A book launched in the city on Thursday traces the journey of a danseuse in changing the lives of hundreds of prisoners.

In Search of a Valmiki is the story of Alokananda Roy, who had started a dance and music workshop in Presidency Jail in 2007. What started as a therapy evolved into a movement, giving new direction to close to 200 prisoners, some of them once branded as “hardcore criminals”.

“This is a tale of the condition of Indian prisons and how Roy brought about a change through art and the instrument of love,” said Sujit Bhar, journalist and the author of the book.

“If you’ve wronged you have to be punished but everybody deserves a second chance. We shouldn’t treat them like animals,” Roy had told this newspaper at a programme in 2015.

Bhar met Roy on the sidelines of a programme in the city several years ago. “Her work is fascinating, nothing short of extraordinary,” he said.

Musician Tejendra Narayan Majumder and cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar were present at the launch.

A two-day congregation where the teachings of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, were relayed was held at the Bhowanipore Gurdwara to celebrate the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Guru Tegh Bahadur’s birth anniversary falls on May 1 but the celebrations have already begun. Many attended the programme where kirtans (devotional songs) were rendered; there were readings from the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred text of the Sikhs. “Teachings of Guru Tegh Bahadur, stories from his life and the story of his martyrdom were also told,” said a member of the Sikh Sangat.

Celebrations will be held across most gurdwaras on May 1. On May 8, there will be celebrations at Bagmari Gurdwara and on May 9 there will be celebrations at Burrabazar Gurdwara. “Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji’s unparalleled and supreme sacrifice to uphold the value of righteousness, truth and freedom of faith and humanity should be remembered by not only Sikhs, but by every citizen of India. He fought for human rights and sacrificed himself that is why he is referred to as Hind Di Chadar,” said Satnam Singh Ahluwalia of the charitable organisation, IHA Foundation, which organised the programme.