Suman Kalyanpur (1937-2026): A Serene, Enchanting Star in the Sky of Melody
Today, the world of music feels a little more silent. A gentle, lucid and humble voice has fallen quiet forever.
Today, the world of music feels a little more silent. A gentle, lucid and humble voice has fallen quiet forever.
Some deaths arrive as news. This one arrived as silence, in the exact place where a voice used to live.
We are living in the golden age of authorship. Everyone is now a writer. We are writing bios, poems, how-to guides, and, of course, aggressive complaints against whomever we wish to.
There are those who love to be photographed. You can find them “photo bombing” frames where they have no business to be in. But they are there, smiling sheepishly.
A friend had invited me for dinner to his house. I went over around 7:30 in the evening. We gossiped for about an hour and then sat down for dinner.
In a city where Durga Puja ‘apparently’ means worshipping a grand idol of Goddess Durga along with her children, Garia Mitali Sangha stands apart. Every year, in a distinctive tradition spanning nearly seven decades, nine different forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped under the same roof.
This year marks the 232nd birth anniversary of the social reformer and philanthropist, the founder of Dakshineswar temple, Rani Rashmoni of Janabazar. On this occasion the 210 years old Indian Museum, Kolkata, inaugurated a portrait of Rani Rashmoni in the Painting Gallery on 1 October this year.
In honour of Maa Durga, who resides within each woman and celebrates her days with us, we bring forth the story of Bijoli Murmu, a self-taught toto-driver from an indigenous community of Salboni in Midnapore.
Mahalaya, also known as Sarva Pitri Amavasya (forefathers in heaven), was observed on 2 October this year and marked the end of Pitri Paksha—recalling the ancestors. This is a religiously significant day for Hindu devotees, particularly Bengalis, who, at the crack of dawn with devotional or Shroddha offerings, pray for their souls in the afterlife.
This story about Shyamal Dhan Dutta Durga Puja started in the year 1880. The puja is done with every tradition their ancestors provided them with. Devotion and respect are what separate this particular puja apart from others.
