. Ice Skating Rink, #40076042; 3 pm - 7.30 pm: Figments, an exhibition of ink and brush works by Malay Chandan Saha. Till December 1 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm, Saturday (10 am - 3 pm): Classical Art of Indian Baizee — a solo exhibition of paintings by Dipak Ghosh. Till December 2 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: Rhythm of Nature — paintings by Aparup Mukherjee and Lalit Maity. Till December 2 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, 2nd floor; 4 pm - 8 pm: The Dream of Liberation — paintings by Sambuddha Duttagupta.

TALK

November 30 at Ramakrishna Math, baranagar; 5.45 pm: Discourse on Sri Sri Ma Sarada Punthi by Swami Snehamayanandaji Maharaj. November 30 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6 pm: Pradyot Kumar Mukhopadhyay will speak in Bengali on Dharma, Darshan O Vijnan . November 30 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Dr Sasanka Bhusan Bandyopadhyay will speak on Chandogya Upanishad.

PERFORMING ARTS

December 1 & 2 at Sangeet Research Academy, Tollygunge; 5 pm: 15th ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Calcutta. Dec. 1: Inauguration and presentation of ITC Award to Ustad Asad Ali Khan, to be followed by recitals featuring Tushar Dutta (vocal), Yashwant Vaishnav (tabla solo), Asad Ali Khan (rudra veena) and Vidyadhar Vyas (vocal). Dec. 2: Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar), Jayashree R Patnekar (vocal), L.K. Pandit (vocal), and N. Rajam and Sangeeta Shankar (violin). December 1 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 5.30 pm: Raag Reet presents an evening commemorating the geat legacy of Ustad Munawar Ali Khan Sahib. A musical tribute will be offered by three talented musicians of the present generation: Kumar Mukherjee (vocal), Sandip Chatterjee (santoor) and Sandipan Samajpati (vocal). December 2 at Rabindra Sadan; 10 am: Dakshin Kalikata Nandaniki presents a solo recital of Tagore songs by Ashis Bhattacharya.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till December 3 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South A & B Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Inauguration of 14th Chhayapath, Calcutta Members’ Exhibition of Photography 2007.

AWARENESS PROGRAMME

November 30 at Sealdah Station; 2 pm - 8 pm: As part of The International Campaign to Stop Violence against Women and Girls, hosted by Swayam, a mass awareness programme with public on women’s rights and violence against women, including Half the Sky - an exhibition of posters on violence against women, songs by Swayam music group and Swayam women’s play on PWDVA.

EXHIBITION

Till November 30 at 85 Lansdowne, 85 B Sarat Bose Road; 11 am - 7.30 pm: An exclusive evening wear by Alecca Carrano, Aparnaa Kumar, Bon Bibi, Cue, Dev R Nil and Gaurav Gupta; and an exhibit of funky costume jewellery by Jamini Ahluwalia.

WORKSHOP

December 1 & 2 at EZCC, Salt Lake: Workshop & seminar on Mukhojo Abhinaya by Niranjan Goswami in collaboration with the ministry of culture, Government of India, and Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre. Details at #23298297 or 23353093. 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

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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