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Yajnaseni Chakraborty

Veteran journalist and writer

Has Tagore’s global fame diminished over time? - GetBengal story

A giant among Bengalis but virtually unknown to the rest of the world – is this the legacy we want?

When Oxford came to Santiniketan - GetBengal story

On Teacher’s Day, looking back to when Oxford bent a rule for Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore the teacher, Tagore the humanist – GetBengal story

With Teachers’ Day coming up, a look at the maestro’s unique philosophy

When the Statesman refused to publish Tagore’s letter – GetBengal story...

In 1931, Tagore expressed the anger of millions in a letter to the editor

The Tagorean vision which India forgot

Rabindranath Tagore was among the first to advocate dissociation from the British government

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: Legacy of a conflicted ideologue - GetBengal story...

In 2004, Wipro chairman Azim Premji declared Bhattacharjee India’s best Chief Minister

Book review: ‘People of India are more similar than different’ – GetB...

A sequel to Sajal Ghosh’s ‘India in Celebration’

Book review: From the outside, looking in – GetBengal story

A corporate hotshot muses on all things ‘Bangali’

Kolkata, the home of museums nobody knows about

On International Day of Museums, a look at the city’s hidden gems

How Manna Dey’s immortal Coffee Houser Sei Addata was born

Coffee Houser Sei Addata was released in 1983

Gardening is good for health. Yes, even a tiny plant on the window sill

Kolkata’s home gardeners tell you how to find peace

Priyonath Mukhopadhyay, the sub-inspector who refused to give up

Priyonath was to serve with distinction in the force from 1878-1911

Warner and Healey, the ‘saheb chor’ who gave the police sleepless night...

Two White men showed Calcutta how sophisticated crime was done

Saheb chor: The ‘white thieves’ of Calcutta

Multinational gangs once roamed the streets of Calcutta

First ever Gour Malda Marathon chooses heritage protection as theme

Malda District Police has hosted the first ever Gour Malda Marathon

On World Poetry Day, a toast to the 'mother of lies'

Every year, March 21 is World Poetry Day

Parimal Ray, the one-man institution linking Kolkata and Calcutta

The octogenarian sees himself as a preservationist rather than a collector

The Calcutta trio who became enablers of the Raman Effect

National Science Day honours CV Raman’s Nobel-winning discovery

Most of what Kolkatans know about trams is wrong!

This is the 150th year of trams in Kolkata

The story behind the birth of a song that is an emotion for Bengalis worldw...

The Language Movement of Bangladesh gave birth to International Mother Language Day

From the heart: Cops from Burtolla PS share the joy with 250 young friends

Already, nearly 250 children have come under the project’s umbrella

The teenager who literally died smiling

Khudiram Bose was hanged at 18

Think you know all about our tricolour? Think again!

Pingali Venkayya is just one of the myths associated with India’s flag

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?

A martyr at 19, the man who almost killed Charles Tegart

Gopimohan single-handedly attempted to assassinate Charles Tegart 

Modern Masterpieces: Pratham Pratishruti, Ashapurna Devi’s immortal warri...

Pratham Pratishruti is arguably Ashapurna Devi’s most celebrated work

100 years ago, someone thought of building an airport in Kolkata

The first flights landed in the city in 1924

Alpana in a church for Christmas? Why not, if it is Kolkata?

A citizens’ initiative led by the indomitable Mudar Patherya

The boy from Nadia who decides who is awarded the Nobel for Medicine

But here’s a lot more to Dr Asim K. Dutta Roy

Modern Masterpieces: Ganga, yet another ‘must watch’ that never got its...

This was only the second film for Rajen Tarafdar as director

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

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

Unreleased Uttam: The films that never made it

Why did these Uttam Kumar films never find release?

Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, the ageless wonder

He was never just an actor

Durand Cup and Kolkata, a bond cemented by Mohammedan Sporting

The 2022 edition of the tournament begins on Aug 16

Three years to a half-century, DD Bangla turns 47

A profile of the channel's two best known faces

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

Desmond Doig, the man captivated by Calcutta

Last year marked Doig’s birth centenary

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

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

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

A few Bengali calendar basics as we begin 1429

Answering a few FAQs about Bangabda, the Bengali era

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

Purnadas Baul, Birbhum's gift to world music

Bengal's best-known Baul turns 89

Six Bengali women, and the mountain they named Lalana

In 1970, three women from Kolkata scaled an unknown peak in Himachal

Ray of hope in West Bengal on World Wildlife Day

Quite a few species seem to be making comebacks

Surajit Sengupta, the ‘boy’ who floored PK Banerjee

The ultimate gentleman and consummate artist

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

Museum that reminds us of the truth of 71

What makes Dhaka's Muktijuddho Museum unique

How Hooghly shaped Bengal and its ties to the world

‘A River and the World - The Hooghly Story’ is on at Metcalfe Hall

Final destination for our Kolkata Walk

Covering some of Kolkata’s best known structures

New English translation pays homage to iconic Thakumar Jhuli

Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar published his work in 1907

Walk near the docks that made Calcutta

A church, mosque, a temple

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

Ghosts of Garden Reach, where history speaks

The ghosts that aren’t so frequently talked about

Walk through Kolkata’s cities of the dead

A church, two cemeteries, a college

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

Back to ‘saheb para’, the heart of White Calcutta

Our next walk through Calcutta’s past

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

Buddhadeb Guha takes with him a nearly extinct world

Why we have lost more than just a writer

Kolkata Partition Museum prepares for virtual avatar

A virtual museum is scheduled for a 2022 opening

Hauntings and history blend at Writers’ Building

Writers’ was once referred to as a mini-township

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

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

Why is a doctor who dies of Covid not a martyr?

On Doctor’s Day, that is the question to ask

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?

Is blood really thicker than water?

An important question to ask on International Family Day

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

Grow your own urban garden, feel happier for it

How Kolkata’s home gardeners have found peace

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 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

Jogesh Dutta and his silent, universal art

A profile of India’s foremost mime artist

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

When children become weapons for parents

Parental Alienation Syndrome is set to become an epidemic

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 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

Farewell, Feluda

Bidding adieu to Bengali cinema's most versatile actor ever

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

Pranab Mukherjee is no more

The son of Bengal who held India's highest office

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

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