Yajnaseni Chakraborty
Veteran journalist and writer
Modern Masterpieces: Stree, the film that brought Uttam-Soumitra together a...
The chemistry between the two men was near perfect
On Children’s Day, a look at two men whose Bengali rhymes for children be...
In focus, Madan Mohan Tarkalankar and Jogindranath Sarkar
Kolkata to host very special ramp walk at fashion show that breaks all barr...
WWAD is a social initiative for persons with disabilities
Rockstar in a Kanjeevaram, the enduring magic of Usha Uthup
The iconic playback and pop singer turned 74 this year
Modern Masterpieces: Madhumati, the film that nearly won Ritwik Ghatak a Fi...
Many Indian films, and even a few foreign ones, owe a debt to Madhumati
Black, White, and South: The many faces of Calcutta
How the early inhabitants of Kolkata divided the city
Modern Masterpieces: 36 Chowringhee Lane, a debut worth remembering
A film in which one woman reaches out to another
How a Christian donated land for the temple of Bhabatarini in Dakshineswar
The idea for the temple came to Rani Rashmoni in a dream
Kali and Bengal’s legendary dacoits, an everlasting bond
Bengal’s dacoits are celebrated for their allegiance to Kali
The man who first played Othello on the Bengali stage
In 1848, Adhya made history at Sans Souci Theatre
Dilip Mahalanabis, the lifesaver whose ORS travelled from Bongaon to the wo...
The physician has died in Kolkata aged 88
Modern Masterpiece: Titas Ekti Nodir Naam, the story of a river and a man w...
Titas Ekti Nodir Naam is a masterpiece because of its flaws
Modern Masterpieces: Basanta Bilap, creating magic out of everyday life
A film in which even the minor characters are unforgettable
Of ‘Bagans’ and ‘Bazaars’: Old Calcutta and its place names
Trade and commerce were intrinsic to the growth of Kolkata
Modern Masterpieces: Shriman Prithviraj, a shining gem that remains a treas...
An apparently simple narrative spiced up with delightful asides
Why did the 18th century give birth to the modern Durga Puja?
Why did the 18th century give birth to the modern Durga Puja?
Modern Masterpieces: Arogya Niketan, a legendary novel turned iconic film
Tarashankar’s beloved novel was also a successful film
Modern Masterpieces: Nimantran, a story of undying love and hard realities
Tarun Majumdar’s underrated gem
Durand Cup and Kolkata, a bond cemented by Mohammedan Sporting
The 2022 edition of the tournament begins on Aug 16
Death never conquered Tagore, he had seen too much of it
In a life marked by personal losses, Tagore thought deeply about death
On Hiroshima Day, looking back at Japan’s assault on Calcutta
The first Japanese bomb fell on Dec 20, 1942
The cyclone which became a trigger for the birth of a nation
The Bhola cyclone of 1970 is still one of the world’s worst natural disasters
Moral policing to financial fraud, Bengal’s ‘pioneers’ who showed the...
The earliest case of white collar crime in Bengal dates back to 1904
The ‘what if’ factor in Uttam Kumar’s career still troubles us
This year marks Uttam Kumar’s 42nd death anniversary
On India’s Flag Adoption Day, acknowledging the tricolour’s debt to Ben...
The Indian tricolour was adopted on this day in 1947
Mehuli’s golden feat revives interest in Bengal’s rich rifle shooting t...
West Bengal Rifle Association says picture is improving
Centenary for some, obscurity for others, the story of Bengal’s newspaper...
The pioneers who paved the way for the big brands today
Olympics at 12, English Channel at 19: the legend of Arati Saha
The woman who should be an icon has faded quietly from memory
Tarun Majumdar: The versatile genius we couldn’t find a label for
The filmmaker passed away in Kolkata of age-related ailments
How the ancient road to ‘Jagannath Dham’ served Bengal’s pilgrims
The pilgrims were numerous, despite the hardships
Live in a large apartment complex? You could have your own Boimela!
The initiative is being launched with a series of three fairs
Culinary heritage award for Great Eastern Hotel bakery, city’s beloved ca...
Great Eastern founder David Wilson was originally a baker
From school dropout to pride of Bengal, the saga of the man behind Samarita...
Samaritan Mission has been shortlisted as one of the world’s best 100 schools
Steve Banerjee, North America's best kept immigrant secret
Revisiting the life of entrepreneur Steve Banerjee, perhaps the most infamous Bengali immigrant in the United States
How Calcutta Police got its Detective Department
Nearly 150 years ago, the murder of a young woman gave Kolkata, and India, their first specialised crime fighting unit
Modern Masterpieces: Dadar Kirti, the rare film that is better than the boo...
A tribute to the late Anup Kumar
In an era of vanishing single screens, little Radha Studio strikes back
At Rs 30 per head, the ticket price is ridiculous
Siraj’s Murshidabad is the setting for debut novelist’s modern day thri...
Corporate hotshot Sudipta Sengupta’s novel is out in June
Kolkata, the city of museums we didn’t know about
On International Day of Museums, a look at Kolkata’s many hidden treasures
The Mrinal Sen moment that resulted in Amitabh Bachchan’s first ‘film w...
Sen wanted a fresh voice for Bhuvan Shome
Upendrakishore Raychaudhuri, the boy who refused a zamindari
A tribute on the pioneering polymath’s 160th birthday
Can’t dance? Says who? On World Dance Day, make dance part of your life
Dance can improve your quality of life in very many ways
Modern Masterpieces: Sagina Mahato, the saga of a forgotten North Bengal he...
A tribute to the memory of Tapan Sinha and Dilip Kumar
Protecting one building at a time, the story of a pioneering top cop
In conversation with Soumen Mitra, former Commissioner of Police
Nundlal Guin, the architect who built some of Kolkata’s most famous landm...
A look back at one of Bengal’s preeminent architects
Modern Masterpieces: The enduring relevance of Ganadevata
Looking back at a timeless Bengali classic
A music festival that celebrates forests, featuring the Rabha of Chilapata
Today is International Day of Forests
Six Bengali women, and the mountain they named Lalana
In 1970, three women from Kolkata scaled an unknown peak in Himachal
Sandhya Mukherjee was a national treasure, we just didn’t know it
The singer died in Kolkata of heart failureThe singer died in Kolkata of heart failure
Charkha offers not just livelihoods, but life lessons too
The Charkha markets products created by the differently abled and marginalised
Lata Mangeshkar’s passing should teach us the proper usage of the word ...
Lata Mangeshkar cannot be written about in the past tense
Meet the man who made Alipore Zoo famous worldwide
Ram Brahma Sanyal was the first Indian superintendent of the Zoo
Badal Roy, the global tabla maestro we forgot to remember
He is famed for working with the biggest names in world music
Calcutta University at 165, the home of many firsts
Founded in 1857, CU was Asia’s first multidisciplinary institution
Over three centuries after his death, Job Charnock still an enigma
Relatively little is known about Charnock the man
Spirituality through embroidery, a Kolkata designer’s lockdown journey
Sunetra Lahiri works global motifs into uniquely local art
Only 14,000 new cases per day? Let’s aim higher, Kolkata!
Those who still don’t have Covid don’t have a happening life
When Maratha Bargis could have taken Calcutta, but didn’t
Through the 1740s and 50s, Bengal was terrorised by Bargis
Even 200 years ago, Calcutta partied all night on New Year’s Day
The Christmas and New Year week was an entirely British import
How Hooghly shaped Bengal and its ties to the world
‘A River and the World - The Hooghly Story’ is on at Metcalfe Hall
New English translation pays homage to iconic Thakumar Jhuli
Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar published his work in 1907
Why Bengali sportswomen are indebted to these men
The names of Nilmoni Das and Janki Das may be forgotten today, yet they played a critical role in drawing Bengali women to the sporting arena
Slavery, the dark secret from Calcutta’s past
The city was an outpost of the slave trade in the 18th century
Caught between two worlds, walking in Calcutta’s grey town
A part of the city that was neither ‘white’ nor ‘black’
Sinhala and Bengal, a link that needs exploring
The people of Sri Lanka and Bengal are remarkable similar
Abol Tabol decoded: ‘Probasi’ translator reveals unknown facets of Suku...
Niladri Roy is a US-based electronics and telecom engineer
Dream pay package: The salaries that lured the British to Calcutta
Calcutta became a wealth creator for British officials
City of Shopkeepers: What kind of wealth did Calcutta offer to the British?...
The British had never seen wealth such as the kind Bengal possessed
Duelling, or how the British in Calcutta killed each other
The Calcutta Gazette would often furnish instances of duels
‘Galakata Gali’ and murderous robbers, crime in old Calcutta
Early Caclutta had a large floating population
Rich beyond belief: How the wealthy of Calcutta spent their fortunes
The wealth came from trade with the British East India Company
Why Tollywood should be grateful to an American
Long before Bollywood was even thought of, Hollywood came to India via Tollywood. How? Read on to find out
On World Tourism Day, the Bengali is travelling again!
How and why has Covid been unable to dampen spirits?
'Why do we only hear the dhaak during Durga Puja?'
Inspired by tabla maestro Tanmoy Bose, Gokul Chandra Das is not merely bringing the dhaak into the musical mainstream, but inspiring others in turn
The drinking houses of old Calcutta, and a Bengali who dared step in
Why we should know the name of Srikrishna Dutta
Kolkata breaks new ground, hosts India’s first solo AI art exhibition
The show is titled ‘EXO-Stential – AI Musings on the Posthuman’
The Swiss woman who wrote the first Bengali novel
‘Phulmani o Karunar Biboron’ was published in 1852
Where do the ‘ghosts’ of Garstin Place come from?
Garstin Place is one of Kolkata’s most famous ‘haunted’ locations
Saptapadi, not just a romantic masterpiece, but a message against hatred
Revisiting one of Uttam Kumar’s most memorable films
Kolkata girl offers first peek into Indus Valley language mystery
This could well be a revolutionary breakthrough
Kolkata Partition Museum prepares for virtual avatar
A virtual museum is scheduled for a 2022 opening
Should Bengal’s Sarbhaja and Sarpuria join the GI tags club?
Applications pending for Tangail, Jamdani, Garad-Korial, Muslin, and Kalonuniya rice
Remembering Kolkata's 'Japani' bombs on Hiroshima Day
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were part of the Allied plan to make Japan suffer for its attack on Allied territories in Asia
‘Burdwan stew’ and ‘loll shraub’, what the sahibs of old Calcutta a...
An army of servants was a feature for more than a century
International Tiger Day, and one man’s quest to photograph the beautiful ...
A four-decade career in chasing wildlife for 40 years
Tables turned: how an Indian bought the East India Company
Once responsible for furthering Britain's colonising dreams, the East India Company was dissolved in 1874. Or so we thought
Can India please stop disrespecting its flag with a fake image?
On July 22, 1947, India officially adopted its national flag
Rath Yatra or not, Lord Jagannath of Mahesh is a miracle
This year marks the 625th anniversary of the Mahesh Rath Yatra
Alipore, the posh Kolkata locality named after a ‘traitor’
A curious bit of history unknown to most modern Kolkatans
Jagannath Sadak, the ancient path to divinity
Once the only route from Calcutta to Puri, Jagannath Sadak is an integral part of Bengal and Odisha
Calcutta Police trumped Scotland Yard with world's first fingerprint bureau...
A British Inspector General and two Bengali sub-inspectors will forever be remembered as the pioneers who established fingerprinting as a science
Are we appreciating the way our children have coped with Covid?
Our children are in a situation for which nothing has prepared them
The man who gave India its first map, and named Meghalaya
In memory of pioneering Bengali geographer S.P. Chatterjee
June, the month of the ‘Black Hole tragedy’
Where Kolkata’s GPO stands today was where the Black Hole allegedly once stood
How a transport strike changed Calcutta’s traffic for good
In 1827, Calcutta saw what was probably India’s first transport strike
‘TNG Sir’, the Narayan Ganguly we know so little about
Last year marked the 50th death anniversary of the literary icon
The man who made Mount Everest famous
Renowned mountaineer Debashis Biswas on why it is important to remember Tenzing Norgay
'Khoka’ then and now, Kolkata’s notorious Pagla Murder Case
What if the Khoka of celluloid were to have a real-life counterpart?
The Mrinal Sen films we can no longer watch
As far as history of cinema goes, Bengal has almost nothing to show before 1930
Can the Bengali diet boost your immunity?
The thing about Bengali cuisine is that many immunity-boosting foods are inbuilt
Covid black market is a reflection of the blackness within us
The black market in both oxygen and Covid drugs is thriving
Struck by Amphan, a 200-year-old church weathervane gets expert help
Cyclone Amphan broke the weathercock on top of St Andrew’s Church
The story behind Manna Dey’s ode to Kolkata’s Coffee House
Manna Dey sang ‘Coffee Houser Sei Addata’ in 1983
The Lucknow that Wajid Ali Shah built, in Kolkata
What happened to the ‘shadow kingdom’ that the Nawab built?
Why is Bishnupur not a UNESCO World Heritage site yet?
Experts are of the view that the sheer diversity of Bishnupur’s art and culture makes it worthy of the world heritage tag
India through its festivals, known and unknown
His labour of love has taught Sajal Ghosh a thing or two about communities and cultures in India
Reviving the Bengali kirtan, the music of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
A young musical scholar is on a mission to repopularise an ancient Bengali musical form
This Poila Baisakh, take a trip back to Sky Room and Blue Fox
A new restaurant is reviving the signature dishes of two of the city’s most famous restaurants
On Autism Awareness Day, a range of products crafted by some special people...
A city NGO is marketing a range of lifestyle accessories created entirely by the differently abled
Meet Kolkata’s home chefs, a growing tribe
From cooking only for their families to cooking for strangers, a silent revolution has begun
On Women’s Day, here’s a woman who speaks for men’s rights
How a men’s forum led by a woman is trying to change perceptions
On World Wildlife Day, make a pledge to save the Sundarbans
Four protected areas in the Sundarbans are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Subhas vs Prof Oaten, an encounter that changed two lives
What happened to E.F. Oaten, the assault on whom caused Subhas Bose to be expelled from Presidency College?
Our politicians lie to us, because we don’t care
By the time an allegation is proved to be a lie, nobody really cares about the truth
The Indian tricolour, and the myths behind it
The most widely circulated myth about our flag is that it is based on an idea put forth by Pingali Venkayya
The larger than life aura, Netaji’s enduring legacy
The hero worship has transcended what numerous scholars have called a troubled legacy
Kolkata Partition Museum, a dream awaiting realisation
A scholar’s ambitious project takes a step forward with a full-fledged art exhibition
Bibhuti Bhushan’s legacy under threat, family seeks help
The house is in imminent danger of collapse, thanks to large-scale construction work
Remembering Chuni Goswami on his birthday
Way back in 1962, an Indian team led by a young Bengali pulled off a miracle
Is the OTT boom passing Bengal by?
Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Hotstar have been around in the Indian market since 2016-17
Kolkata’s ‘Boi Para’ looks to online sales on road to recovery
Reeling from the twin blows of Covid and Amphan, the Bengali publishing industry is on an uphill journey
Why are so many of us in COVID denial?
Despite all the warnings and evidence, too many of us are ignoring the dangers of COVID
Low notes: How 2021 will treat our music industry
The ‘Covid year’ was a disaster, but will 2021 bring any cheer to the music industry?
Will the new year revive Kolkata’s beloved Cricket League?
Bengal has already hosted a successful T20 challenge earlier in 2020
LOOK BACK: Date with Death- Bengali millionaire Steve Banerjee and his doom...
Revisiting the life of entrepreneur Steve Banerjee, perhaps the most infamous Bengali immigrant in the United States
Manoj Guha, the man who put Bengal on the world badminton map
As India prepares to join the Olympic badminton qualifiers race, we look back to a forgotten era
Kolkata Police Museum, a mirror of the city’s growth
How the Kolkata Police Museum on Ripon Street gives you a history of the city as a whole, in a handsome nutshell
On Vijay Diwas, remembering the man who gave Bangla its identity
Vijay Diwas is observed in both India and Bangladesh, and a new book tries to reevaluate the man who led the charge
Success story: Bangladesh’s textile exports, second only to China
How has Bangladesh turned its textile industry into a global case study?
Somebody else’s war: Indian soldiers in World War I
On Armed Forces Flag Day, we look back at Indians, particularly Bengalis, in the first great war
Save a tree, it’s the only way you can stay alive
A citizens’ initiative shows how ordinary people can help in the restoration of apparently ‘dead’ trees
Khudiram Bose, a name that still defines martyrdom
On his 132nd birthday, a tribute to the boy who fired a nation’s imagination
The citizen heritage keepers of Kolkata
Since 1984, INTACH has been fighting to restore and conserve Kolkata and Bengal’s priceless history
Bengal Home Industries seeks to revive glory days
India’s oldest heritage NGO is seeking new pastures
Purity first: Bangladesh's attempts to rediscover Nazrul
A concerted effort by a group of prominent Bangladeshi singers
Double Death: When Lalbazar's source network brought a vengeful housewife t...
Trapped in a joyless marriage, a wealthy housewife planned the ultimate revenge on her husband
With Kishore Bhimani and Pradip Ghosh, Kolkata loses two more gems
They belonged to different professions, but Bhimani and Ghosh also had a few things in common
Serial horror, Bengal's Chainman killer
An account of the serial killer known as Chainman, who terrorised women in two Bengal districts for six years
A group of citizens fight to retain and revive Kolkata's beloved trams
Trams are among the very few non-polluting modes of public transport in the world
When a cigarette butt helped nail a murderer
Who had killed a wealthy Kolkata businessman, but smoked a cigarette before doing it?
A fruit from Mexico is changing lives in Bengal
An exotic fruit from Central America is helping farmers earn a handsome profit in many parts of the state
Sharbari Dutta, the woman who made Indian menswear fashionable
From Sachin Tendulkar to M.F. Husain, Sharbari Dutta made Indian men look good
Celebrating Tutu-Bhutu, and the genius of Dhiren Bal
Beloved Bengali children's classic 'Tutu-Bhutu' turned 60 recently
From ‘Rosuner Payesh’ to ‘Ilisher Ullash’, lost recipes find a new ...
Two Kolkatans have embarked on a culinary and cultural journey to archive and popularise lost and rare recipes
Online concerts: Here to stay?
The Covid crisis has forced performing artistes to devise ways to get their art across to audiences online, but are we ready for it yet?
The man who wrote down Bengal's first ghost stories, in English!
The Rev. Lal Behari Dey was a preacher and professor. But he was also a boy who never forgot the stories heard in childhood
How a rugby trophy was named after the City of Joy
Rugby may not be a sport familiar to Indians, but one of its most venerable trophies ought to be
The earliest Bengali prose in print, with a touch of Portugal
Way back in the 17th century, the Portuguese became the first people to print Bangla prose. Here’s how
Childless by choice, a growing movement
On International Childfree Day, we explore the Kolkata connection