Eso Kichhu Kori: Time to pitch in

Eso Kichhu Kori, the NGO mentioned in my post Eso Kichhu Kori, with a dream to cohesively support underprivileged students to continue studies, gets on with job. Currently they need a) Sincere volunteers and most importantly, b) funds. They've apparently got the first in a bunch of enthusiastic youngsters. Funds is what they badly need. Garnering funds is critical now as results of Madhyamik Examination are waited and just after it a no. of students might need the support of the organisation.

Interested donors can send cheques to the following address:

ESO KICHU KORI
C/O Tilak Gupta
B-4/1, Bramhapur
Northern Park
PS- Regent Park
Kolkata 700 070

Cheques are payable to: ESO KICHU KORI.

But kindly send a mail with copies to the following email IDs before sending any contribution so that they get informed beforehand-
esokichhukori@gmail.com, datta.madhumita@gmail.com, ghosh.abira@gmail.com.

Willing people residing abroad may kindly contact their Chief Co-ordinator Dr. Rituparna Sen in the following address-

Dr Rituparna Sen
Assistant Professor
Department of Statistics
University of California at Davis
CA 95616
Ph (530) 752-7623
Email: jhumpasen@yahoo.com

Wish Eso Kichhu Kori is showered with enough funds that lets them start on immediately to fulfil their dream.

Retail fever arrives

The city saw two retail addresses throwing themselves open in the span of the last fortnight of this month. Haldiram Food City opposite CC & FC and Orchid Point between Kankurgachhi and Phoolbagan. The first raised the retail quotient of the heart of South Kolkata and the latter put North Kolkata on contemporary retail map.

A visit to Haldiram Food City on March 27, the opening day, was a pleasant experience. The five-storeyed, 80000 sq. ft. property can be called a mini food mall. The ground floor houses a Haldiram's store with extensive mithai and namkeen counters and sit-in facility, the first floor is a vegetarian food court serving North Indian, South Indian, Bengali, Chinese and continental cuisine, the second floor is a supermarket- Haldiram's first foray into daily needs retailing- and the third and fourth floors are banquets.

The sprawling, well-stocked supermarket, with promise to serve the freshest of fruits and vegetables among other things, is also the best in the area in terms of location and convenience. Among the other two present in the area, the Food bazaar atop Pantaloons Gariahat is not very inviting thanks to a small elevator and a steep staircase. And the C3 at Gariahat Mall can't boast of as good a location as Haldiram's. The roadside glass wall provides a complete view of the world outside. The fare in the food court is reasonably priced (A plate of plain dhokla costs Rs 10) and it serves combo meals across cuisines. The ground floor store and the food court combined is the expansion of the hugely successful Chowringhee branch model (Located at Exide junction). There are escalators to move between floors at ease.

While the property was under development at such a prime (May I say coveted) place, replacing an old building, it generated enough curiosity. The selection of location, hence, is bang on. Also the area merits a food court (The only other is at the top floor of Gariahat Mall, which is not as prized a location as this is). The property mix is very good and it looks set to attract healthy footfall.

Nobody can miss the giant Pantaloons store at Kankurgachhi. It looks so unusually huge, one feels like a dwarf standing in front of the fascade. As earlier mentioned in the blog, this is the largest Pantaloons store In India- all of 80000 sq. ft. The top floor, whose next attraction is a food court, hosts Food Bazaar and Depot- the book and music retail format of Future Group which owns Pantaloons. The store also houses Future Group's new electronic products retail format e-zone, which is, simply called, a heavenly experience. It has an experience zone, where you can sit relaxed and experience the products placed on the opposite wall, and a separate room for home theatre experience. This is Kolkata's first store of the group where Food Bazaar is part of the store from day one (Each of the other two Pantaloons stores added Food Bazaar atop later on). Just for record, this Food Bazaar is much bigger and spacious that its Gariahat counterpart. Also in true modern mall style, escalators replace stairs.

Kankurgachhi is the contemporary face of North Kolkata. It has a sizeable population of high-income people. Hence the location merits a store of this stature.

Watch this space for update on further inroads of retail fever which is set to rock the city in this year.

The overpowering Black Wednesday

What kept me from writing on this blog for long was the happening in Nandigram on 14 March, Wednesday that rocked Bengal and Bengalis all over the world and fellow Indians too. I could not justify any other topic for a new blog post and was struggling to find expression for the same.

It’s already a well-known fact thanks to wide coverage in local and national media. Thousands of policemen moved into Nandigram, which was isolated from the rest of Bengal by choice thereby protesting against the possibility of land acquisition by state government for industry. After early rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets they opened fire on the thousands-strong agitating armed mob. The casualties were horrible- a large no. of people died and got injured. The official figure, as expected was low- 14 people died. Unofficial figures say it was hundreds of both.

Media was prevented on the highway to Nandigram by cadres of ruling party, so that the ‘operation’ remains under wraps. The only channel that sneaked in was Kolkata TV, the Bengali news channel. Hence live footage could be seen only on this channel. As a result the channel was strangely stopped from being beamed in pockets of the state (Read local ruling party units ensuring cable operators do the needful).

What many media sources- print and electronic- have implied and confirmed that with police were CPI(M) cadres cleverly in disguise of policemen and they opened fire, beat up villagers brutally (Including children) and raped hapless women. Some bullets recovered from injured persons are not police bullets. Many people are still missing, including some who were seen injured while the firing was on. There have been reports of dead bodies thrown away at Haldi river.

This is the first of its kind in the left rule in Bengal. Not that there haven’t been instances of mass political and police killings and other excesses before (The Keshpur saga is still fresh on our minds), but everything pales before Nandigram. The only parallel I can draw is China’s Tienanmen Square in 1989. And it paints a radically different image of the chief minister (Who happens to be the home minister too, thereby directly responsible for this police operation). The CM I, and many like me, knew could not approve of such an operation. It is understood why such an operation was planned- Nandigram was a red bastion, i.e. six of the ten gram panchayats in Nandigram I (The area proposed for acquisition) belongs to CPI(M) and one to CPI. And in the wake of the ‘Save land from acquisition’ movement organised by Jamait Ulema-e-Hind and political parties especially Trinamool Congress, many left members and supporters were driven out of Nandigram. Those in control of the villages in Nandigram dug up roads and the ferry ghat was made dysfunctional, thereby isolating the area from civil administration. and police. While the lives of the left became miserable, the local CPI(M) units put pressure on their city headquarters to make way for their return to home. Meanwhile a no. of all-party meets were convened in Nandigram but they failed to reach consensus of all groups involved.

But it was indeed a high-risk task to force the desired situation with the help of police. While administrative interventions (All-party meets) failed, the government had to be more strategic and patient in using both political and administrative steps to bring back normalcy gradually. A large no. of people who died and were injured were children and women, as they were strategically put on forefront to dissuade police from firing. What, in such a scenario, prompted police to open fire, whatever have been the provocation (Stones and crude bombs were reportedly thrown to the police), is still being investigated. The initial CBI probe (Ordered by Calcutta High Court following a suo moto case immediately after the incident) has not found any evidence that substantiates it.

The government has not owned up responsibility for the whole incident and it has tried to present the incident as unavoidable. CPI(M) too hasn’t owned up the ruthless atrocities. There hasn’t been any known efforts of organising additional medical care for the injured admitted in the hospitals or declaring any compensation for the affected families. All this paints the picture of a ruling party possessing a terrible arrogance that grows out of a record thirty years in power. Such scaring arrogance is the sign of a typical communist government, like the Chinese government who ruthlessly killed students at Tienanmen Square. What the operation also suggests is that the CM can’t handle mounting pressure from his own party and take decisions that requires a matured political and administrative brain. Subsequent reports after 14 March have also shown glaring loopholes in his information network that should make him uncomfortable. He seemed to have no inkling of how heated the situation in Nadigram was.

All this has resulted in the intelligentsia of Kolkata distancing iself from the government it supported heartily. Prominent leftist theatre personalities have mass-resigned from the state drama academy and writers have mass-refused state literary awards. Celebrities, lawyers and journalists have held rallies in protest. They have voiced their frustrations and vented anger on television channels and newspapers. The general public showed their protest in a spontaneous support of the strike on March 17 called by all opposition parties.

I was numb for some time and living with restlessness for two days. What happened in a state ruled by a chief minister like Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was not in my wildest nightmares. All that I would like to say is that Nandigram left a scar that will take ages to heal, and it will change the course of land acquisition in Bengal and in India forever. It has already started in the state government’s notice that no land will be acquired in Nandigram and central govt.’s amending the land acquisition policy. It remains to be seen how many miles the CM has to tread before he restores his erstwhile legendary positive image that is badly messed up.

The changing retailscape

Kolkata retailscape is set to be hot in 2007. Big players in organised retail are being joined by small, new and local players in debuting in the city. A large no. of retail stores in the formats of neighbourhood departmental store, supermarket and hypermarket will open soon.

In December I wrote about Subhiksha's cluster plan of opening 90 stores in the city by April 2007 (Re: Organised retail scene will be hot ...). But now it seems they've postponed their plans to a later period this year. At this juncture the first star entry is going to be by Spencer's- India's first retail chain that originated in Chennai in 1863. After winning over South with Foodworld (Which has been rechristened Spencer's) and establishing itself in West, Kolkata becomes an important destination in the nationwide rollout of Spencer's, currently owned by city-based RPG group. It operates in four formats- Express (Which is your friendly neighbourhood department store, of 1200-1500 sq ft), Daily (3000-5000 sq ft), Super (Supermarket) and Hyper (Hypermarket). In March three Daily stores are opening in Bangur venue, Beliaghata and Tollygunge. Another fourteen will follow in six months in different formats. As per plan there will be three hypermarkets- in South City Mall, Mani Square (On EM Bypass) and Rashbehari Avenue. The South City Mall hypermarket is slated to be the largest Spencer's outlet in the country.

The near future will see Spencer's expanding into 35-40 Express and 25-plus Daily stores in Kolkata alone, to compliment a hub of five hypermarkets. Spencer's has promised a never-before international standard shopping experience in their hypermarkets with an amazing range of merchandise with emphasis on food products.

The other players in the fray are Khadim's Khazana, Haldiram's (Erstwhile Haldiram Bhujiawala), Emami, El Dorado and Vishal Mega Mart. Khadim's, a Kolkata-based shoe and leather products co., tasted success in their first hypermarket in Kanchrapara, a suburb and is now set to replicate it in the city. Emami, the city-based personal products and healthcare group, is already present in retail through their Starmark bookstore chain. Vishal Mega Mart, after success in other parts of India, is coming to the city which gave birth to Vishal group's first retail foray- Vishal Garments. The massive promise of the retail industry seems to be too hot to resist even by smaller business groups.

All this will redefine shopping in Kolkata which is familiar with Big Bazaar/ Food Bazaar and local players like C3, Wot Not (From Rupa group which owns the Rupa hosiery brand)) and Arambagh's (The downmarket neighbourhood department store chain from Arambagh Hatcheries who own the hugely popular Arambagh's Chicken brand) as far as organised retail is concerned. By the year end there will possibly be at least one retail store in most parts of Kolkata. In the present rush what is specially noticeable is the pace with which Spencer's will roll out, as Kolkata till now has witnessed six Big Bazaar/ Food Bazaar stores in almost as many no. of years (Arambagh's is a much longer chain but only Big Bazaar matches up to Spencer's). For information on more actions on retail in Kolkata, watch this space.

Related reading

The Telegraph story on Spencer's debut

Orkut Kolkata Meet III

The members of the community on Orkut of the same name as the heading met last Saturday at Rabindra Sadan. The headcount was poor, and poorer than the last meet, but many more would be there if work didn't come in between.

There was an eclectic mix of participants- an RJ (Shreetoma from Radio Mirchi, popularly known as Shree), an NGO guy (Dipanjan, known as Dip), three assistant directors in television (Soumya, Arin Paul and Bappa), a contractor (Anindya), an entertainment journalist (Shaoni), college students and a marketing guy (That's me) apart from the joint convener Tanmoy from Radio Mirchi. Among us was this fat and happy couple Dip and Shreyosi aka Shreya who kept us in good humour with, among other things, laughing at themselves. This quality is getting increasingly hard to find these days.

We knew each other and decided to form a small, low-profile film club. It will be just a television set, a DVD player, DVDs from members' personal collection and libraries and a place where we can sit, watch and analyse the movie. There are many who are passionate about films and a film club would be the ideal platform to express ourselves. Those wanting to be part of the club are going to join at Tanmoy's place next month for the inaugural show.

The meet was indeed a good place for me to make new friends and meet my Orkut friends (Who I scrap regularly) for the first time physically.

The FM for nostalgic Kolkatans

Post the T2 teaser campaign (Discussed in my earlier post T2: the new hip 'n' happening companion), another teaser (Mostly on outdoors) caught the attention of every Bengali music buff in the city. It mocked a forthcoming reunion of the famous characters- Nikhilesh, Moidul, Rama Roy, Sujata of Manna Dey's timeless gem Coffee House-er sei addata aaj aar nei. My gut feel told me this was going to be the keenly awaited FM channel from the ABP stable. The creative looked very much 'ABP'.

And it proved to be true when ABP launched Friends 91.9 FM on Wednesday, February 28. When the undisputed media leader of the city ABP joins the FM bandwagon, the expectations are going to be high and very different from the current leading FM stations. The radio station will be expected to deliver classy content by trained and skilled RJs (A la the news anchor team of Star Ananda, ABP's Bengali news channel- a joint venture with Star). The content will be supposed to have a good dose of Bengali golden oldies as well as popular songs from contemporary Bengali music. In short, a topline FM which Bengalis can call their own. Aamar FM promised to be something in this line, but it apparently failed to reach a respectable level of popularity that puts it at par with hot favourites Radio Mirchi and Red FM.

Friends FM's USP is touted as: It will tickle the musical bent of the nostalgic Bengali by playing the Bengali hits from the 60's and 70's besides the Hindi hits from the same era and its star anchors- the whose who of contemporary Bengali music scene- Nachiketa, Lopamudra, Anjan Dutt and Rupam (Of the leading Bangla band Fossils). While Nachiketa will be anchoring a programme of ghazals, Saumitra Chattopadhyay will join them with one on poems. The proposition stands in stark contrast of Radio Mirchi, Red FM and Big FM, the current biggies, endlessly churning out cosmopolitan content. Their RJs speak a strange mix of Bengali, Hindi and English, desperately trying to sound 'cosmo'. The radio stations collectively fail to touch the heart of the Bengali Kolkatans now in their 30s and above who miss their kind of Bengali music on private FM.

Early report from a friend- a knowledgeable music buff- tells Friends FM's Bengali music content is worth listening to.

This morning I suddenly heard a gem of a modern song on radio by Kabir Suman (Then known as Suman Chattopadhyay) from early nineties. It was Amader Jonyo, from Suman's very first album of modern songs, that shook our generation with its refreshing lyrics and music brought to life by the gifted voice of Suman, called Sumaner Gaan. The song was being aired by, no prizes for guessing, Friends FM. Unlike other FM stations they aired the entire song, typical of the old days of radio. It made my morning.

Given the marketing clout of the formidable ABP, it is sure going to give a run for money to the competition.

Beginning of change

North Kolkata is the poor cousin of its South or Central counterparts while it comes to modern lifestyle. It still doesn't have a shopping mall, a multiplex, a new age restaurant/ bar. It got its first food court (A downmarket one though) incl. its first coffee shop a few weeks back at Star Theatre. It has so far been sporting its traditional, conservative image though wings of change have touched (If not swept) its new generations on a mental context for sure. Affordability cannot be an issue as North Kolkata has pockets of affluent North Indian population (Eg. Burra Bazar, Girish Park, CR Avenue, Kankurgachhi)

But I spotted an early sign of a beginning of change as Vibes slimming and beauty centre opened its new branch right at Girish Park this month. Not that North didn't have something of its kind before. In fact the VLCC branch at Phoolbagan is old. Vibes too has a centre there. But Phoolbagan is a little more evolved that the rest as it is near Kankurgachhi which is the younger and the most modern part of North with a sizeable North Indian community. The Vibes centre actually recognizes the potential of North that has remained largely untapped so far. The chic, colourful interiors make a contemporary and inviting ambience. I foresee this centre receiving a warm response and write the script of a beginning of change that will sweep parts of North in a few years. The retail chains that are betting big on the city surely recognizes this fact and must have placed North prominently in their expansion/ rollout roadmap. Besides the Vibes centre, the other things that will take this journey forward is the under-construction shopping mall near Kakurgachhi (Opp. VIP Market), which will house India's largest Pantaloons store, and the Spencer's Daily outlet coming up at Beleghata (Near Alochhaya movie theatre) in March.

Bollywood Via Darjeeling

Once upon a time this side of India was the Hindi film capital of the nation. Bimal Roy has made many a memorable film out of Tollygunge, Kolkata. Luminaries in filmmaking and music (Like KL Saigal) were based here and did legendary work. Those were the days.

It is of common knowledge the kind of creative bankruptcy today's Tollygunge is suffering. Rituparno Ghosh's films certainly do not represent today's Tollygunge fare. Yet a dash of the old days has suddenly become visible. Moxie Entertainments- the new Kolkata-based production house- is making not one but two Hindi films out of Kolkata. The first, Via Darjeeling, an 'unconventional suspense drama', being directed by one of the finest creative minds of Bengal- Arindam Nandy (Creative Head of Response, a boutique ad agency) is under production and the second, called BBD, being directed by actor-director-singer Anjan Dutt will go on floors in March.

Not that there is no precedence to this. Rituparno filmed his first Hindi project Raincoat entirely in Kolkata with topline stars Ajay Devgun and Aishwarya Rai.

As head of Moxie Joy Ganguly (Who happens to be the son of corporate honcho Satyabrata Ganguly, the CEO of Exide) puts it " Moxie is committed to producing films crafted by a new generation of directors, writers and technicians working in India & produce nationally appealing cinema from Bengal."

Quite an ambition as it may sound but is in fact a practicable proposition. Why not Hindi cinema from Bengal? We have talented technicians, decent studios albeit in a small no., charming outdoor locations in Kolkata (Remember Yuva?) and Bengal, top class post-production set-up, even quality processing facility (Adlabs has just set foot in the city with its post-production set-up and processing lab). Well, budgets may be a fraction of Bollywood biggies, but a big budget is not an essential ingredient of a good and classy film. Rituparno is known to work on modest budgets. Yes, the local productions may not afford big Bollywood stars, but again films don't need big stars to strike a chord with audience. Also, who can say? Whoever thought Aishwarya Rai would come down to Kolkata to shoot a Bengali film without charging her regular fees?

Via Darjeeling has an eclectic cast comprising Kay Kay Menon, Sonali Kulkarni, Parveen Dabas, Simone Singh, Rajat Kapoor, Sandhya Mridul, Vinay Pathak and Prroshant Narayanan (Pic: Sonali Kulkarni, Parveen Dabas and Kay Kay Menon at the shoot at Oxford Bookstore, Darjeeling). As evident, there are no so-called stars among them but most are known for their good work in character roles in Hindi cinema. After a shoot in almost freezing Kalimpong (A small hill station between Siliguri and Gangtok) and Darjeeling, with KK Menon, Sonali and Parveen, the unit came back to Kolkata and was joined by Sandhya, Rajat, Vinay, Simone and Prroshant. Rajat is playing an intellectual Bengali scribe, Ronodip. It is possibly his second Bengali character after the one he played in the yet-to-release Bengali film Anuranan (Starring Rahul Bose, Rituparna Sengupta and Raima Sen). The actors apparently had a ball in the city. As T2 (The Telegraph) reported, Sandhya (Looking hotter than ever as her character in dark dresses) was relishing her gastronomic journey with Bengali delicacies alu posto and shorshe diye machher jhol (Fish curry with mustard sauce) and was keen to check out jhal muri and phuchka (Local hot favourites in snacks).

Coming to the content, the film is based on an age-old Bengali tradition of 'adda', where friends get together in the rains and exchange stories and gossip, over drinks and dinner. Kolkata and Darjeeling, as locations, are intrinsic to this film. The film will showcase the haunting beauty of Darjeeling, a hill station of West Bengal, situated 2134 meters above sea level and one of India's most famous hill resorts. The mystique of the hills, mist and heritage architecture will evoke an eeriness that a city in the plains can never achieve. Darjeeling is also surrounded by other very picturesque locations like Ghoom, Kurseong and Oolong apart from Kalimpong and offers ample scope to shoot in and around these live locations that will add to the ambience of the film. To lend a realistic touch to the feel of the film the background score incorporates the ambient sounds of a North East Indian hill station like tolling bells, Buddhist chants etc.

The Mumbai actors let their hair down in the big blast hosted by the producer at Roxy at The Park on the night of Sunday, 11 February. It also saw the announcement of BBD which has Naseeruddin Shah, KK Menon, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jackie Shroff, Sandhya Mridul and Kolkata's very own Rituparna Sengupta in the cast.

Here's wishing Moxie all the best in its journey.

Eso Kichhu Kori

Last year's medical topper of the state was the son of a cha-wala (Tea stall owner). There have been numerous examples of such bright students from poor families.Once in a while news of meritorious students finding it hard to keep going in higher academic pursuits due to pressing poverty comes out in papers. And sometimes follow-up news would report how some angel of a person called up the newspaper office to take up the cost of the student's further studies.

It's not a difficult guess that such students known to us are just the tip of the iceberg. The rest goes unnoticed and drop out from studies down the way.

What would happen if some sensitive people got together and raise funds to ensure such poor but meritorious students don't find lack of money to come between them and higher studies? With such an idea a forum was floated on Orkut by Madhumita Dutta, a leading Kolkata-based journalist. The overwhelming response lead to forming Eso Kichhu Kori (Means 'Lets do something')- a social organisation to champion the above cause. Among those who came were Dr. Asim Gupta, retired Chief Engineer, Abira Ghosh,social worker, Tilak Gupta, Tirthankar Ghosh (Software professionals), Sreya Sen, lecturer, Biplab Sarkar, journalist, Subhrangshu Chakraborty, Chartered Accountant, Rituparna Sen, management executive, apart from Madhumita. They form the current governing body of Eso Kichhu Kori (Lets call it EKK as it is popularly known). The USP of EKK is it aims total sponsorship of the students identified for support on a merit-cum-need basis, unlike a one-time institutional support of a few thousands.

After a few meetings it was finally registered as a body on 15th February 2007. Meanwhile the community of the same name, which had set the ball rolling in Orkut, has flourished and like-minded people from various parts of world has assured to chip in with regular donations. EKK will shortly get into action to the next steps i.e. raising funds and identifying students.

Watch this space for more actions in EKK. Meanwhile anybody interested to get in touch with them can send a mail to esokichhukori@gmail.com.

Star.....finally in the right hands

While the last civic board led by Trinamool Congress (TMC) took over the closed Star Theatre (At Hatibagan, the heart of North Kolkata), a showcase landmark of old Kolkata, revamped with a massive outlay and re-inaugurated it amidst fanfare, the culture-conscious Kolkatans raised a toast. It was a pet project and proud achievement of Subrata Mukherjee, the then mayor. The curtains were up again and plays started being staged, thereby giving one reasonable hope that if not the golden days that were some decades back, at least happy days will be back again at Star Theatre. A board with eminent theatre personalities was formed to oversee the affairs.

Alas, soon people woke up to the reality that the going won't be that smooth. Among other things its acoustics was found to be below par, to the point that a play/ stage show at Star was largely avoidable by professionals who gave a thought about quality. I remember Sudipta Chakraborty, the well-known TV, film and theatre actress going on record in a Bengali newspaper expressing her dissatisfaction on the acoustics. But most importantly the TMC board seemed in no mood to care how such a large property was going to be run without digging holes in it's pocket every month. Such a large heritage property needed a large sum of money to remain operational and be decently maintained. The main source of revenue was the rent paid by theatre groups to stage plays. And as the reality is, the theatre audience is already an endangered specie in this city. Indeed, running a property like Star Theatre self-sufficiently based on just a single revenue source as weak as that made little sense. As a consequence the TMC board kept on meeting the huge running expenses while the place dried up with plays and stage shows. Altogether- a losing proposition.

After the left front led new civic board came in mid-2005, one of the steps the new mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya took was to find out non-development areas where Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was spending huge sums on maintenance. Star Theatre came on radar and a roadmap for its future, that saves unproductive expenses and at the same time keep Star Theatre going in a feasible way started being worked on.

Last year KMC decided to get into a joint venture with a private company to run the property as it obviously lacked the business acumen to do the needful. The criteria for the private party was that it has to have proven experience in running auditorium/ similar properties. Post a bidding process Kolkata based Priya Entertainment owned by Arijit Dutta was selected. Arijit, who besides a well-run film distribution business owns a no. of movie theatres in Bengal incl. the popular Priya in South Kolkata and Globe in North Kolkata, looked a good choice. Even none of the celebrities in the cultural circuit of the city who frowned at KMC for handing over Star Theatre's operations to a private party had anything to say against Arijit.

Priya Entertainment had prepared a strategy which spelt a multiple-use of the property, including renting out commercial space for food, art exhibition, book launch etc and most importantly turn the auditorium into a place where regular film screening can go hand in hand with occasional plays. While 'Turning a prestige auditorium like Star' drew flak from celebrities and TMC, who staged a protest in front of it the day it was re-inaugurated after a restructure over a couple of months, the reality was clear. Running such a place profitably demands certain contemporary changes. Arijit maintained, he didn't have any plan to stop theatre, but film screening is a necessity from a business point of view. Strangely, as Anandabazar Patrika pointed out, film screening had a history in Star Theatre, and wasn't something 'radically' new being attempted.

Currently Star is running films regularly and has emerged at the best movie destination in North Kolkata. My own experience supports this view. A couple of months back it started a rooftop food court with a range from coffee shop to momo to Chinese and Mughlai cuisine to fast food (Rolls, fries). The idea was to create a hangout zone for the local youth, which this side of the city was lacking so far. For the record it is the first food court in proper North Kolkata. The forthcoming attractions are an art gallery, an indoor cafeteria, an AC banquet, an open-air theatre and a branch of Bhajahari Manna, the popular Bengali cuisine restaurant with two branches in South Kolkata. There are plans to organise various shows on rooftop to energise the food court crowd.

Arijit indeed has a mature and contemporary vision and he knows how to execute it. Looks like finally Star Theatre is on way to its lost days of glory. Here's wishing it all the best in the journey.

Shocking.......or more?

This is my 50th post and I never wanted it to be on an issue for which even 'shocking' looks weak as a word to describe. But my conscience forces me not to write on anything else since I came across the incident described below just a while back.

Elaan- a city-based youth group in existence since 2004 (Soon to be registered as an NGO) works in the field of combating child sexual abuse. Pranaadhika, it's founder, shared a current case as put below.

A bubbly, intelligent and eloquent 14-year-old schoolgirl is experiencing rape and isolation everyday for the last three years at the hands of her own father. She comes back from school every afternoon to go through abuse which turns rape every night. She has no one to turn to. Disclosure of the trauma to her mother yielded denial and no support.

Both of her parents are working and the father is in the legal profession. She wants the abuse to stop. Her parents are strict. They do not allow her to play, socialize with friends or "hang out" anytime. For them, education is priority.

As Elaan invited solutions to tackle the case on an Orkut forum in the community named after this group yesterday, thoughts from readers ranging from pure emotional outburst to rational solution to analysis of various pros and cons of moving to put a stop to this incident started pouring in thick and fast.

After a lot of quick deliberation in order to tackle the case sensitively and skilfully, Elaan is moving with a gameplan. It will aim somehow taking the girl away from her parents, listen to her voice and take her opinion before a possible legal step (Perhaps experience has taught the girl to speak her mind, despite being a minor). Because not only a court case might take years to end, it will have serious repercussions for the girl no matter the case against her father is won or lost. Also the culprit being a lawyer the case is not going to be easy. After all the man has got three years to make his case in anticipation of something going wrong someday and as a result he is required to defend himself.

According to Elaan, child incest is the highest in Kolkata. If that is represented by the experience of this hapless girl, needless to say it indeed is a very, very disturbing phenomenon. It leaves a sane mind disoriented. I am not sure if anybody can have a well-thought, comprehensive solution to fight this evil.

Anybody interested to find out more about Elaan, shoot a mail to elaanspeak@yahoo.co.in. Wish it success in its pursuits.

Khichuri on the street

Came across a signt that demanded a second and curious glance as I walked towards the Reliance mobile outlet today to pay my mobile bill on the busy Camac Street sidewalk dotted with food vendors. A man was busy having khichuri (Khichdi) and begun bhaja (Fried eggplant) with roasted papad served by a food vendor.

With this, Bengali street food comes more or less a full circle. So far rice-dal-curries-fish curry was available for low-income group with numerous street vendors. Office staff venturing out during lunch break and field executives would have their fill of roti and curries (Chicken and mutton apart from fish in non-veg offerings). The only gap was khichuri. In a highly competitive Kolkata street food market someone must have thought out of the box and attempted to pamper the taste buds of the foodie Bengali with this extremely popular and easy-to-prepare combo in Bengali households- khichuri-begun bhaja. An important element of Bengali food culture, a large no. of Bengalis that include this blogger love it so much that they can have it as luch/ dinner any day. And all those who swear by their khichuri know that it is irresistible in a rainy afternoon/ evening. In the monsoon khichuri finds its hottest partner- ilish machh bhaja (Fried hilsa). Apart from begun bhaja, khichuri goes well with beguni (Another version of fried eggplant, where it is covered with besan), alur chop (Potato fried with besan covering), piyaji (Onion fried with besan covering) and omlette.

Hope I will come some of the above combos in the coming days in the ever-evolving street food scenario of this food-lovers' city.

T2: the new hip 'n' happening companion

What is T2? A chillout zone, pub, shopping mall, gym or something else? This question was asked in a teaser campaign spanning print to outdoors in January this year. Nobody possibly guessed the answer because this city has not seen something like that being launched with such a hype.

Launched on February 2, T2 is The Telegraph's new tabloid supplement. Just for record, it comes in a tabloid size (Like Mid Day) and hence is easy to handle even in a moderately crowded bus. So far whenever I've gone to Mumbai I've checked out Mid Day and of late Mumbai Mirror. All this while I've been really missing a quality tabloid in similar lines in Kolkata. Calcutta Times has had a tabloid feel but their lifestyle reporting, thanks to the Medianet policy of The Times Group is nothing less than pathetic. T2 captures content in lifestyle, cinema, TV, fitness and other entertainment happenings. It has borrowed the last four pages of Telegraph's daily city supplement Metro, limiting it to just consolidated city news. The welcome additions are a lead story everyday and lots of expert columns in fitness, grooming, dressing, decor, travel etc. The columns are being taken care of by well-known experts. Like Achala Sachdev has been assigned the grooming column, while the expert wildlife photographer and famous actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty handles travel. It also has an interactive element, like in the fitness section readers are sharing their weight loss success stories. The cinema section has been divided into Tollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood, full with more spiced up content.

It has also incorporated 'etc', the Friday entertainment supplement in itself. The reviews are more informative now, with ratings on acting, story, direction, music and technique. The regular and extremely knowledgeable film journalist Pratim D Gupta has started on film reviews and as expected is doing a good job of it.

The Telegraph readers are surely feeling blessed. Such a thing could come from The Telegraph only, who besides being the largest-selling newspaper putting others way behind, is known as a thought leader too.

The healthy addiction

Last month the brand team I am a part of in my company started this unique contest. Named Fit-test, it was about a team's achieving fitness goals (Basically weight loss and achieving ideal body fat percentage) over a span of three months. As a support, everybody was provided with a gym kit that included a diet diary, t-shirt, wristband, hand towel and a sling bag. The team was assigned a dietician. First a group of employees (Managers and officers in Sales, operations and marketing) was chosen and a lipid profile test for them was done. One or more teams represented each region. The team that achieves the fitness targets fully and in the best manner wins.

Post the first consultation by the dietician, everybody was ready with their fitness goals i.e. this many kilos to lose and body fat percentage needs to be brought down to this level. Managers showed more interest. What followed is, others in my office got envious of us as they were not chosen. But nevertheless as the fitness figures (Current weight, BMI etc), goals, the diet and fitness advice came about in discussions in the office, some of the other managers, who were out of shape in varying degrees got interested and switched to healthy diet to lose weight on their own.

Two persons showed appreciable results. One in the team, the other out of it. The sales officer in the team was short, obese and carried a large paunch for years. There was no self motivation to lose some weight till this happened. The spirit of the team, especially the managers' leading the show by example and the team leader's (Top boss) enquiring about others, did the trick. He has lost six kgs in the first month and looks in visibly better shape. He is hungry for more and want to get enrolled in a gym (Some issues kept everybody out of a gym membership) on his own.

The manager out of the team had similar physical features. He also hardly cared for losing weight all these years. The contest did the trick. As he was out of the team he didn't get any support. But he started on a healthy diet. His lunch orders these days are without fried foods and he started on fruits in the afternoon. In a month results started showing. His paunch looks smaller though there is much more to achieve.

What works best in fitness is self-motivation and initial results. As one gets fitter he/ she starts feeling better too. There is more confidence in the body language and one feels 'comfortable' about his/ her body. This makes one do better in the fitness journey. If the initial weight loss leads to compliments from friends, peers and family it works all the more (As in the case of these two people). The flattering feedback that they are looking in better shape and are doing well in their endeavour has given them another 'push' to stay focussed.

Unhealthy life is addictive. The temptation of fast food, mouthwatering delicacies that are not always healthy, comfort like car/ two-wheeler, elevator are not easy to get out of when one badly needs to get fit. I keep reading of peer pressure that motivates one to lose weight and stay focussed in pursuing the fitness goal. But experienced it for the first time. Healthy life can be addictive too!

Starmark makes a mark

Towards the end of last year Tata Trent acquired the popular Landmark chain (Books-stationery-gifts-music) from the south-based co. owning the chain. In Kolkata the only Landmark store in Emami Shoppers' City at Lord Sinha Rd was a joint venture (JV) between city-based personal and healthcare products major Emami group and Landmark known as Emami Landmark Store Pvt Ltd. Emami, not interested in selling their stake to Tatas in the store which was doing very well, bought over Landmark's 50% stake to turn the store into their wholly owned business. The store has been rechristened Emami Retail Pvt Ltd (ERPL) and the store nameplate has changed to Starmark. The 20000 sqft Starmark store thus became the flagship store of ERPL's forthcoming Starmark chain whose next stores at City Centre and South City Mall were announced on the face of Tata Trent's disclosure of Landmark's re-entry in Kolkata in near future.

The second Starmark store has just come up in City Centre, Salt Lake (Opposite Apollo Clinic). I had a walkthrough in the store this week. The design is strikingly different from the erstwhile Landmark store in Kolkata. It's dimly lit, has wood-coloured racks and matching floor tiles. The look is rich and elegant in this smaller store. It's old world charm is unmistakable. I feel the legendary book lovers of this city would love to spend time in the store. A definite value addition to the residential area of Salt Lake. I had seen Gautam Jatia, CEO, Starmark, personally supervising the store's decor a few days before it's debut. With Crossword in an expansion mode (2nd store opened in Sector V, Salt Lake's business district ), Landmark's sure going to meet tough competition.

Tax and taxi

A short post to tickle your funny bone, for a change. The only hitch: This is best enjoyed by Bengalis.

A manager at my office is known for his funny, witty one-liners. Today he commented at a young ex-colleague that he should pay service tax for enjoying cosy moments with his girlfriend at city parks. I asked him (Manager) whether tomorrow being Valentine's Day the tax should be exempted. He answered in Bengali: Tax lagbe na, tobe tax-i lagbe (Tax will be exempted but taxi will be high in demand), forseeing demand for taxis shooting up for one day courtesy young lovers.

A phuchka reckoner

Phuchka is a Kolkata speciality and is one of the leading snacks of the city. It is available in other parts of India in other forms and names (Golgappa, pani puri, gup chup), but honestly nothing beats the Kolkata variant. Even Indians from other parts of India vouch for it.

In Mumbai for example it is known as golgappa and the filling is that of matar (A preparation of peas), and the water is also sweetish. Here in Kolkata the filling is of mashed potato, chana (chickpea), mint leaves (Optional), cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt, black salt and tamarind mixed water. It is served after dipping in tamarind water. The taste is......well..... heavenly.

In my experience of eating phuchka in various parts of the city for years I differentiate them in my own way. There are two kinds for me- Phuchka with tamarind water mixed with a good dose of cumin powder or without it. The taste obviously varies between the two varieties. The predominant flavour of the former is cumin and of the latter is tamarind. I prefer the latter. The latter may come as mixed with a scented variety of lemon (Gandharaj lebu to Bengalis) and that adds to the taste. The former, I've observed, is a hit with non-Bengalis.

The quality of phuchka depends on a host of characteristics the following factors. Some of them are:

1. The crispiness of the phuchka (The ball made of flour/ atta).

2. The cooking medium used to fry the phuchka. I can't quite point out which is the preferred one, but the bottomline is that a good phuchka doesn't smell of oil.

3. The size of the phuchka. A true phuchka lover likes it medium to large but not small. Often the size determines which phuchkawala (Phuchka vendor) to go to.

4. The filling must be mixed well with all the ingredients. Since a phuchkawala does the mixing several times a day, a phuchka lover must keep a close eye if it is mixed the right way in front of his/ her eyes. If it has been mixed before he/ she came, it can be customized after the first piece is tasted.

5. The water must be neither too thick nor too light. Either of them can spoil the experience. It essentially means the concentration of mashed ripe tamarind in the water should be right.

Bengali serials raising the bar

The 8.30 pm weekday slot on Zee Bangla seems to belong to serials that raise the bar. It last aired Tamasarekha directed by Arghya Kamal Mitra. On a socio-political backdrop and a bold note it was one of the best Bengali serials to date for several reasons- brilliant casting, dialogues and cinematography.

The current offering is Chorabali- a serial, quite unbelievably by standards of Bengali serials, set in Rajasthan besides Kolkata. It is directed by Kaushik Ganguly, a name to reckon with in Bengali television, who is playing one of the roles with a negative shade. Kaushik took the unit for a gruelling shoot in Rajasthan last summer. They even shot (Without any special preparation) amidst desert storm. Back to Kolkata, Rajasthan was recreated in a studio with amazing credibility. Real props were brought in to create the right look. Another interesting thing about the production is that Rajasthani characters are being majorly played by non-Bengali actors based in Kolkata or by actors who are comfortable with Hindi and can sound credible.

Kudos to Zee Bangla for bringing such quality work to Bengali television which has been witnessing a quality crunch for some years now. Zee Bangla's serials, though, can't ever be accused of shoddy production value. Looking forward to more good productions in near future which include Bishprantar , Mitra's next.

A pathbreaking invention

Kolkata Newsline, Indian Express dated February 5 has reported that Jadavpur University (JU in common parlance) has invented a stove that runs on plant oil- like jatropha (The next biodiesel), castor, neem, cotton and karanja.

According to Prof. PK Bose, project head, rural households depending on kerosene for lighting and cooking can find it useful. Called SVOs (Straight vegetable oil) in technical jargon, these oils do not require blending with kerosene. There is 'Complete combustion' with SVOs, that means they are far less polluting that other fuels.

JU is known for its projects that bring a positive change to society and this invention is another landmark in the journey.

A patent has been applied for and the product is expected to hit the market in 3-4 months at prices at par with standard stoves.

Given the scarcity of kerosene in Kolkata, many low-income households cooking with it will find the stove a bliss, provided the fuel cost is equal to or lower than kerosene and it is made easily available.

The changing Park Street

Took a walk along Park Street long after, in last week. The new KFC outlet was the brightest and the most eye-catching entity. It is the second and largest KFC outlet in the city.

What struck me this time was, old restaurants (Incl. Flury's) are shrugging off their conservative image and learning the trick of new age food marketing- visibility. For example KFC has a complete glass frontage which enables someone not familiar with it form an idea by just taking a curious look from outside. Old restaurants at Park Street always sported a classy look of wooden frontage or heavy curtains covering the glass part at entrance which gave them a closed look. People new to them would have thoughts like-what is the inside like, how wise it is for me to step in etc. To my delight this time I saw these places having the frontage glass open. They seem to be inviting the passers-by for taking a look. This phenomenon surely does wonders to the business as it becomes approachable to more and more customers leading to more trials. Some of the old ones I saw were Kwality, Moulin Rouge, Mocambo and Flury's. Needless to say the newer entrants like Marco Polo in China and Tong Fung sport an open-style frontage.

The green triumph

Finally.....the landmark decision. Calcutta High Court pronounced the most eagerly awaited verdict of the city on Monday January 29. Kolkata Book Fair, the last fair among all still being held on Kolkata Maidan after its counterparts moved to other destinations after the Calcutta High Court's earlier judgement banning fairs on Maidan on ground of environmental damage, can no more be held on Maidan. This means this year's fair to be started at end of January is out.

Kudos to Subhas Dutta, the forever fighting environmentalist whose PIL in 2002 started it all. It's only because of his efforts that the court took notice of immense and irreversible environmental degradation of Maidan caused by fairs, especially Kolkata Book Fair which witnesses footfall of quite a few lakhs every year. Due credit goes to the lawyers who fought the case- Kalyan Bandopadhyay and Arunava Ghosh and the environment-conscious judge Bhaskar Bhattacharya who refuted many arguments of the lawyers of PCB and KMC on his own. I also personally thank them on behalf of the kids living in the city for paving the path of their living in a cleaner and greener city of tomorrow.

But the reaction from the writers, one of the important stakeholder groups of the book fair, were anything but charitable. They almost rubbished the verdict by terming it sheer nonsense. For them it was clear that emotion was overriding logic. But mustn't they be restrained in their expression as we look up to them and they have a definite, responsible social role to play? I remember watching Azizul Haque saying on a news channel"...in order to protect people from air pollution High Court caused brain pollution."

City's favourite places

Here is a look at the top 20 favourite places of Kolkatans as revealed by a poll in an Orkut community:

1. Outram Ghat
2. College Street
3. Nandan complex
4. Park Street (Especially pre-office hours and evening)
5. Maidan (Especially early morning)
6. Riverside (In the morning)
7. Swabhumi
8. Gol Park
9. Dakshinapan
10. Gariahat
11. City Centre
12. Millennium Park
13. Princep Ghat
14. Coffee House (College St.)
15. Dhakuria Lake
16. Tala Park
17. New Market
18. Eden Gardens
19. Jadavpur University
20. St. Xaviers College

The list is not in order of no. of votes the places has received, Park Street wins hands down, with more than 11 out of close to 70 votes. Second position is shared with each place getting not even half the votes Park Street got.

This is just a casual listing. Not much to be read into it. Without getting into the question of positions, I myself can vouch for the fact that all these are the places where Kolkatans love to hang out.

Some members refused to list one favourite place, as that seemed apparently impossible. They listed different places to suit different moods and needs. But lets keep more of that insight for the future.

I value readers' remarks. I am eagerly looking forward to that in the comments section and the guestbook at right.

The day of the goddess of learning

The goddess of learning descended yesterday. The day is known to Bengalis as Saraswati Puja, after the name of the goddess who is worshipped on the day. The puja is performed in households, 'para's (In localities by local kids) and schools.

Valentine's Day may not be too old in Kolkata in terms of celebration. So far I remember it was popularised by Archie's and other greeting card majors in early nineties. Before that the day was not well-known. But Bengalis always had their own Valentine's Day and that was Saraswati Puja. This is the day for which many love-struck youngsters in school and college wait for months. Many of them finally succeed in expressing themselves to their loved ones- verbally or by letter, while others fail to make it for lack of confidence or other reasons. This is the day where parents give their children a free hand to spend. They are allowed to go to their school and elsewhere with their friends. Hindu schools and colleges perform the puja. Young couples (Many in their school) spend the day in gay abandon in parks, streets, theatres and other places.

The other attractions of Saraswati Puja include-

a. For children- Getting rid of studies for a full day. Even the strict parents let their children go for this one day. In all the households where this puja is performed, books are kept in front of the idol of the goddess to collect her blessings.

b. For all- Two special preparations in prasad- dadhi karma and khichudi bhog. The first is made by mixing mainly dahi (Curd), banana and rice. Some love it so much, they end up asking for a second helping though it is not generally meant for that. Khichudi bhog is the quintessential khichdi or Bengali khichudi which for strange reasons acquire a taste out of the world on this day. It is served in the puja venues post the puja, though some households do away with this custom and distribute only basic prasad of assorted fruits, dadhi karma and sweets.

c. Yellow sarees- The dress code for girls on this day. The cotton sarees wonderfully change the hue and feel of the environment. Girls who wear sarees only occasionally never miss out on it this day.

d. Hatay Khodi- The ritual of learning writing for small kids. Many of the kids are dressed traditionally and are taken to a convenient puja venue where the purohit (Worshipper) does the needful by hand-holding them to write Bengali alphabet. My two-year-and-two-months-old daughter experienced it this time. Her mother indulgently dressed her up in a kids' saree and we performed the ritual at an old household temple known as Chandibari in Chandibari Street near Sahitya Parishad Street in North Kolkata. My daughter enjoyed every moment of it and uttered every letter as guided by the old and trusted purohit. She loved the saree so much that refused to wear anything else for the rest of the day.

At this age of marketing, companies organise contests for Best Puja in schools in order to promote their brands on this popular platform of puja. Parle Saraswati Bandana is perhaps the oldest running contest in schools. Students work hard on their respective school's puja (Often working overnight before the puja day) to win prizes. In Parle's contest the winning schools are honoured in a special event with cultural extravaganza, telecast and print coverage. This puts a special honour and creates a covetability to these contests.

One change I witnessed in the various para pujas this year is that the budget is shooting up in idols. The idols are strikingly bigger. The one I saw in Brindaban Bose Lane in North Kolkata was giant. Also, as shown in Bengali television, pandals are turning 'readymade' for lack of time to devote for today's studious kids. Both are indeed significant changes. Perhaps it's the influence of the current age in which everything from a TV show to a Durga Puja pandal to a shop inauguration is trying to get bigger and better.

A different life

Yesterday I went to a place called Ghuni, a place in the countryside in the interiors of Baguiati. The occasion was a family picnic at a relative's friend's place. Soaked in pure nature to the heart's content.

In a short time, on a walk around, discovered that the place is just on the other side of a canal bordering New Town, Kokata's showcase township in-the-making. Got curious by looking at some large plots guarded by boundary walls and heard from a local farmer that they all are bought by builders. A startling fact came out. Before New Town happened, the land was sold at Rs 500-600 a cottah. And now the rate has gone up to Rs 300000 a cottah. Many builders have bought land for future development by offering such astronomical amount. Here I pointed out that local people must be happy having been able to make a killing by selling land that barely fetches enough crop to sustain a family, but the guy didn't share the consequence happily. He said while some have started business or put the big money to good use, many have misused it to enjoy the luxuries of life and are now left with paltry sums, ruing their luck.

Its common sense that an illiterate farmer can't handle big money out of a windfall. But where it struck me was that the opposition party of Bengal, Trinamool Congress, is against any kind of industry on farmland. According to them nothing can be a better substitute to farming even at this age of diminishing income from farming. And they provoke the farmers to guard their land against the state government's industrialization drive that requires large tracts of framland. But what do they have to say about such cases where farmers are tempted to sell their lands, and then on one hand don't find a suitable profession or business to keep themselves going and on the other hand blow up the money? Do they feel like standing by these hapless farmers and help them find a way of living? It's indeed in the best interest of everyone that the state government acquired the framland at Singur for the Tata Motors plant and took care of rehabilitating willing landlosers by providing them vocational training in collaboration with social organizations for their indirect employment in the project in arrangement with Tata Motors. Now, instead of this if industrialists start buying land directly from farmers, lots and lots of such cases will happen, as it happened in Ghuni.

The place has an interesting dichotomy, while their are people to buy Maggi noodles (Smaller, Rs 5 packs were hanging in chains in a retail shop) and a variety fruits, the place doesn't even have a bus route. Auto rickshaw and a few rickshaws were the only transport. The autos carry 7-8 passengers on an average. We were in a big group and had to rush to the nearest busstand so that we don't miss the last bus. And eight of us had to board a single auto. I had to sit at the front on one side to accomodate the ladies at the back and my hip joint started paining so much during the journey that I had to stand up somehow. One main reason for this apart from the sitting discomfort was extremely poor road condition. The road was simply not motorable. The driver revealed, when an auto breaks down midway, another auto passing by carrying a full load of passengers accomodate all the passengers in the other auto. And nobody will belive but the fact according to him is that sometimes this takes the passenger count to 18. I have no idea how that is possible and even if somehow possible, how safe that is on that kind of a road. Its scaring even thinking of the kind of life people back there live.

The new street food

Momo seems to be the new happening street food these days. This Tibetan snack is invading Kolkata gradually. Every other day I find a new momo vendor on Kolkata streets. On Exide junction I spotted no less than three vendors today. The one just beside Exide office is the most popular.

The prices are dart cheap. Generally four pieces come at Rs 10. The only hitch is quality. Well, how much of quality is possible at that price is another question. Hence it may not exactly be favoured by real momo lovers but does make for a healthy, cheap snack- four steaming momos and a bowl of clear chicken soup. Especially good in cold weather. Its a big hit with school students and collegegoers.

For vendors too, it makes a lot of business sense. Selling momos require small place and not much of a capital, and cooking it is possible on a small part of a tabletop as all you need is the steaming appliance.

Momo was pioneered in Kolkata by some Tibetan families at Suburban Hospital Road, a place near Exide. Still the best momo joints are there- Orchid, Momo Plaza, the low-profile Hamro Momo. When many people in my age group were introduced to this delicacy at that place, it wasn't available on streets. I first sampled it in 1997. Real momo lovers swear by this place still now. My personal favourite is pork steamed momo at Hamro Momo, as the price is reasonable it being a no-frills place and the taste is great.

Brand Sourav

Ten minutes, 16.5 lakh rupees.

That's what was an auction of twelve cricket bats fetched yesterday. Bats used by the poster boy of Bengal cricket- Sourav Ganguly.

The event was held in an urgent aid of 19-year-old Raj Goswami from Siliguri, North Bengal, who needs an immediate liver transplant. His parents can't afford the estimated cost of nearly Rs 25 lakh. When the request to help reached Sourav he wasted no time. In the event he signed one bat after another and the cheering crowd lapped them up.

The last ten months were painful for him. His endorsement kitty absolutely dried up. Only exception was local player Priya that got him endorsing their new potato chips brand. And then he was seen in the Pepsi commercial which made his supporters bleed in mind. The most successful Indian captain said " Main Sourav Ganguly, bhule to nahin?". It must have been hard for him to appear on the ad, but being a truly spirited cricketer, he did it to cheer for Indian team.

Now after making one of the grandest comebacks in the history of cricket, the corporates are queuing up again at his doorstep. But that is not the truest sign of the power of Brand Sourav. It is a business phenomenon and happens to every successful cricketer. Something that perfectly embodies the power of the brand is an event like the one mentioned above.

Jadubabu's Bazar makes way for modern retail

Just now came to know in the office that Jadubabu's Bazar, one of the oldest and best-known markets and a landmark in Bhowanipore, is sold out to Reliance who will build a mall there.

Jadubabu's Bazar just a couple of years ago was a thriving market and its regular customers came from Bhowanipore and surrounding areas stretched to Shakespeare Sarani (Theatre Rd), Elgin Rd and Sarat Bose Rd. It is one of Kolkata's two food markets (The other is New Market) which stocks exotic food products that the foreign tourists often look for. Only in these two markets (Except the new economy markets like Big Bazaar) one would find the widest varieties of cheeese and canned foods in the city.

The place suffered a body blow when Food Bazaar opened atop Pantaloons in Shakespeare Sarani and C3 (Supermarket) opened in Elgin Rd. Soon many of its customers switched loyalties to these new, swanky stores high on customer service.

The sell-out will erase one of the landmarks of old Kolkata and change the texture and essence of Bhowanipore permanently. It would be better if Jadu Bazaar (As popularly known) was reconstructed like Lake Mall is being built in place of Lake Market, another old market of the city. Such a development, initiated by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), would ensure a status quo of the old and the new faces of business. But I guess, replicating the Lake Mall model to all old markets would be an arduous task for KMC. And when Reliance's retail arm, who won't like to lose time to set foot in the city, vies for a place like that, it would possibly not have made sense for KMC to resist. What the place is going to be like is still not clear, hence watch this space.

The hot debate on industrialization

It seems the hottest debate among educated masses of the city is land for the current industrialization drive of the state.

A fellow Orkutian (Member of Orkut.com, the most happening social networking website) has posted a topic in his new forum in the community Kolkata Freaks. Below is it.

Singur and Nandigram
Hey friends....I would like you all to post ur views on the recent incidents going on Singur and Nandigram.Its just u all need to post ur views and vote for this recent industrialization process accepted by our own CM. Are u for or against this industrialization.

All the reply messages in the next six days of posting the topic voted for industrialization. Now here is my view for the same.

Industrialization is the call of the hour
Everybody in Bengal agrees that we need industries. And for big industrial projects to come up, we need to offer big tracts of land. In an agricultural economy like Bengal it is natural that fallow land will not be adequate for big projects. After all we have over 62% of farmland, then considering residential land, industrial land etc there is little fallow land to offer. And most of them are in Purulia, Burdwan, Bankura and West Midnapore. Also other infrastructural factors like proximity to city, expressway, water etc must be considered for selection of location. Hence just because we have hundreds of acres of fallow land in Purulia, West Midnapore, Burdwan it is not feasible for all big industrial projects to locate there.

Hence we need to give away farmland for industry. That's reality and everyone needs to appreciate it. Every state like Bengal is doing it- Maharastra, Gujrat, AP, Haryana (The huge power project of Reliance is coming up on farmland). Now what should be done is- to avoid multi-crop land as far as possible and most importantly compensate and rehabilitate the landlosers and sharecroppers.

Many (Incl. some overenthusiastic political parties) are concerned about food security of the state. But as senior economist and ISI faculty Abhirup Sarkar has explained it recently in Anandabazar Patrika, even if we take 1,00,000 acres of land in the coming years for industry it will be 0.07% of our total agricultural land available now. So there shouldn't be any fuss and political parties better find some other important issue.

It was pointed out by some parties that huge watery land was available just opposite the Tata Motors site and that could've easily be offered to them. Do they want to mean the government was interested in inviting trouble by offering Tata Motors the current land which is mostly farmland? And didn't Tata, one of the oldest industrial houses and best known for its social responsibilities foresee the trouble for acquiring land from farmers? It seems quite clear that the current land acquired for the factory was exactly what was required. Can anybody tell if that alternative watery land is equal to or more than the close-to-1000 acres needed for the project? And mind it, quality of land is also a factor. Otherwise soil-testing wouldn't be required before construction of the Tata Motors plant in Singur. That watery land might not have been right for the plant.

Finally, the CM has given 4500 acres of fallow, government-owned land (Out of total requirement of 4800 acres), 4.5 times that of the Tata Motors land, to Jindals for construction of our largest ever industrial project- the steel plant with a captive power plant. Fallow land in Salanpur of Burdwan and in Purulia are going to Bhushan Steel and Balaji Steel who will construct two more steel plants. So we need to appreciate the fact that the CM has no such intention to eye only farmland to offer for industrialization.

Poor man's tandoori

After dabbling with politics for some time, unintentionally though, this blog returns to it's pet subject- Food.

Tandoori cuisine is one of the most popular in the city, what with kebabs finding space in newer roll joints in the modern and developing parts of the city and this cuisine is accomodated in new restaurants/ eating joints that are not upmarket in any sense. But it is definitely not available at low price points, like less than Rs 10.

But in Arambagh's Chicken, the undisputed home-grown king of branded chicken and chiecken delicacies, I found a preparation last year that costs Rs 6.50. Yes, you heard it just right, a tandoori preparation at that price. It's called Wing Roast. A small portion of roasted chicken wing- bones with a lot of flesh around it. The taste is awesome. There is no reason it should not be called poor man's tandoori dish. One of my favourites now, it is widely available, thanks to Arambagh's Chicken's giant chain. Apart from all Arambagh's Chicken outlets it is available in Arambagh's Food Mart stores.

The new political game

This blog of late is talking political pretty often, but that was least intended. As it is, the burning topics are increasingly getting political making sensible citizens disoriented.

Bandhs (Strike) seem to be back in Bengal with a bang. This would be the least wished observation in the new year, but unfortunately it has turned out to be happening.

In keeping with the disturbing trend that the city witnessed last December, calling a bandh at the drop of a hat or with no objectivity, just to get political mileage and turning back to the very people who it is meant for, political parties started the new year with yet another Bangla (Bengal) bandh called today. Yesterday Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), BJP, SUCI (By now a familiar face in negative and cheap politics, quite far from their sincere pro-people movements in the past that didn't require bandhs much) and some naxalite outfits announced the bandh as a protest to the killings out of the political clash that broke out at last Saturday evening at Nandigram between supporters and members of CPM and opposition parties.

The clash was a repurcussion of the attacks on CPI(M) supporters and burning of CPI(M)'s party office in the last week. This was done by some over-enthusiastic people among a huge group of villagers agitated by the possibility of their land/ home being acquired by the state govt. for a special economic zone (SEZ). Though no public notice of land acquisition was supposed to be given right now, there was an internal administrative notification listing which mouzas are being eyed for the SEZ. This was leaked and the news spread like wildfire leading to the agitation. Needless to say there were political hands behind organizing thousands of villagers for the movement. Some naxal paeople incl. university students from outside Bengal were arrested and as The Telegraph reported today, Jamait-Ulema-i-Hind, an outfit with a strong base in Nandigram started preparation for the same three months back as soon as they came to know that land would be required for the proposed SEZ.

But a corresponding trend of people who are sick of bandhs is gradually gaining momentum. It's these people who went to work defying the SUCI-sponsored bandh on December 5 last year turning it into a big joke, and it's the scare of them that propelled Mamata Banerjee, the TMC chief to call off (She called it 'Postponed'!!) her proposed bandhs on Dec 21 and 22.

People did come out today also, like myself and most of my colleagues. And apart from govt. buses, quite a few private buses did ply. How far the bandh was defied is to be confirmed later, but the scar on people's mind caused by the bandh call will definitely strengthen the resolve of defying bandhs in the future of those who dared not to leave home today.

The new face of political hooliganism

A bunch of Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters yesterday ransacked the head office of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (At Council House St), the anchor organisation for the state's industrialization, like a perfect set-piece movement. They beat up employees who resisted, damaged computers, printers, lights, telephones, chairs, tables and also valuable government records in half an hour, shouting TMC slogans. Nobody even could call the police. Later two people who identified themselves as TMC supporters surrendered at Hare Street police station claiming to be part of the attack.

President of TMC's youth wing Madan Mitra, though not really admitting responsibility for the attack, said that the office is behind all conspiracy (Of industrialization?) and hence possibly agitated people chose it to vent their anger. He won't be surprised if such incidences are repeated in future.

While TMC's historic rampage in the assembly house just a while ago is fresh in public memory, this looks like an incident encouraged by that. The party looks like a perfect example of being directionless. While their supremo Mamata Banerjee creates a new record by fasting for 25 days at a stretch protesting for farmland acquisition in Singur for the Tata small car plant, her supporters have their way of undoing all the sympathy she gathered by subsequently acting in a militant way to protest on the same issue. Not to forget, the assembly incident was done at the provocation of Mamata herself, present at the venue. What is typical of TMC is that later on they never regret such incidents in public and punish those involved. That's another way of putting the party's official stamp on this kind of movement. It is indeed a misfortune of us citizens that this is what our main opposition is like.

What Mamata is repeatedly failing to understand is that all these political blunders at one hand will only strengthen the resolve of the state government in going about their aim of industrialization which is the need of the hour and on the other hand will erode her the valuable support base of the educated class in the city and elsewhere.

New year goodies

A lot of goodies are awaiting to brace Kolkata's evolving lifestyle. For example, South City Mall, the eagerly awaited destination mall will open gates on Bengali new year, so will the Silver Spring mall on EM Bypass and the one opposite Manicktala VIP Market which will house the country's largest Pantaloons store. South City Mall will have the second Fame multiplex whose official inauguration date is April 14. Kolkata's first IMAX screen alongwith a 3-screener will come up at Mani Square. INOX will also unveil its Jessore Rd plex and 89 Cinemas (Part of INOX kitty now, post an acquisition) will open at Hazra Rd.

On retail front besides the Pantaloons store there will be five more Big Bazaars taking the store count to 11. Spencer's is poised to set foot in the city and its city office has been doing the groundwork for quite some time. Reliance is also reported to open it's new chain. And Subhiksha (Re: The post "Organised retail scene.....") will start in a giant way.

Talking infrastructure front Kolkata will see some new flyovers including the long-awaited one at Dunlop. The AJC Bose Rd flyover will get two critical ramps at Sarat Bose Rd and AJC Bose Rd (Near Kala Mandir/ Mallick Bazar). Prince Anwar Shah Rd will have an EM Bypass connector.

Overall the city life looks more comfortable and high-class leisure more accessible in 2007.