Ahaban, an AK Block-based school in Salt Lake for Odissi dance and classical guitar, celebrated its 10th annual day at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan .
Given it was a landmark show, the founders began by felicitating gurus from different fields such as Odissi dancer Aloka Kanungo, slide guitar exponent Pandit Debashis Bhattacharjee and Goudiya Nritya practitioner Mahua Mukherjee.
The show commenced with raga Saraswati played on the guitar by Subhodip Bose, followed by a solo performance of mangalacharan by Abhishikta Ghosh invoking goddess Saraswati and offering pushpanjali to lord Jagannath. Students also presented pieces like Batu nritya, Basant pallavi, Arbhi pallavi and Srita Kamala, a dance drama using verses from Jayadeva’s Geet Govinda, describing lord Krishna through abhinaya.
“I was so nervous! Maybe because I was performing after a long gap,” said Rai Bhattacharya, who performed in Arbhi pallavi. “The movements were so fast that I was panting.” Souradipta Dhar, a Class IX student who performed in Srita Kamala, said she found their classes fun and the teacher motherly.
Junior students presented Ganesh Vandana and Odissi rhythmic steps.
The show came to a close with the Moksha sequence of Odissi. “We enacted 10 Mahavidyas in group performance,” said Swapnali Adhya, a student of Our Lady Queen of the Missions School. “The role of Chamunda was the toughest for me and I needed much practice. But I regained confidence after the performance.”
Sriparna Bose, the dancer who runs Ahaban, said students were very excited about the stage show. “I received much support from parents too, who sent their kids to all the rehearsals. On the first day of our offline rehearsals, I treated my students to ice cream and they were all the more happy,” Bose smiled.
Bharati Kanjilal
Library turns 27
The Salt Lake BF Block Library celebrated its 28th foundation day with an evening of music, recitation and dance in the presence of children’s fiction writer Debjyoti Bhattacharya, who joined them as chief guest.
“Writing is a shelter that protects our soul from the storm that often runs wild within our minds. Writing just a few lines on paper or on your mobile phone can significantly help you in expressing something that you often hesitate to,” said Bhattacharya. “It lightens the weight that all of us carry deep inside us.”
Resident Shubhashish Mondal recited a self-composed poem on the state of the world today and music was presented by the likes of Krishna Ganguly, Sharmila Chatterjee, Joba Chakraborty and Anita Ray. Madhubanti Bandyopadhyay performed a dance item on the treatment of women in society.
The library was first proposed by the women of BF Block in 1994 and they were backed by the BF Block Residents’ Association. “Since then, we did very well till the pandemic struck and we had to stay shut for almost a year and a half,” said Roma Mukherjee, chairperson of the library. “Now the footfall isn’t as it would be earlier, but we are working on it. The feeling of holding a book in one’s hand can never be replaced by ebooks. It’s an emotion that our generation values from the bottom of its heart.”
Aranyak Mojumder
Fresh start
Sujit Bose hands over cash, sponsored by a patron, to a visually challenged inmate.
A recital on women in society at BF Block community hall
LB Block-based Workshop for the Blind celebrated Bengali new year for the first time with students, staff members, patrons and well-wishers.
The event began with Egiye chalo bhai sung in chorus, that had the students renewing their resolve to overcome all obstacles.
“I lost my vision at the age of eight and my father wanted me to stay home. But I was determined to study so I left my family, lived in hostels and completed my graduation,” said Sakina Khatun, a trainee at the workshop. “I want to be self reliant and am looking for a job now.”
Products made by the students like phenyl, incense sticks, doormats and showpieces were displayed at the centre.
Minister Sujit Bose spent some time with the students. “All co-operation shall be extended to this institute from my part,” he promised. Assistant police commissioner Santanu Koar had come to encourage the students too.
Secretary and founder-member of the workshop, Swapan Ghosal, said that the centre was the brainchild of Tulsi Narayan Chakraborty, himself a visually challenged individual who formed it in 1970. “He had wanted to help visually challenged persons, especially the women, find employment and be self-reliant,” he said. “At present, our major problem is lack of accommodation facility. Because of that, students have to commute from far-off places on a daily basis. That is both cumbersome and expensive.”
Subhasish Mishra, a patron from HB Block, gave financial aid to 19 inmates of the centre on the day and treasurer Tapas Sengupta shared their future plans. “We hope to start a computer training unit soon as well as a mushroom culture unit, in collaboration with Bidhannagar Horticulture Society. We also want to build an old age home for visually challenged persons some day,” he said.
Bharati Kanjilal
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