FACTS NEWS VIEWS

Rejuvenating Bengal School of Art
It is time for the premier institution 'Asiatic Society' at Calcutta to express their humility they inhabit, towards the invaluable, rapidly destroying, paintings and sculptures of Bengal school of art. The society has recently acquired valuable objects of art from private collectors who were eager to giveaway to save the priceless ones from desuetude and damage. The objects will be restored and displayed for public viewing shortly. The list includes timeless pieces from Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij and others.

FACTS NEWS VIEWS

Alms and the man
Walking along the turbulent crowd of 'Police Bazaar' in Shillong one may easily miss him but not his music. Somkanta Roy is a blind who literally thrives on mere begging after his superannuation from 'Assam Rifles', a paramilitary organisation serving north-east India. It was a fiercely emotional experience to find the blind man singing Rabindrasangeet (Songs of Tagore), one after the other. Even at seventy-five he easily recalls the pages of Swarabitan (A series of volumes on musical notes pertaining to Tagore's songs), which he rigidly follows. There was a sense of relief to know that a hotel owner provides him and his physically challenged wife a free space to sleep. Joy does reside along with sadness. Otherwise good Samaritans from the State Bank of India wouldn't have bothered to raise funds to buy Roy a harmonium he had lost. You can never make him sing a Hindi film song, he utters with a sigh of satisfaction. His one time acquaintance with 'Calcutta Blind School' wayback in 1947 brings him to tears. How many such individuals do you find on the streets of Calcutta? Is it not enough to put to shame those who think are the only ones who uphold the rapidly declining culture of Bengal.

FORGOTTEN AND UNCARED FOR

A learned man's house

Imagine yourself, back in early sixties in Calcutta. Mind the city's name , it was Calcutta then and not Kolkata. Never would you find a slang word around while walking down the streets. Taken the left turn, beside the presently shutterd "Sutripti Mistanna Bhandar" (the sweet meat shop) on the Gariahata main road, you still will find that nostalgic look. Old buildings are there, though many of them half broken, crumbling or their electricity turned off. Some changed into modern establishments called flats. Even now I recall stopping by a well lit portico on the right. A rich man's house where large ball shaped lampshades hung. A durwan manned the huge gates, carefully closed. My father would stop there, expecting me to look carefully, more carefully than I would as a child. A house so clean, cinematic, out of the world, yet so solemn and eternally untarnished. I wondered why didn't my father allow me a glimpse of the dweller of that mesmerising building. Now I do. People had so much respect for the man sitting inside, that they preferred a world of silence around. You were not supposed to bother a respected, educated man in those days without a genuine cause. It was the seat of learning and the pinnacle of human culture and taste, I was told. You were only to walk past and pay your respect. The dhoti clad man sitting inside was Prof. Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, a man so learned yet so humble. The present generation will never know that he was the true 'last man standing' in linguistics. The lights are still shining but its not the light that would dwell upon a sense of humility in you. I am not sure whether any of the Chattopadhayas stay there or not. The two floors have turned into a a garment shop 'Fabindia'. It is likely the least thing the learned man was interested in.

FORGOTTEN AND UNCARED FOR

202
There is nothing in this number which can decant you from a world of electronic nonsense into a poetic slumber but a nostalgic walk on a sunday morning from Deshapriya Park to Gariahata in Calcutta will put you in tears. I believe you to be a literary by heart reading this blog. It's 202 Rashbehari Avenue, a house defaced worst than those by hypocrit political graffitis. It is hard to walk along this southern pavement on a weekday. You can't even notice the house obnoxiously cramped behind innumerable makeshift shops many of them proudly displaying cheap undergarments for sale. In true sense this house is in a dilapidated state. The best way is to locate the shops (see photograph) and the narrow interface leading to this hallmark establishment. Buddhadev Bosu the poet, who lived in this house affectionately named it "Kabita Bhavan" (eng. House of poetry). It was a long acquaintance from 1937 to 1966. You won't have to be a believer of supernaturals to be enthralled by 202. Just close your eyes, hold your breath and lean on the walls, pressing hard your ears on them. You can still hear vibrant emotions of Samar Sen, Jibanananda Das, Bishnu Dey, Samaresh Basu and galaxies of literatis, flowing. (also read BOOKS and BOOKS)(also read FACTS NEWS VIEWS)

REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

At the North Gallery of Academy of Fine Arts in Calcutta, an exhibition on Satyajit Ray, started from 19th January, 2008. It’s likely for the first time Calcuttans are experiencing Satyajit’s days (1940-1950) at D.J.Keymer, the reputed advertising agency which was situated at Calcutta. Ray’s layout of ‘Jabakusum Hair Oil’ reminds one of Calcutta in 1940’s and 50’s. There is a unique collection of title cards from Ray’s film ‘Kanchendzonga’ (1962). Ray himself had drawn the pictures and had used a font looking similar to that used in Sikkim and Bhutan. This shows how much complete he was in making a film. The original exhibit of Ray’s design of ‘Ek-khon’ magazine’s cover, made from a simple paper, hand cut and not cut by scissors, gives idea of his imaginative powers. Then there were those inventions of fonts namely ‘Ray Roman’, ‘Bizarre’ etc (1976-77) literally forgotten by the common men today. A close look at the 'Holiday Script' tells you how descriptive he was in communicating the leisurely mood of a man free from his daily commitments. Viewers are aware how Ray explicitly made diagrams detailing each step his camera and crew members would follow much before he had communicated his plans to his fellowmen. One can appreciate details of such schedule while he was filming ‘Sonar Kella’. At the bottom of this poster you will find scribblings like KAMU, R.K made by Ray. It is likely he was recalling his favourite anti-hero Kamu Mukerjee.

Ray had gathered immense practical knowledge and technical ability in visual art while working at D.J. Keymer. He had literally toyed with every branch of arts and fine art before his final productive years in films disapproving the saying that rolling stone gathers no moss. His noteings in pencil like ‘Reduction’ on cover design of his book “Badsahi Angti” (1966) , ‘ 5 ½’ , ‘on zinc’ on the layout “Halum” , ‘pashapashi dui patai jabe’ (eng. To be covered in two pages) , ‘9``’ on the layout “Hatyapuri” are examples of his in depth knowledge in printing and book designing. Even he has made a note in pencil ‘Pierce’ , where to put the binding material. He kept a note of all his thoughts, even what not to do. On the layout of book “ Hypnogen” he wrote ‘Ei blokta kalikai pathano hobe na’ (eng. This block is not to be sent to Kalika). Even the size of the block ‘12``’ is seen noted. The unused hoarding design of his film “Devi” (1960) is a rare display. You will be surprised to know that even the half moon shaped glass window on the door you see in his film “Ghare Baire” was designed by him. If you look closely at the layout planned by him on the sets of “Goopy Gayen, Bagha Bayen” you will find intentionally lightly sketched with a pencil, pictures of three spotlights, placed at different angles. Only a detailed research will enlighten us about his plans. He was keen in detailing the wizard’s room in “Goopy Gayen…”. The film being in black and white, he has used only a pencil in his sketching. A diagram of two rectangles put one above the other at right angles to each other, occupying the upper right corner of this layout is a mystery. How he has used the road plan of Darjeeling in his film “Kanchendzonga” tells us how scientific and logical his mind was. Of all these drawings, a small sketch of a sculpture from Ellora caves in Maharashtra, will tell you how matured his fingers were when he was barely twenty.

A film poster designed by him for the film ‘Satranj Ki Khiladi’ (Chess Players), which was finally not used by Ray, deserves a look because even the discarded ones from this master look the best in the world. The bold letters bearing the name of the film resemble the pieces on a chess board expressing completeness in his imagination. His imagination showed immense restraint that never went naive. Similarly the fonts used in the cover designing of the book "Birbaler Galpo" (eng.Story of Birbal) mimic the Urdu script simply because Birbal was a Musalman and spoke Urdu.

Credit goes to the organisers undoubtedly but Sandip Ray, Ray's son, who is also a film maker, deserves a praise without prejudice for carefully and meticulously preserving Ray's originals. Hats off to him. ( See posts in VISUALS. Photographs courtesy Ray's exhibition. )

FORGOTTEN and UNCARED FOR

There are innumerable reasons why people forget a place. There is no dearth of such places in Calcutta. Some of them are remembered once a year with much enthusiasm. Let us have a positive attitude towards them. The only way to avoid losing them for ever.

VISUALS

"Amrita Sher-Gil's house at Kasauli" read FACTS NEWS VIEWS

"Sculpture from Ellora Caves (1941)" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
"Story of Birbal's cover design" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
Unused poster of film "Devi" (1960) Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
"Unused poster of film Satranj Ki Khiladi" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

"Ek-khon" magazine cover design. Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
"At D.J.Keymer" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
"Title card of film Kanchendzonga" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

"Dance of Ghosts from Goopy Gayen..." Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

"Drawing from Prof.Shanku's Book" Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY

Read REVISITING RAY AT ACADEMY
Old Deputy Commissioner's office at Karwar, India now turned into Dy.Superintendant of Police's office.Tagore stayed here. (Read FACTS NEWS VIEWS post)







A gift of appreciation from Tagore on release of O.C.Gangoly's Hindi book of poems (1936). It read " I am happy to see your book containing poems and drawings.I congratulate you for this effort. "

( Read article "Advancement of modern art in Europe by O.C. Gangoly" )