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

  

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.

The curious case of potato in Kolkata biryani

If he was alive, Ray would have probably written a Feluda thriller ‘Aloo Rawhoshyo’ to crack the curious case of potato in Kolkata biryani.

There are numerous stories circulating in Kolkata tracing the entry of potato in its biryani, popularly known as the Kolkata biryani.

I read this recent article in The Indian Express online, about a culinary event helmed by Manzilat Khan, better known as the great-great granddaughter of Wajid Ali Shah — the tenth and last nawab of Awadh (to whom biryani’s birth in Kolkata is credited). The story of potato’s entering the royal biryani was narrated by Pritha Sen, heritage cuisine expert, in this event. The story goes like this- Feeding the large royal entourage on a stipend of Rs 1 lakh per month from the British was a challenge in the kitchen. Cooking biryani with the prescribed amount of meat was an issue. So the cooks needed something to make the volume of biryani in the absence of enough meat. The nawab had arrived in Metiaburz (popularly known as Metiabruz) in 1856 and it was that time when potatoes had just been introduced in India and were cultivated mostly in Dehradun by the British. The cooks used it in the biryani as an exotic ingredient which was cheaper than meat.

However, this article published in t2 (with The Telegraph) today quotes Shahanshah Mirza, the great-great grandson of the nawab dismissing the above-mentioned story (See ‘The Nuggets’ section) in another culinary event in ITC Sonar. According to him, the nawab was the highest paid pensioner in India with Rs 12 lakh a year (The amount matches with the earlier story) and if he could maintain a large zoo in Kolkata, spending on meat could not have been a challenge. So how did the potato enter the royal biryani? As he continued, the chefs used to experiment with different things and on one such day they added potato. This caught the nawab’s fancy and potato was to stay.

Draw your own conclusion or add to the mystery by narrating the story you know in the comments.

#KolkataBiryani 

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.

Paint our World fundraiser exhibition at Welcom Art, ITC Sonar

When she was four, she saw some children standing by the road, looking for morsels of food in the trash as she passed by. She later realised that they were unlike her and it was a way of life for them.

The vignette was permanently etched in her mind. Much later, after finishing studies abroad among other things, she came back to India and started Paint Our World (POW), a social initiative to infuse a new way of life in the pitiful lives of such children, a way of fun and learning expressive art. Paint Our World is a humanitarian project dedicated to making a positive difference to the lives of underserved children.

POW works to emotionally empower children who have been through trauma – this includes child sexual abuse and becoming orphaned. Its aim is to give them times that are fun, that are essentially what childhoods ought to be about. In its spaces, it works with the children in subtly therapeutic ways, like giving painting lessons. In the process, it hopes to equip the children with a better chance of becoming happy and stable adults leading purposeful lives.

Dr Priya Virmani, founder-director, Paint our World was sharing with us all this on the inauguration of Agapi, the fundraiser exhibition for her project in Welcom Art, the art gallery at ITC Sonar, last month. Select paintings by the POW children were up for sale. She expressed deep gratitude to Mr Atul Valla, GM, ITC Sonar, for the valuable support by providing the space for holding the exhibition. She also thanked renowned photographer Kaunteya who gave four of his photographs for sale in the exhibition and her friends, who were present, for helping her put up the exhibition in various ways (like designing the publicity material among other things).

Mr Atul Bhalla, GM, ITC Sonar, lighting the inaugural lamp

Priya is a political and economic analyst by profession and has a PhD from University of Bristol, apart from being a mentor and life coach. She contributes to renowned publications like The Guardian.

 Dr Priya Virmani (extreme right) at the inauguration

 

The interesting part is that even though many of the child members of POW have seen the worst side of a family life, the subjects of their paintings are to the contrary. Some of the paintings showed a happy family, something that comes only in the fantasy of the painters. Due credit goes to POW for enabling them to think like average children. Take a look at them below.

POW operates in Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore. In Kolkata, it began by working with children in Sonagachi – the city’s red light district. Their current groups include children rescued from a life of sleeping rough in the city’s railway stations.

A large screen displayed a series of projected photographs shot at POW, depicting the delightful experience these children go through.

The counter displayed mementos designed with the children’s paintings, like greeting cards and coffee mugs for the visitors to buy and support the project in a small way.

If you are interested to support POW, visit its website (click on the link). You can also visit its Facebook page and follow its Twitter handle for regular updates.

#PaintOurWorld #SocialProject #FundRaiser #WelcomArt

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.

Fusion Food Fiesta at Casa Kitchen, 12th to 27th March 2016

Keeping up with its practice of coming up with a food festival every season of the year, Casa Kitchen, the fine dining vegetarian restaurant at Hotel Casa Fortuna on AJC Bose Road, near Camac Street, is holding Fusion Food Fiesta.

  

I like the experimentation that the restaurant keeps doing with its menu through such food festivals to offer its patrons new flavours besides the tried and tested north and north-west Indian dishes. The dishes that are favoured the most by the guests in these festivals make their way to the a la carte menu. So I don’t miss an invite from Casa Kitchen to a food festival and didn’t for this one too. I avoid the media meet and work out a suitable slot (generally evening) to sample the menu and the management happily accommodates. This way, the thoughts behind various dishes and their cooking process come clearer.

The corner sofa by the glass wall overlooking the busy AJC Bose Road and Gorky Sadan is my favourite seat. Enjoyed my fresh lime soda in a warm afternoon before the food arrived.

Fresh Lime Soda 

It started off with Tomato Wonton Soup which is a Continental-Chinese fusion. It’s the good old cream of tomato soup with vegetable wontons in it. I love this tangy broth they prepare here and this variation with wontons was good too. It set the palate up for a long innings ahead.

 Tomato Wonton Soup

The Yoghurt & Lemon Soup was interesting. It’s a broth of beaten yoghurt mixed with butter with lemon and coriander added, making it an Indo-Chinese fusion. The salty taste of the yoghurt soup gently kissed by lemon brought a pep to the palate.

 Yoghurt & Lemon Soup

Starters made a good opening with Vegetable Shami Kebab with Salsa. The perfectly done, rightly spiced shami kebabs played well on the palate in the company of the hot and tangy Mexican sauce.  

 Vegetable Shami Kebab with Salsa

 Salsa sauce

Paneer Fritter served with Hot Garlic Sauce (Indian-Continental fusion with a Chinese sauce) was rather flat. Anything based on paneer will need to have an extra zing to appeal to my palate. This one was cheese-stuffed paneer fried with bread crumbs. The cheese seemed lacking in the bites. The sauce made up for the taste to some extent.

 Paneer Fritter with Hot Garlic Sauce

Schezwan Paneer Tikka (Paneer again!), which was Szechwan sauce-marinated char-grilled paneer, was OK. This Indo-Chinese combo will be a little too hot for children.

 Schezwan Paneer Tikka

The last one in starters that I sampled was Stuffed Potato with Cocktail Sauce. Baby potatoes with scooped out inside and stuffed with cheese mixed with pimentos and grilled to perfection. I am not an admirer of potato-based dishes, but the filling and especially the tangy cocktail sauce (a familiar condiment in Europe and US with seafood dishes) made it worthwhile.

 Stuffed Potato with Cocktail Sauce

Tried the Mexican Pulao and Cheese Olive Nun with a side of Baked Conjee Veg & Macaroni in the main course. The latter is macaroni pasta first cooked with vegetables (Chinese-style) and white sauce, then covered with cheese, mixed with red sauce and baked. The spiciness of the red sauce didn’t counteract the light, creamy pasta inside. For a pasta lover like me, it was a delightful new experience!

 Baked Conjee Veg & Macaroni

The Cheese Olive Naan is a variation of the regular naan. Good experimentation!

 Cheese Olive Naan

The Mexican Pulao, served in a white handi created a burst of flavours inside the mouth. The Awadhi-style navratan pulao cooked with Mexican herbs had a refined, rich taste, sweet at places thanks to dry fruits, and played along well with the sharpness of Mexican herbs. It easily was the best highlight of the well-curated menu!

 Mexican Pulao

Wound up the delectable meal with Garam Masala Brownie which I was told was a trending flavour in desserts. The rich chocolate brownie topped with chocolate sauce and Indian garam masala like cardamom was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with garam masala powder. The brownie baked in-house was good as usual though didn’t taste much different, but the new flavour of the ice cream (thanks to the spices) was quite likeable.

  Garam Masala Brownie

Only tomorrow is left before it draws to a close. Make up your mind if wish to savour a vegetarian meal with some interesting fusion.

Time: Lunch- 12.30-3.30 pm and dinner- 7.30-10.30 pm

Pocket pinch: Rs 1000 plus taxes for two

#GoodVegFood #FusionCuisine #VegFusion #CasaKitchen #VegFoodKolkata

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.

Easter eggs at Yauatcha

It’s the time of the year to unwrap the eggs at Yauatcha, the oriental fine dining restaurant at Quest. And there are two of them on offer.

• White chocolate Easter egg with a filling of coconut mousse

• Dark chocolate Easter egg with a filling of coco truffle crunch

They pocket pinch is Rs 325 plus taxes each and they are available till 31^st March 2016.

(Based on information provided by Yauatcha)

#EasterKolkata #Yauatcha #EasterEggKolkata

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.

Holi special menu at Goldbrick

Other than colours and friends and family, Holi is incomplete without mouth-watering food. Keeping this in mind, Goldbrick, the restaurant at Mukti World, Ballygunge, has laid out a Holi special set vegetarian menu with traditional Indian food only for 23^rd and 24^th March 2016. What’s more, with each purchase of the set meal, a customer gets a movie voucher from London Paris, the multiplex at Mukti World, valid between 25^th March and 13^th April 2016.

The menu:

Welcome drink: Thandai (in kulhar)

Starters: Cocktail Samosa and Papad Dahi Ke Kebab.

Soup: Tamatar Aur Dhaniya Ka Shorba

Salad: Tossed Green Salad and Lacha Onion

Main course: Paneer Khas Kadai Dum, Gatte Curry Wali, Dal Makhani, Assorted Indian Breads (Kulcha, Paratha) and Jeera Rice.

Dessert: Baked Boondi with Vanilla Ice Cream

 The starters and salad

 Baked Boondi with Vanilla Ice Cream

Time: Lunch- 12-3 pm and Dinner- 7-11 pm

Pocket pinch: Rs 500 per person (all inclusive)

#HoliSpecialMenu #Goldbrick #KolkataHoliSpecial

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.

Ananda Plus Bioscopey Bajimat season 6: Part II

After the third round Kaushik-Mimi was leading and Dev-Subhashree was trailing, with company from by….surprise….Srijit-Rupam! Srijit got a really tough question in this round (What was the name of the character played by Churni Ganguly in her film Nirbashito?). The answer was: No name was given to the character. Ironically the question got passed on to Kaushik-Mimi who answered it as expected (For those uninitiated, Kaushik Ganguly is the husband of Churni and produced the film).

 

The fourth round called ‘Playscope’ was not quiz. It was the highlight of all the fun that the audience had out of the show. Mir called each team and asked it to perform to a given situation or gave a challenge. Here are the funniest ones.

Team 2 (Rituparna-Joya) was called and after a brief note on the Indo-Bangladesh friendship and a reference to the recently concluded Asia Cup final (Where Bangladesh lost to India in a closely fought match), the contestants were asked to do arm wrestling! Both were taken aback for a moment. To add to the embarrassment Prosenjit was called (rather persisted by the emcee to come over) to officiate it. After an initial resistance by both Rituparna and Joya, the game started amid cheers from the peers in the audience and ended in a draw (no prize for guessing why, smarter women!). But it was great fun seeing two leading actresses in an official fight! It seemed the contestants enjoyed the most. The pictures will tell you.

 

  

 

 

Next up- team 3 (Srijit-Rupam). Rupam was asked to sing ‘Benche thakar gaan’, his chart-topper from Autograph, Srijit’s directorial debut, and Srijit was asked to, hold your breath……..match steps with it! The resistance this time (from Srijit) was obviously longer. Kaushik Sen taunted that it was destiny’s way of doing justice to all the hardship that he had put Kaushik through filming Zulfiqar. Srijit had no other way but to fall in line as refusal would be unsporting. So as Rupam sang, he matched steps in the most disinclined manner, holding Mir.

 

Team 4 (Anindya-Kaushik) was given a tougher task albeit on similar lines. Kaushik is playing the evil ‘Kalo Bhromor’ in the under-production movie based on Niharranjan Gupta’s story (both named Kalo Bhromor) on his popular fictional sleuth Kiriti Roy. Anindya had to sing the song ‘Ghorete bhromor elo gunguniye…’, prefixing ‘Bhromor’ with ‘Kalo’ on the request of the emcee and Kaushik had to play the ‘Bhromor’ (bee) and move all around. Kaushik pulled it off with his presence of mind by indicating the moving bee with hand gestures.

 

In their turn Parambrata and Paoli (Team 6) was asked to do this: Param was to play Anjan Dutt (His director in the upcoming Hemanta) who was auditioning Paoli. Param lapped it up and with the help from the pair of Anjan Dutt-style dark glasses provided to him gave us a brilliant act peppered with the familiar gestures and vocal style of the eminent director. He deserved bonus points for this which was easily one of the most hilarious parts of the contest.

 

 

 

Last turn- Team 7 (Dev-Subhashree). In their comeback film Dhumketu the unit was to shoot in Narkanda, a town in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh last winter. Due to heavy snowfall the director had returned as he had fallen sick. It was incredibly cold and senior journalist of Ananda Plus Indranil Roy, who was with the unit to cover the shoot, felt like returning leaving his assignment. The story narrated by Mir goes like this: Dev and Subhashree sustained the inhuman weather staying together in a hotel room thanks to a single piece of blanket and a room heater. Mir asked the pair to show the audience how they achieved this feat. He also helped them with a blanket and a room heater (which he said were the same blanket and heater. He even smelled the blanket and asked Subhashree if the perfume was Chanel). Dev struggled to play this bouncer and ducked it saying he had no other way as he was the co-producer.

As obvious to those who are familiar with Mir’s performance, he was at the top of his game throughout this round and even put up mimicry of Indranil Roy calling up his boss Gautam Bhattacharya from Narkanda and pleading to be allowed to return. This got the loudest applause! He also kept on flirting with the girls helping with hand mikes and props.

 

 

The last round was a rapid fire and Gautam Bhattacharya took over. It was the ‘Ananda Plus’ round and comprised of questions based on articles and film reviews published in Ananda Plus in recent times. Each team had to nominate one contestant and he or she had to face the quizmaster form a seat centre stage. There were 45 seconds to answer all questions.

All the teams except Srijit-Rupam and Anindya-Kaushik performed decently to competently in this round but Kaushik Ganguly, representing his team, outshone others. Dev used his guessing skill to come up with a good performance. The other teams were represented by Abir, Rituparna, Srijit, Kaushik Sen and Param.

 

 

 

 

As expected, Kaushik Ganguly and Mimi Chakraborty were the winners. This marks Kaushik second win in this contest. Parambrata and Paoli ended as the runners up. Dev-Subhashree ended well. The final tally:

Team 1- Abir & Jisshu: 50

Team 2- Rituparna & Joya: 50

Team 3- Srijit & Rupam: 30

Team 4- Anindya & Kaushik Sen: 35

Team 5- Kaushik Ganguly & Mimi: 65

Team 6- Parambrata & Paoli: 55

Team 7- Dev & Subhashree: 50

Every team was called and given away a memento and other prizes. Soumitra Chattopadhyay was called to do the initial honours. Param probably loved the dark glasses so much that he continued wearing it. I couldn’t wait to catch the winners receiving the trophy as it was quite late. You can catch it on Ananda Plus or the Anandabazar Patrika website www.anandabazar.com.

 

 

 

The dinner was hosted by Oh! Calcutta. We walked into the clubhouse to sit and eat. It was a pleasant surprise to see the biggest of all stars closely- Saurav Ganguly enjoying his meal surrounded by a constant stream of visitors- common people to celebrities. Everybody who was there seemed to want to say ‘Hi’ to him. He figured high on the selfie wishlist. These few moments took the enjoyment of the pleasant evening a few notches higher.

#BioscopeyBajimat #AnandaPlus #AnandabazarPatrika #CelebrityQuiz #BengaliCinema #FilmQuizKolkata

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.