somajm

The artistic facet of a Bengali which lies unseen all the year round explodes with the smell of the “shiuli” and the beat of the “dhakis” during the Durga puja. This explosion of creativity is as exhilarating as well as humbling to the discerning few. For the creators of this beauty are unknown faces who are sometimes even below the poverty line. The images below tell the story of creativity in all its versatility: art, music, sculpture, dances, thematic presentations, civic constructions 25 Palli, Kidderpore,2004 created the ethos and culture of Africans and santhals through the “mandap” décor, drummers and dance. The dance was an immense hit as it was interactive and spectators were also encouraged to go on stage to match their steps with the dancers. CF Block, Salt Lake took its onlookers into the interiors of a pyramid. Typical Egyptian paintings and artefacts created a locale which in geographical fact is far away. to be contd

Creativity knows no local boundaries. A Vishnupur temple(25Palli, Kidderpore, 2005), competes with a Manipur edifice(Shuruchi Sangha, New Alipore, 2005)

What is a visitor’s first impression of the “City of Joy”? Whether he openly says it or not I have heard the whisper that West Bengal is an open urinal. If u had any doubts about it open up all your senses during the monsoons. Urinating in public spaces should be made an offence to be fined; public toilets shd be built. Just as the corporate sector has taken upon itself the idea of beautifying islands and pavements directly in its vicinity, it shd set up these public toilets; rotary club and NGOs can also be roped into this project. But not just construction of toilets but maintenance shd also be ensured most definitely OR has waterless toilets come to India · lane driving shd be encouraged . People visiting kolkata have this aversion to driving in the city due to the mad free for all created due to no sense of lane driving. Drivers shd be fined or licenses confiscated if they are out of line or lane. · kolkata has to learn to market its culture and itself...

To guage the new winds of change in the city do find your way to skyscrapercity.com

thank god the blocking of blogspot has been discontinued.

It is high time that Kolkata starts looking after itself after the Mumbai 7/11. with all the incidents of arms and ammunition being found in the outskirts of bengal it is better to be safe than sorry. can we have cctvs installed in Howrah, Sealdah. circular rails and metros? can public announcements be made on the platforms to report unclaimed bags or packages? can Kolkata Police be visible in and around temple sites and busy marketing areas? can the bengal citizen be more alert in reporting unclaimed bags? i think what delhi is doing should be done here too - get photo identities of users in cyber cafes. I know it seems to be a tall order. let us be aclaimed for the contributions we make in our lives rather than our spirits be hailed when we are not.

2006 has been a very bad year for democracy in india as far as freedom of expression goes. first the heavy handed way in which the students stir on the reservation issue was handled. and now this blocking access to all blogs , harmless or otherwise just becoz of a few blogs. will registering incident at cert-in(computer emergency response team- india really help?