A unique Bengali new year calendar

I read in Ei Samay, the Bengali daily, a few days ago that a Bengali new year calendar was printed in thirty thousand by a leading cake shop chain, and it went out of stock within two weeks of the Bengali new year day this year (14^th April) or less, thanks to the demand from customers among whom it was distributed.

Drooling over a calendar of Bengali new year (it’s 1423), something that most of us don’t follow except for certain times of the year! Also, the creative aspect of such a calendar is generally not worth writing home about. So this one had got to be something extremely special, I thought.

The name of the creative agency (Mayurakshi) and that it was for a leading cake shop chain rang a bell. So when I was in Mio Amore earlier this week and had a fleeting glance of someone walking out with a sophisticated rolled up calendar, I asked a salesman whether they had come up with a new year calendar. As he answered in affirmative, I asked whether it was for a price. He embarrassedly said no, and picked up and handed over one to me. It was a wonderful reward from the chain to me for being a loyal customer for many years.

It is a theme calendar based on Satyajit Ray and the legendary sleuth created by him- Feluda, produced in association with the Ray family and Ray Society, with a well-worded foreword by Sandip Ray. It celebrates the fiftieth year of Feluda’s debut in Bengali literature. Sandip has revealed how Feluda had gradually developed noticeable resemblance in psychological traits and similarities in physical traits and dress sense with his creator.

The calendar presents the versatile creative genius of Ray, from writing, illustration and book designing to various aspects of filmmaking.

It starts with the manuscript of the first Feluda story- Feludar Goendagiri along with its published illustration and the book cover design of Joy Baba Felunath.

The manuscript of Feludar Goendagiri

It then walks into his world of filmmaking where we see the first page of the Sonar Kella script, Ray’s work on the production design (like the sketch of Feluda’s room in Sonar Kella), costume design and character sketches.

The first page of Sonar Kella script (Middle at the left)

The sketch of Feluda’s room in Sonar Kella

The character sketch of the knife thrower Arjun (Right) and the design of the dart board in Joy Baba Felunath

Costume design for Sonar Kella

There are stills of the making of the two Feluda films made by Ray showing him busy in the shooting with the actors.

The maestro earnestly believed in getting every small detail right in his films and used to be personally involved in ensuring the same. The shooting stills of Joy Baba Felunath in the calendar bear ample testimony to it. How many of us know that the freeze-frame at the end of Joy Baba Felunath showing the title written on stone at the Beneras ghat was created by Ray himself?

Ray adding touches to the Durga idol in Joy Baba Felunath 

The master writing the title on stone in Benaras which we see in the 

freeze-frame at the end of Joy Baba Felunath 

My sincere thanks to Mio Amore for creating this collector’s item where they have cheered for the Bengali intelligence and creativity.

#BengaliNewYear #SatyajitRay #Feluda50 #FeludaFilms #MioAmore

If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's Facebook page (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.

Spreading smiles in Holi

A Facebook group took the happiness from the festival of colours several notches up by sharing it.

Spreading Smiles is a Facebook group with an aim to bring smiles to the less privileged people of our society. Created in July 2014, it has grown to more than 4400 members till date. They do one event a month at a chosen orphanage, shelter home or old age home, and the event comprises of spending a day with the inhabitants; playing, chatting and eating with them to make them feel special. I came to know about this group from founder member Vishal Goyal last year, who have been in consistent touch with me and have sometimes, most politely, drawn my attention to their monthly events.

It’s a personal belief with Vishal that the true meaning of celebrating any festival is spreading and sharing happiness with others. Sharing this belief, Spreading Smiles celebrated an early Holi on 20^th March, Sunday, with the children in Jana Siksha Prachar Kendra, a shelter home for girls in Salt Lake. There were twenty three girls between four and fourteen years of age who participated in the celebration. The place was decorated with balloons, games were organized and prizes were given to winners, and staff members from McDonalds put it all up without any charges. When one shares a meal with such a group it makes them feel even more special and brings a greater joy to the occasion. So they ate lunch and drank thandai with the children. They also received gifts from the group members.

Thereafter the members started playing Holi with the children. It was a big surprise for them and the happiness on their faces when they saw the colours was beyond words. Their excitement was such boundless that they almost snatched the gulal (powdered colour for dry use) from the Spreading Smiles members and smeared their faces with it. As Vishal shares “Those moments can never be explained, one can only feel them! We became kids with them. This was the best Holi celebration of my life and my group members present there feel the same.” The experience has encouraged the members to celebrate every possible festival with such children.

Vishal with the kids

Here’s wishing Spreading Smiles all the very best. May they continue living up to their name.

By the way, if you wish to share your joy of special occasions with those less fortunate, be it children or senior citizens, Spreading Smiles can help you select the place and do all the arrangement. The only service charge will be the opportunity to spread smiles more. And the only condition (if you call it any) is to become a member. Find them here.

Photograph courtesy: Vishal Goyal

#HoliCelebration #ShelterHome #SocialWorkKolkata

If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's Facebook page (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.

Drop your clothes and make an impact

It’s an urge from the well-known menswear brand Turtle: Drop your clothes and be noble!

What!!

No, not a campaign for creating sensation, quite a different one rather. The brand urges you to drop your spare clothes at its stores in Kolkata this season so that people who are far less privileged get to be better clothed this winter, through its campaign ‘I dropped my clothes’. There is a canter as well, which will be moving in various parts of Kolkata to collect clothes.

This is the second season of the campaign, after a successful first run in November-December last year.

The clothes will be donated to the NGO Concern India Foundation who will distribute the same to the needy people. Set up in 1991, they have been extending financial and non-financial support to grassroots NGOs working in the areas of education, health and community development. Currently, CIF supports over 270 grassroots NGOs across India reaching out to 1,90,000 marginalized people directly through offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune.

Apart from clothes, you can also donate money to the NGO in a cheque drawn in favour of it for this initiative and drop it in a Turtle store in Kolkata or at the canter.

The campaign was kicked off on 3^rd December by Abir Chatterjee and Arindam Sil, the protagonist and director respectively, of the upcoming detective flick Har Har Byomkesh at the Turtle store at the recently opened Acropolis mall. It will go on till 20^th December. To spread the good word, donors are encouraged to post their donation with a picture or video on the social media with (hashtag) #iDroppedMyClothes.

The campaign being launched by Abir Chatterjee and Arindam Sil

According to Turtle, the campaign aims to help those in the city who do not have access to basic clothing in the winter, thereby tackling a wide problem from the grassroots level so that they are able to survive the unpleasantness of winter by being adequately clothed.

Turtle is also actively involved in the conservation of endangered species of turtles across India for many years and recently entered into a partnership with TSA (Turtle Survival Alliance, an international organization working towards conservation of endangered species of turtles in multiple countries across the globe) to support the conservation of freshwater turtles around the world to help shape a better and more sustainable community under its CSR philosophy. Turtle’s recent #Savelittleshelly campaign has been a successful endeavor to promote Turtle’s conservation during World Turtle Day.

So it’s time to drop (before the mercury drops further), get clicked and share. Happy dropping!

#IDroppedMyClothes #Turtle #CSR

If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's Facebook page (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.

Raksha Bandhan gift packs at Yauatcha

The colourful macaroons at Yauatcha, the fine dining oriental cuisine den at Quest, is one of its charms. And now they are waiting nicely packed in boxes for the brothers to be picked up this Rakhi/ Raksha Bandhan as the gift to sisters. Presenting a pack of delicious macaroons to celebrate the love and bond, especially to a sister with a sweet tooth, sounds like a good and new idea that stands out among numerous gifting options.

A box of six macaroons costs Rs 350. They come in vanilla, strawberry, pistachio, chocolate and more flavours.

There’s more- Yauatcha starts gift vouchers at denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. So now it’s easy to send anyone to the restaurant to savor its delicacies as per own liking.

Both are available from 11.30 am to 11.30 pm. Call 922 22 22800 for enquiry.

#RakshaBandhan #RakshaBandhangifts #Rakhi #Rakhigifts #YauatchaRakshaBandhanSpecial #Yauatchagiftvoucher

If you liked reading the post, you may visit this blog's Facebook page (click on the link) and hit the 'Like' button to stay connected with the future updates on this blog and more on the page.