A tete-a-tete with Soumya Shankar Ghosal

An ardent lover of Kolkata like this blogger, Soumya Shankar Ghosal, a management consultant by profession and a photographer by passion, recently made our city proud when he secured the third position in ‘The 20 Most Influential Street Photographers for 2017’ list from across the world derived from a poll on the street photography website www.streethunters.net. His group Streets of Calcutta is perhaps one of the world’s largest street photography archives dedicated to one city. It was nice to engage with him in a conversation which is as follows. The photos in between are handpicked by the ace lensman from his vast body of work.

1. What does this achievement mean to you? How important is this listing?

Achievement is recognition of your efforts. However, saying so, I must reiterate the fact that achievement is not the ultimate goal. Photography is solely pursued for oneself. The next stage is sharing the joy with others. The third stage is the part of recognition. I am a self-taught photographer and didn’t have the privilege of having a master. Hence, recognition in terms of apperception is an acid test that the photograph has passed exam of sharing the joy with the viewer.

The recent listing is sincerely prestigious one. More so because the list features some of the most gifted photographers I look up to and sharing a little space with them is wonderful. I thank each and every one who felt I should be a part of the top 20 out of the 124 photographers nominated from across the world.

2. Going back to where it began. What got you hooked to street photography and when?

I photographed everything that caught my attention but slowly realized that I had developed an inclination towards Street Photography from around 2008. The street is full of surprises. Exploring the same lane at different times will offer different subjects and perspectives. Exploring streets and knowing the unknown Calcutta is always a fun learning experience.

Oh Calcutta! This is what strikes me each time I explore the city. Although, I was born and have lived in this wonderful metropolis for 36 years, I rediscover the city each time I go out on photowalks. I am never bored walking the same alleys over and over again. Calcutta is a city of diversity. Documenting the diversity helps me learn about the city better.

 

3. Tell us about Streets of Calcutta. How has the experience been so far?

Streets of Calcutta was born out of a passion to create a shared learning platform for a city-based street photography archive. The objective was to enthuse newcomers who love street photography. What started with a single individual has spread to over 20,000 across social media platforms. We don’t consider SOC as a group. Technically, you don’t need to either join or leave. As long as you love photographing Kolkata, we consider you a part of it.

The forum is quit active in terms of the number of posts on the group as well as Instagram. Apart from the offline interactions have done an online review session which had received more than 225 photos in just 1 hour.

The journey has been pretty exciting! Whatever Streets of Calcutta has achieved is because everyone took an ownership of the subject. Friends Indrajit Lahiri, Nilanjan Pathak and Ayanava Sil deserve a special mention. A special ‘Thank you’ to the brilliant photographers who have encouraged us – Mr. Debarshi Duttagupta, Ms. Lopamudra Talukdar, Mr. Bikas Das and Mr. Asis Sanyal.

4. What do you consider a significant achievement of Streets of Calcutta?

The most significant achievement is Streets of Calcutta has been able to bind together like-minded individuals to educate others about street photography. This genre is not documented much. So when the newcomers, the experienced, the good, the better and the best come together, a vast repository of knowledge is created. We believe in the power of shared learning. I am proud to say, Streets of Calcutta has been able to show street photography in a different light in its 2 years of existence.

5. You do photowalks in the city under Streets of Calcutta. What has been your most memorable photowalk experience?

Every walk is memorable. And yet, there is one walk I particularly remember since it was not about numbers but that of sheer passion for photography of my fellow enthusiasts. That was February 2015 and the walk coincided with an India-Pakistan match. And yet 41 participants turned up.

SOC conducted one of its largest photowalks in August 2015 in association with Amazon India at Shovabazar to celebrate World Photography Day. The participation was recorded at 176. Planning was vital and had to be meticulously executed to manage the big turnout efficiently. Team leads were appointed and briefed in advance and group sizes were kept at a suitable number based in the experience of the team leads. The whole program was managed efficiently with the constant support of the leads and the participants.

6. What are the plans of Streets of Calcutta this year?

We have planned a lot for everyone at SOC in 2017. The execution of the same is being worked upon. Mostly this is related to increasing the offline interactive sessions. Last year we had showcased the work of more than 60 individuals at our exhibition ‘Soul of Kolkata’ in association with ITC Sonar and Nikon. This year too we plan to go ahead with its version 2.0 but with a twist.

To check the Street Hunters list ‘‘The 20 Most Influential Street Photographers for 2017’, click here. 

If you wish to visit Streets of Calcutta, click here

Instagram handle of Streets of Calcutta: streetsofcalcutta

To know Soumya Shankar Ghosal better, visit his website here. 

#interview #streetphotography #StreetsOfCalcutta

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The upcoming Bangla releases

After a dry stretch, the Friday of 22^nd July till the end of August is going to see four important Bangla releases. Kolkata Curry takes a peek into them.

Khawto- This 22^nd July release is an erotic thriller by Kamaleswar Chander Pahar Mukherjee starring Prosenjit, Raima and Paoli. Ronodeep Bose and Tridha Chowdhury play a young romantic couple. Prosenjit plays an author which seems to be a grey character. The Bengali audience has a fondness for thrillers, and here’s another one to quench their thirst. Khawto is dark and bold, which lends it a novelty. It explores love, lust, infidelity and betrayal. Need more reasons to check it out?

The Khawto poster. Source: Facebook

Eagoler Chokh- Releasing this Independence Day week, it’s a crime thriller for the adult audience by Arindam Sil with police detective Shabor Dasgupta back as the investigator. It's the second instalment of the Shabor franchise penned by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay which tasted success on screen with its first outing Ebar Shabor in January 2015. Saswata plays Shabor and the cast includes Jaya Ahsan, Anirban Bhattacharya (of last year’s Arshinagar) in a pivotal role, June, Payel and Arjun Chakraborty. Arunima is said to have sizzled in a bar song sequence.

In case you wanted to read a review of Ebar Shabor or revisit it, find it on this blog here.

Saswata as Shabor in Eagoler Chokh. Source: Facebook page 

of Shree Venkatesh Films

Hemanta- Releasing on the same day as Eagoler Chokh. It’s Anjan Dutt’s adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most cultivated creations- Hamlet. Stars Parambrata in the title role, Saswata as Claudius, Gargi as Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother), Jisshu as Horatio (Hamlet’s friend) and Payel as Ophelia, the love interest. That’s a strong cast! The film is set in today’s Bengali film industry and explores the issues plaguing it, including the financing by chit funds. It will be interesting to see Anjan back with this classic tale after two back to back Byomkesh films.

 The first look poster (Source: Parambrata's Facebook page)

Shaheb Bibi Golaam- Releasing 26^th August. A musical thriller by film critic-turned-filmmaker Pratim D Gupta who you have been reading in The Telegraph (in t2) for long. This is his second full-length feature film as a director (after Panch Adhyay in 2012). Its only similarities with the classic novel by Bimal Mitra and the eminent films based on it in Hindi and Bengali are its title and the fact that it has a Shaheb (an Anglo-Indian), a Bibi (a housewive) and a Golaam (a taxi driver) in the central characters. Anjan Dutt plays Jimmy, an Anglo-Indian contract killer, Swastika plays Jaya, a housewife who is breaking bad and Ritwik plays taxi driver Javed, who “is a romantic at heart, who doesn't let his profession get in the way of his passion” as per the Facebook page of the film. It will present an unusual romantic pair in Ritwik and Parno. The film had been denied a certification by CBFC on account of its erotic content and got itself recently cleared by the appellate committee. The Mon bhalo nei song sung and composed by Anupam is gathering some encouraging buzz.

The first look poster

#Khawto #EagolerChokh #Hemanta #ShahebBibiGolaam #BanglaCinema #BengaliCinema

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Soul of Kolkata- the exhibition debut of Streets of Calcutta

I have been waiting for this at the back of my mind for quite a while. I met Soumya Shankar Ghosal on 10^th June last year in a new menu sampling session in a restaurant, introduced to me by blogger friend Indrajit Lahiri, and came to know of his unique initiative around street photography called ‘Streets of Calcutta’. He humbly told me that he had searched a lot but couldn’t find any other archive dedicated to the street photography of a single city anywhere in the world.

Streets of Calcutta has a website and an active an extremely popular Facebook group which today has crossed 9000 members (Find it here ). The Facebook group acts as the face of the initiative. Photographs reflecting the life on the streets of Kolkata get posted regularly in the group by the members who have an undying passion for street photography and for the City of Joy.

The group started conducting photowalks as one of its core activities, other than running the online group, early on. It gradually started doing photography review sessions (Offline and online), street photography competition and photography workshops. Brands like Nikon and Idea have collaborated with the group for their photography contests. Soumya also has the distinction to have curated the first ever photography exhibition of Instagram in India which took place in Kolkata in January this year with the ‘Diversity of Bengal’ as its theme (Read the post on this blog here ). So, an exhibition of Streets of Calcutta’s own was the natural progression.

It started taking shape as ITC Sonar came on board as the partner and agreed to host SOC’s first exhibition in its in-house gallery WelcomArt. An open competition was jointly floated on Facebook to select the photographs to put on display. There were thirteen categories inviting entries, like markets, festival, river, ‘Bhadralok’ (‘Gentleman’ in Bengali) and heritage. The aim was to encompass as many facets reflecting the soul of the city as possible, living up to the name ‘Soul of Kolkata’.

The organizers were overwhelmed as entries flooded in and stopped past four thousand six hundred. It will be an understatement that Soumya had a tough time judging and selecting a winner and a special mention for each category to be exhibited. To be fair to so many enthusiastic participants, a digital display section had to be planned for displaying other select entries.

'Soul of Kolkata', presented by ITC Sonar in association with Streets of Calcutta, was unveiled on 1^st July and will go on till 4^th July over 11 am to 7 pm at WelcomArt gallery at ITC Sonar. This was in keeping with ITC Hotels' initiative of 'Responsible Luxury' and part of the concierge services of this luxury business resort which celebrate the hidden treasures of its location. It is open to all. There are thirty exhibits including twenty six selected from the thirteen categories and a selection of forty seven on the digital display. They truly reflect the resplendence, the passion and the charm of  the city. The exhibits can be bought for just Rs 5000 each. They can be booked on the spot and will be delivered shortly after the exhibition.

The proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to an NGO is Habra for underprivileged kids.

The traditional inaugural lamp was lit by the Italian Consul General in Kolkata, eminent dancer Priti Patel, social activist Bonani Kakkar and Atul Bhalla, GM, ITC Sonar in the evening of 1^st July.

 The Italian Consul General lighting the lamp. Photograph by Sukanta Pal.

Priti Patel lighting the lamp. Photograph by Sukanta Pal.

 Soumya Shankar Ghosal. Photograph by Sukanta Pal.

Many visitors and guests from various fields of the society turned up to see the deftly curated exhibits which include some stunning and mesmerizing shots. Take a look at some of them.

Here are some entries on the digital display.

 The winners and those awarded with special mention. Photograph by Sukanta Pal.

If you love the city or wish to know it better, being a resident or a visitor, spending some time tomorrow in the exhibition should be worth it. You may even end up picking up a frame to adorn your home or office wall, which will surely bring a different charm to the place.

#SoulOfKolkata #StreetsOfCalcutta #ITCSonar #WelcomArt #PhotoExhibitionKolkata

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Dada’r Shongey Dil Sey Deejiye- the fundraiser for Tata Medical Center

It started operations five years back in New Town, Kolkata with the aim to bring the best cancer care available in India to Kolkata that could benefit thousands of cancer patients in eastern India. Till then the destination cancer care hospital for this part of the country used to be Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai.

It is a great relief to know that, Tata Medical Center has not only fulfilled the aim but has also become a reliable address for cancer patients and their families to head for. It has a human face as it is run on a not-for-profit basis. With the wait time for patients in getting therapy becoming longer even as the radiotherapy department is working round the clock, the hospital is in crucial need for expansion.

A bit on the background of this blessing for those in need:

It was conceptualized as a philanthropic initiative in 2004 for the eastern and north eastern India and the neighbouring countries. It had been noted that maximum cancer patients in India are from the eastern part. The trust which the hospital would be governed by, called Tata Medical Centre Trust, was established in 2005. Set up at a cost of Rs 350 crores, the hospital is an integrated cancer treatment facility with state-of-the-art equipment from the best of manufacturers worldwide and 167 beds, half of which is earmarked for free or subsidized treatment to underprivileged patients. The no. of beds was subsequently taken to 183. It provides a holistic range of services from diagnosis and therapy to rehabilitation and palliative support. To date, it has treated 58000 patients out of which 53000 were from eastern India.

A detailed expansion plan is already in place and it will add 252 inpatient beds to the hospital (much more than the current strength), 3 radiotherapy linear accelerators, a dedicated paediatric oncology unit including day care and ICU and cafeteria for patients and visitors. In fact, construction has started in November 2014 and it is expected to be ready by mid to late 2017. Needless to say, it calls for massive finance and contribution can come from sensible individuals and businesses who relate to the cause and the pride of Kolkata that that the hospital will become. Once operational, it will add immensely to affordable and quality cancer care in the private space in the east.

Tata Medical Center announced in a press conference last week about its fundraising initiative Dada’r Shongey Dil Sey Deejiye for the planned expansion. No prize for guessing ‘Dada’- it’s Sourav Ganguly who has come on board to show his support for the hospital’s expansion.

The fundraiser, to be held in the evening of 8^th April, was themed around cricket. Usha Uthup was to perform, apart from popular stand-up comedian Angad Ranyal. There would also be a fashion show with designer Krishna Mehta’s special collection for the occasion where stars like Jisshu Sengupta would walk the ramp. Actors Dev and Raima Sen were also to be present to support the cause. Auction of cricket memorabilia would be held. The tickets were auctioned through WhatsApp and Facebook, and the top 10 bidders would be presented with a limited edition canvas personally autographed by Sourav Ganguly.

Apart from Sourav, those present in the press conference were Geeta Gopalakrishnan, Honorary Director – Donor Relationship, Tata Medical Center; Dr Mammen Chandy, Director, Tata Medical Center; Suresh Gopinathan Menon, Vice President, Tata Consultancy Services; Ambar Singh Roy, Head- Corporate Communication, Tata Steel, West Bengal and Suvankar Sen, Executive Director, Senco Gold & Diamonds.

(Left to right) Ambar Singh Roy, Suvankar Sen, Dr Mammen Chandy, Geeta Gopalakrishnan and Sourav Ganguly

(Left to right) Geeta, Sourav and Suresh Gopinathan Menon

Dr Chandy briefly told how the radiotherapy unit is being run for almost 24 hours and still patients have to wait and how the expansion would be adding to the hospital.

Suresh Gopinathan Menon said about the patient management software that TCS had made for Tata Medical Center when it started operation and that it aims to make the operations light on paper, if not completely paperless.

Ambar Singh Roy said that Tata Steel is committed to supporting Tata Medical Center in as many ways as possible. It has been leveraging various platforms (like Tata Steel 25K marathon) to generate support for the hospital.

Subhankar Sen talked about the unique donation initiative implemented at Senco Gold jewellery stores. In each store there will be boxes marked as Dil Sey Deejiye 10 Rupayee and Dil Sey Deejiye 100 Rupayee. The customers would be requested to pitch in with their bit by donating money starting with a meagre amount as Rs 10 (Sen reminded that the drops make an ocean). He said that people buy jewellery for happy occasions and they won’t mind donating for such a noble cause which will make their happiness bigger.

Sourav said he visited the hospital for Make a Wish foundation and Dr Chandy took him on a tour of the hospital. From that day, he became mentally attached to the hospital.

#TMCKolkata #Philanthropy #Fundraiser

  

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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

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The first Instagram exhibition in India

Yes, you saw that right. Instagram held its first exhibition in India in this city earlier this month. It featured the work of 20 Instagrammers.

As it was, photography professional Soumya Shankar Ghosal from the city got a surprise call from Facebook (which owns Instagram) in December ’15 and he was told that they were intending to hold their first Instagram exhibition of India in Kolkata, coinciding with Global Business Summit in January ’15 (for the best exposure). His role would be curating a part of the exhibition as part of the curator team and the theme would be ‘Diversity of Bengal’. One of the photographs which had already been selected by the team was his click of Nakhoda Masjid during Ramadan.

So Soumya and his team in his photography initiative Streets of Calcutta (Said to be the world’s largest street photography archive) and another popular Facebook group Calcutta Instagrammers collaborated and got down to business poring over hundreds of photographs on Instagram and zeroed in on seventeen. Instagram kept the work of three commissioned shoots- Bandna Festival of Purulia district, Durga Puja at Sonagachhi (A red light area in Kolkata) and the Christian community in Kolkata.

The exhibition was held at ICCR, 9A Ho Chi Minh Sarani on 7^th to 9^th January not with great fanfare but it did make a mark with the visitors. Soumya and his friends, yours truly included, did their bit in spreading the word on social media.

A team from Facebook inaugurated the exhibition the traditional way- lighting a diya (traditional Indian lamp). Ritesh Mehta, Head- Economic Growth Initiatives, Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director of Facebook and Katie Harbath were present along with the participants. The exhibition was inaugurated by Derek O’Brien, Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and an eminent quizmaster from the city. The photographs truly reflect diverse aspects of Bengal and Kolkata. Here’s a look at it.

Katie Harbath lighting the diya on inauguration as Derek O'Brien (extreme left) and Ankhi Das (second from left) look on

Chhau dance, Purulia

  

Moi-Charan (Bull race) Festival at Herobhanga village near Canning

 Cham, a Tibetan mask dance performed by monks in Kalimpong, north Bengal

 Soumya Shankar Ghosal with his Nakhoda Masjid click

Derek in awe of Arpita Pramanick's (right) shot of Mullick Ghat, Howrah with the famous Howrah Bridge

 in the background

A silent prayer saying thanks before the meal in a Christian home in the city

The fervour of Holi celebration in Burrabazar, Kolkata

 The popular 'Dhunuchi dance' in Durga Puja in Sonagachhi  

 Cattle are decorated with stamps and worshipped in the Bandna Festival in Purulia district

An artist making Pata Chitro, the famous folk art of Bengal. A large part of his body was burnt in a fire at

his home that claimed his family members. Shot by Sammya Brata Mullick.

Ritesh Mehta sharing a light moment with Soumya

I was very happy to see blogger and photographer friend Indrajit Lahiri’s photo of Chitpur, which I made the cover of this blog during Ramadan last year (Find it in the Cover Photo Archive section of this blog).

 To know further details, take a look at Soumya's blog post here. It busts a myth about Instagram photos.

#InstagramExhibition #PhotographyKolkata #PhotographyExhibitionKolkata

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