Sudarshana Dhar
I wish you had been in peace
You passed on your restlessness
To your womb
I was born a fidgety, restless being
I wish you had been in peace
When you carried me in your arms
Rocking me with a song
Of a mother who left for heaven,
Leaving her …
Mala Majumder (English department, 1982)
Thirty years is a lot of time, yet it seems only the other day that we were a part of so much that happened. When I sit to recollect, memories flood my mind and I almost choke with emotions. Memories of experiences which later on helped to shape my p…
Gautam Das
It was 1984. I had just enrolled in Jadavpur University as a first year student in Civil Engineering. Apart from pursuing higher studies, it was my dream to represent my university in cricket. But I did not know anyone who could guide me. One day I decided to take my chance and wen…
Ratnottama Sengupta
Last year in March I was in Satkhira, a small village in the Khulna district of Bangladesh just across the check post at Bhomra. For those who revel in saris, a mere mention of Bangladesh spells visions of Dhaka's Jamdani. But I was on the sets of Sankhochil, an Indo-Bangl…
Amal Chakrabarti
A memorable trip
Every moment of a trip to Howrah Station from Balasore in a passenger train during a sultry afternoon of 1988 will forever remain etched in my memory. In those days a DRDL team returning to Hyderabad via Kolkata after conducting a successful mission of f…
Julu Sen
"Multiple Intelligence (MI) refers to a learner-based philosophy that characterize human intelligence as having multiple dimensions that must be acknowledged and called Stanford-Binet, founded on the idea that intelligence is a single, unchanged developed in education. Traditional IQ…
Madhab K. Chattopadhyay
Importance of herbal medicines
The plant kingdom is a vast repository of medicinal substances. The healing potential of plant-derived chemicals was aptly appreciated by people in the ancient civilizations. That is why a substantial portion of the traditional medic…
Saswati Sengupta
In my childhood, I never met mosquitoes in the industrial town where I was brought up. I saw its picture in a hygiene book and I knew that one such tiny variety is responsible for malaria. The city was so clean that we never had to use mosquito net while sleeping and so, maki…
Sumit Basu
As we advance in age and the future gradually looks dimmer, we tend to depend more on finding solace from memories, whether bright or otherwise.
I was single. I was older than what is usually considered to be the marriageable age. Why did I not marry? Well, that will be narrated so…
Koyal Roy
I was 10 years old, more or less. That day, I had a dance performance at my school concert. It was a solo performance, scheduled in the afternoon. My mother was supposed to come to school during lunch break and dress me up.
For some reason she was late. I left my class after lunch,…
Aditi Chakraborty
It was 2020.
"Baghada, I think you should carry an extra pair of skins and ropes for your dhol. You don't really know what might await us on planet Prasinos", said Goopi.
Bagha, engrossed in thought, absent mindedly replied, "Hmm".
Well, this strange conversati…
Aindrila Chatterjee
Somesh tried to ignore the little beeps coming from the bedside table. Though he had turned his mobile device in silent mode, somehow he always knew when ever there was a slightest signal from the social media. A few days ago, his automatic reaction would have been to head…
Arunlekha Sengupta
Naina dreaded the overnight bus journeys. The trip home was always meticulously planned; the joy that she carried in her heart for her home-going reflected in the way she packed. The clothes were all butterfly coloured, the fabric light and happy; her light backpack hummed …
Anindita Chowdhury
"Damu, why didn't you get married?" Titas asked in a solemn voice.
"Umm, huh?" Damu or Damini answered somewhat absent mindedly.
"Dammmuuu" Titas raised her voice by a few decibels. Damu was actually her aunt, her mother's sister but none of her nephews or nieces address…
Suman Dhar
NETI, NETI by Anjum Hasan. (First Published in 2009 in India by IndiaInk Roli Books)
I had never read Anjum Hasan before, but that is my short- coming. According to the introductory paragraph in the book, her earlier novel 'Lunatic in my head' and the book of poems 'Street on the …