North Kolkata Calling !!

Someone told me that there was a time when we ran after music while at present music seems to run after us. Well-it gave me food for thought.  I was really in a fix since it made me loose my precious sleep.  For some moments I reflected   upon  the matter. Yes I agree what is mentioned as ' Golden era of music' but somehow disagree too about the notion that the present era is aiming towards nothingness. With due regards to artists like Md.Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Manna De,Kishore Kumar to our Bengal artists Hemanta Mukherjee, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shyamal Mitra etc. - I would still like to claim the supremacy of Music -even more-during the present era. At times it stunns me to see very little girls and boys performing at levels unthinkable during the said era. Reality Shows in TV, easy access to YouTube etc has given us the freedom to listen to any kind of music anywhere,anytime. It was not always possible during...

'They flash upon that inward eye   Which is the bliss of solitude'                       -William Wordsworth. I thought and thought about today's morning. It was just a  morning like any other mornings. Yet there was something else-something different from all the mornings that I have been witnessing  during my 72 years life. Why was it different thought I.. Yesterday night I couldn't sleep well , neither could my wife. We rose early, discussed about our restlessness and decided to go for a morning walk together. It was after quite sometime  that we went for such a stroll. It would help us to get rid of our  uneasiness, we thought. We went to the nearest river side and watched a fisherman throwing his huge net while a steamer passed by . After loitering there for an hour we decided to return. My wife went to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast while I stood at my b...

She lost it ! Yes my wife lost her mobile-a part and parcel of her life-that is. The revelation came when I was busy watching my favorite show in the TV. I was so absorbed that I failed to notice my wife's  concern for few moments. Of course she often missed things and  hence I was accustomed to it and -sorry to admit-I kept mymyself glued to my TV show. But reality soon awakened me when I came to know about the loss. Finally her concern became mine too and immediately I started enquiring where she last used it, where she went next etc etc. In the meanwhile I started tracing it through my phone. I could hear the mobile ringing away happily -in fact very happily -without anyone bothering to pick it up or respond. Was it in the shop she visited last ? We both -I mean Mr & Mrs Felu Mitter tried our best to locate it through our Feluda instinct. Mrs.Felu Mitter decided to visit the shop and find it out. If she fails the only thing to ...

                                             Organized by Saibal/Mausam Deb. Sohini Sinha Majumder-Kheyal & Thumri. Arindam Chakraborty-Tabla. Ramprappana Bhattachary-Sitar. Arindam Chakraborty-Tabla.

I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to go  through the book 'Beg Your Pardon' written by you in Marathi and later translated into English by Mrs.Jayashree Naidu and Capt.Dr.ACapt.Dr.Anil Deoghare.      Let me thank you again Mr.Anant Joshi for doing what an  honest man (especially as a writer) should do to expose the the ongoing corruption in coalmines.I appreciate your endeavor to bring forth the arrangements, which has become a system in itself, between officials and contractors. I just want to add that this unwritten system has spread not only in coal mines but in every sphere of activities prevailing in our lives -as we are all aware.    I am sure you have related your experience through grass root level - I mean knowledge directly gathered by working among such characters.     There is a silver lining though when we find character like Murlidhar too among these people ! They ...

A first time flyer has shaken every passengers in the mid air ! It happened in the Delhi-Patna GoAir flight . The man tried to open the aircraft's rear door mistaking it to be the lavatory gate.  Of course he was unable to do so due to the existing cabin  pressure. In the meanwhile a co-passanger gave the alarm and alerted the crew who quickly intercepted. 150 passengers felt relieved when the plane landed safely. However the Airport police station later confirmed that the man was indeed a first time flyer and had no clue that it was the rear gate.

It all began on a Sunday morning.  I was staying in Hyderabad with my son's family and my wife - who went to Kolkata for few days- was to return. Ria- a close associate of my son & daughter in law -was to accompany her on the flight. My son was abroad and Arnab (Ria's husband ) was the sole person responsible to receive and bring them back from the airport. It was 45 minutes to an hour journey from our place. My son's flat was on the 9th floor while Arnab stayed on the 14th. We went to bed with the expectation of a good day ahead. All was going well until Archi ( my son's wfe) made a phone call to Arnab -well -just to find out if 'all was ok'. The phone went on ringing. After few moments Archi put in few more calls but all went unanswered. Finally she decided to go to his flat and find out whether he was still there. The plane was to land around 2pm and the time was ripe. Within few moments she came back with the news that Ar...