Salt Lake Theatre held its first programme since the pandemic at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan.

“We were born in 2003, inspired by BD Block resident Pannalal Mitra of the group Souvanik. We used to hold an annual theatre festival but after the 2019 edition, we have been unable to organise any programme. This music show was a welcome activity after a long break,” said secretary Monika Mukherjee. She recalled how the recently expired Manoj Mitra had given the group its name. A minute’s silence was observed in the thespian's memory.

There was an audio drama, titled Ghatotkach Opera, and a dance drama titled Nritya Shakti. But it was the final act that the audience was waiting for. Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta took the stage with Salt Lake Theatre's own Prasenjit Chakraborty.

The Vidyasagar Abasan resident, who has recorded the entire Geetabitan, sang Joan Baez to Salma Agha. “Are you shocked to hear a Rabindrasangeet artiste sing a Hindi film song?" she asked, as the strains of Faza bhi hai jawan jawan from Agha’s debut film Nikaah melted in the air. Before the audience could respond, her co-artiste Prasenjit commented that songs were songs, irrespective of the genre, which was greeted with applause.

And when Prasenjit sang Mere naina saon bhadon from the Rajesh Khanna-starrer Mehbooba, Swagatalakshmi commented that after Kishore Kumar, no one sang the song better than him.

Turning her keyboard to harmonium mode, she started a Mehdi Hasan ghazal, Pyar bhare do sharmilee nain. "It was actually a film song first (from the film Chahat).When I was in university, I used to sing only ghazals,” she said, taking the audience by surprise. Listeners were just as surprised to soon learn that Swagatalakshmi was being able to speak after throat problems that muted her for 14 days before when she thanked her doctor. Once Prosenjit presented a zestful Musafir hoon yaron, Swagatalakshmi paid a centenary tribute to Salil Chowdhury with Nishidin nishidin.

As time ran out, there were requests for a duet recital. After expressing apprehension over the difficulty of their vocal scales matching, she presented the Kishore-Lata Mangeshkar evergreen hit Tere mere milan ki yeh raina with Prasenjeet, leaving the audience satisfied.

nMore than 150 art students contributed their works for an exhibition at CK Block last weekend. Their art school, and its driveway, were converted into a gallery where students proudly brought their parents to show their works and got a good look at the creations of others too.

“Surekha art school began in 2005 but this was the sixth year that we put up an exhibition. Both children and parents eagerly wait for it,” said founder of the school Saswati Ganguly. Most of the students come to her CK Block house for classes, where she also has other faculty teaching, and she goes over to some complexes where there are multiple students willing to learn.

Ruhani Gupta, an eight-year-old from the same block, had drawn a cute fish. “Ruhani doesn’t practise that much on her own but the classwork and homework she does itself keeps her busy and happy,” said mother Chaity. “Last year for this exhibition she had created a scene from the tortoise and hare story. It was so beautiful we have framed it and hung it up at home.”

The youngest students of the school are four and the oldest above 50 years of age. Younger students had created their works with crayons, oil pastels, water colours and pencil shading while advanced artists used acrylic, oil painting and charcoal. Sumedha Mondal, 17, had created a striking image of Kali and Sourab Adhikary, 14, a sketch of football legends Pele and Maradona. There were bold images of lions and tigers, deities, Jesus Christ and mandala art.

“I start work on this exhibition post-Durga puja," said Ganguly, who had herself contributed some portraits to the gallery. “I ask students what they want to create and discuss the work before they begin."

Some works were contributed by former students such as Aritra Sen, a college-goer of CL Block. He had made charcoal portraits, a tiger and a scene from the Forbidden Forest in Harry Potter books. “These are students who do not even live in Calcutta now. But they come on vacation to create paintings for this exhibition," said the teacher, who is also considering starting stitching and embroidery classes now.

Lata Majumder, who has learnt machine-embroidery, drew much praise for the portraits of Rabindranath Tagore and Javed Akhtar that she had contributed. “This art is difficult and there aren't many teachers for this. But there are lots who want to learn it so I may start teaching the art here soon,” said Majumder.

Residents of the FE Block celebrated the 166th birth anniversary of pioneering scientist Acharya Jagadis Chandra Bose at their community hall recently.

Goutam Gangopadhyay, a professor in the department of physics at Calcutta University and secretary of Bangyio Bigyan Parishad, delivered a talk on Bose’s life and contributions.

“After returning with a degree from the University of Cambridge, Bose wanted to be a professor and had a recommendation from Lord Ripon, the Viceroy of India, for a plum post in Calcutta. But Bose faced discrimination,” said Gangopadhyay.

“Top jobs back in the Imperial Education Service then were usually reserved for Europeans and the principal was reluctant to appoint him. He claimed that an Indian is “unfit to teach the exact method of modern science” but later appointed Bose as a grade B professor,” Gangopadhyay explained. The salary of an Indian professor was two-third that of a European, and since his appointment was in the lower grade anyway, his salary was further halved.

In protest, Bose worked without pay for the first three years at Presidency College.

Then in 1917, the scientist established the Bose Institute, serving as its director for two decades until his death. He dedicated the institute to the service of the nation. It was supported by notable figures such as Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. Sister Nivedita, in fact, had suggested the institute’s emblem of vajra.

Block president Aloke Chowdhury emphasised the importance of honouring great Indians. “Now-a-days many youngsters do not know much about our such eminent personalities so we have made it a point to celebrate their birth anniversaries throughout the year. This way the next generation will learn about their contributions that have shaped our country,” said Chowdhury.