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Announce An Event
Do you own a dancing school? Are you opening a restaurant? Is a program of yours going to be staged soon? Do you want to announce a college reunion? Is the Durga Puja in your para a success?
Please, please announce/share any such lifestyle/sport event with the readers of KolkataMusing. Bring delight to them.
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Let’s face it. It’ll be a cardinal sin if you’re not making money on the Indian stock market. Your portfolio may be small, just about a few lakhs of rupees or may be lesser, or as big as one running into tens of lakhs of rupees. HNIs (or high net-worth individuals) may pardon me – they can deploy their money with top fund managers.
I’m talking about SNIs or small net-worth individuals, those that flock to the stock market as the last group of entrants when the prices have already reached stratosphere, only to burn their fingers as the prices crash while the biggies cash in their profits.
If you are one of these SNIs, take heart. You may be late to join the party, but still you can hope to make money as things now stand. The portent is pretty good, and there is fair chance that the moneymaking bandwagon will continue to roll forward for quite some time to come.
Why am I so gung-ho? Is it that I’ve some inside knowledge that many others don’t?
The answer is I’ve my eyes and ears open that allow me to consume the same stories that everyone does, and while doing so I’m able to retain certain parts of them to make what is popularly called ‘informed’ decisions.
Okay, let me touch the ground before taking off again.
We all know things like India’s high level of growth, burgeoning middle class, increasing penetration of items like mobile phones among semi-urban and rural populace, growth in malls and plexes, and suchlike.
Some of these are not apparent to eyes like high level of growth and burgeoning middle class. Others are clearly visible like the malls, the plazas, the highrises, the plexes, and the popularity of mobile phones.
What these mean is that a portion of our populace has good amount of money with them to spend on whatever they feel like. And this money they have earned by working somewhere, which is to say that money-earning activities have increased and is continually increasing.
Money-earning activities increase when economic activities increase, which in turn increase when people with money are willing to spend or hawk theirs to earn more profits.
Coming to the point, from all indications it is becoming clear that India stands on the threshold of ginormous – meaning gigantic+enormous – economic progress, something never seen in the country.
Take Japan’s remarkable post-WW2 economic miracle that catapulted the nation’s economy from shambles to dizzy heights. During this time the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s bellwether index, the Nikkei-225, rose almost unabated for about 4 decades to reach an all-time high of nearly 39,000 in December 1989.
Our northern neighbor, China, too has been growing at a breakneck speed since the last 2-3 decades. And as the country prepares to host the Olympics next year in Beijing, the talk is that the event is being planned as one unparalleled in living memory.
So, what’s the picture? Evidently, in Japan and China there have been sustained investments for decades at a stretch that uplifted their economy to enable them become global economic powerhouses.
India is today in the same position. Just a few days back the ET has in a pullout, called the Western Business Review, discussed about ‘10 projects that can change the face of the western region’. Mind you similar projects are happening elsewhere in the country too.
What is common to most of these initiatives is that many of these are related to the infrastructure – mainly roads, bridges, buildings, power, ports, etc. That being so, here is the first hint of making money on the bourses.
Look closely at some of the front-ranked infrastructure related stocks, like ABB, L&T, Siemens, BHEL and the likes, and you’ll see their prices have risen unbelievably in the past few months.
If you feel there is less scope of these stocks’ rising any further, you may be in for a rude jolt. Why? It’s because each of these companies are posting fabulous results and each of their order books is choc-a-bloc with new projects for several coming years at a stretch.
Companies that are in sectors like power, telecom, retail, realty, banking, housing, etc will also likely see phenomenal growth. If you visualize how Japan and China have attained sustained growth for many years, you’ll understand that a similar growth pattern is very much possible in our country.
And we’ve just started. Which means even now is not too late to join the ranks of millions in order to make money in the stock market.
Ride the fun of creating wealth. And enjoy it too.
This is that time of the year when all the places where Indians are heavy in numbers or have a say in the goings-on will glitter in lights on account of the Diwali. Though the festival of lights (I also prefer ‘sound’) is still good 10 days away, there are every signs of early festivities.
And why not? The Sensex, the barometer of how prasanna Dhanlaxmi is, is scaling highs at an unbelievable pace. The 20K summit is already climbed. One waits with bated breath to see where it will go on the day of Muhurat trading for the 'Samvat year 2064'.
Meanwhile as the expectations for loud and cheerful fireworks build up for Samvat trading, the news of Mukesh Ambani taking over the mantle of the world’s richest overtaking the celebrated duo – Gates and Buffet – has added fuel in the fire.
Here are 2 stories on what Diwali is like in Johannesburg and Washington. Will have more stories as the days near.
2 days back Deccan, the rechristened Kingfisher-Air Deccan carrier, flew into Cooch Behar, heralding a new era in Bengal’s aviation history. The fact that the local people at Cooch Behar assembled at the airport to welcome the flight in more than a decade and a half spoke volumes of their enthusiasm.
Cooch Behar used to have regular flights from Kolkata for a long time since 50s till ultimately these were stopped in the 90s for want of passengers. It was entirely expected because Bengal was then experiencing an unprecedented anti-industry wave wherein the word ‘profit’ used to be looked at with venomous suspicion.
The income of average people dropped, their aspirations nosedived, and every development whatever that be suffered undesired meddling by those who enjoyed power. The latter’s myopic view of what could be really good for the people led to mediocrity and even worse. The end result: people who thought they could live better lives started leaving the state in droves.
Things have now changed a lot. Industry is being welcomed with increasingly open arms. The decay in the system is at last being arrested bit by bit. People have started believing that earning money is after all not a sin.
Deccan’s interest to start flights to Cooch Behar firmly indicates that there is a latent demand to be tapped, and since the political meddling has reduced a great deal, the prospect looks profitable to them. If Deccan succeeds, there is no doubt others will soon follow.
In the southern fringe of the city, in Behala, a long-unused tarmac is now being readied to receive flights. Though this one will presumably be used for resuming a flying club, there are talks that even small commercial flights can make use of it.
What do all these indicate? On a day (yesterday in fact) when the US treasury secretary Henry Paulson touches down in the city to talk business on way to Mumbai, it can be safely said that Bengal – and Kolkata in particular – is now caught in the radar of international community for development. How fast? Let the time tell.
When I crossed over from ‘mahanagar.net’ to ‘kolkatamusing.com’ early this month I found that I could include polls in my blog. The first poll I selected was about what else but Rizwanur’s unfortunate death. [Photo courtesy, The Telegraph]
The question I put was ‘Will the truth behind Rizwanur case ever surface?’ My choice was obvious because not only was it a burning issue at the time the poll started, people at large also had serious doubts as to whether the case would ever be solved. This was before the CBI was ordered by the High Court to investigate the case.
As the poll progressed 5 votes were cast before the HC decision. Of these only one opined ‘most likely’ to the question (20%). Of the other 4, one each went in favor of ‘less probable’ and ‘never’, while 2 votes favored the answer ‘I doubt’.
The picture however changed dramatically after the High Court’s announcement. All 7 votes that came in this period were resoundingly hopeful as they belonged to ‘most likely’. All in all, here is the final tally.
Most likely: 8 votes (66% in aggregate) Less probable: 1 vote (8%) I doubt: 2 votes (16%) Never: 1 vote (8%)
Agreed there were not many respondents to the poll (the blog is so new you see). Yet it was unmistakable that the people’s perception changed for the better after the CBI announcement.
Meanwhile Riz’s case has caught the fancy of all the biggies of international media, the latest from The New York Times. This clearly shows the power of ‘digital age’ we now live in.
My sincere thanks goes to all who participated in the poll. Do look forward to more interesting polls in the days to come after I finish some basic overhauling of my blog.
Figure it out. A website 5 days old fetches nearly $1000 at an online auction. If you think it’s a joke, think again. Better still head off to this link.
SitePoint Marketplace is an interesting place for web professionals. There are templates for sale, domain names for sale, and of course sites for sale. A new category has just been started – Premium Sites For Sale.
Coming to the auction above, the site in question (seocrunch.com) is established on Oct 11, listed for sale on Oct 15, and sold a day later presumably for $995, the reserve price.
How is that to make a living? Salivating, no doubt. According to Brendon Sinclair of SitePoint, 3 reasons stood out for SeoCrunch.
An excellent domain name.
A lovely design.
The site has been set up and implemented.
It may not be everyone’s game to do a SeoCrunch. But, all in all, selling websites to earn some decent sum online is a good proposition. What do you say?
Here is a compilation of compelling videos on California's devastating wildfires that swallowed properties of celebrities in its wake. If you want the videos on your site, just click on the button 'embed'.
According to The Telegraph, the airline held an online charity auction to drum up publicity for the flight, SQ380, and people paid between Rs.22,175 and Rs.40.65 lakhs for their seats, raising Rs.4.99 crore for three social service bodies.
For the record, there were passengers from 35 countries, 11 among whom were Indians. While the youngest was a 10-month old boy from Singapore, the oldest was a 91-year old Californian for whom it was a dream journey because he had earlier flown in the world's first Boeing 747 commercial flight between New York and London in 1970.
Pity I could not take the photograph of the full moon last night as I was engaged elsewhere. Last evening it was when goddess Lakshmi was worshipped in every Bengali household.
The goddess is otherwise worshipped every Thursday, and coincidentally the annual ritual this year fell on a Thursday. But there was yet another pleasant coincidence.
In nearly one hundred years the moon was not as close to the earth as it has today early evening. According to available data, in the last 500 years the moon was closest to the earth on January 4, 1912 when the distance was 356,375 km.
And today early evening at 1622 hrs the moon has come as close as 356,754 km. Since it was still daylight the moon could not be seen from Kolkata. Last evening however the moon came within 356,755 km at 1732 hrs, and then the moon shone the brightest in clear sky.
Astronomers say when the moon came closest last evening there was a peripheral increase by at least 14% while its brightness increased by 30%.
Clearly for worshippers of goddess Lakshmi, yesterday was one of the best days ever. The pictures below are taken today evening at around 2000 hrs.
To US’ monopoly of giant web entities – Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, et al – China too has some matching answers. The first that comes to mind is Baidu, the vernacular search engine that ranks third in terms of searches made in August last (3.2 billion searches, 5.2% global search share).
Baidu trades handsomely on NASDAQ (BIDU) at a forward price to earnings ratio of 57.78 based on its projected 2008 income. At around $342 a share its market cap is a phenomenal $11.66 billion.
And now a piece of that cake is slated for claim by another Chinese giant-in-the-making, Alibaba, one of the web’s largest trade portals.
Alibaba’s IPO opened this Monday, and it is going to be the biggest tech IPO since the search giant Google raised $1.66 billion in 2004. Sensing a robust demand for its scrip, Alibaba revised the IPO price to the band between $1.54 and $1.73 a share.
This means the company can raise $1.49 billion based on the upper price band, and in fact it has the option of raising more subscriptions after the IPO trading.
At the time of IPO Google had priced its share at a P/E multiple of 90, while that of Alibaba ranges far higher – between 94.5 and 106.3 times the 2007 earnings.
Pursuant to its sterling Q3 performance, Google quotes at 52.39 P/E multiple even as the forward P/E remains at an attractive 32.66 times.
Will Alibaba do an encore like Google? Only time will tell. If it does it will indicate that the tech stocks still rule the roost, and that is good for Indian tech stocks as well, which are seeing severe beating on the face rising rupee against dollar.
A little over 7 months separate its inaugural flight from the first commercial flight. While the first one was a trans-Atlantic voyage from Toulouse to Los Angeles, the second one today is across the Indian Ocean. Well, the story is about the A380.
Singapore Airlines becomes the first company to fly the giant A380 on its maiden commercial journey from the nation-state to Sydney. Today is historic because never before such a huge airplane of the size equivalent to 8-storey building in height and an entire football field in width has flown with passenger traffic.
Several big pujas I made rounds of in the daytime turned into huge crowd pullers as the day wore on. And though one may argue the lighting at the pandals is equally enchanting, I’ve always felt it is still not worth the long queues, traffic snarl, lost time, and grimy sweating that you invariably face in the evenings.
Instead I ventured out when the traffic was at the minimum and compromised not seeing lighting with minutely checking out the pandals with all the time at my disposal.
I always liked the grandeur and artistry of puja pandals in Kolkata. Durga Puja epitomizes the perfect setting for showing off the skill, and the range of works on display simply takes one’s breath away.
Say anything if you rue that the old bonhomie is no longer apparent, or that there is too much of commercialization, or feel exasperated that the crowd is overwhelming. But the bottomline is still the same – you just can’t remain indoors and afford not to see them.
Which is why come what may the puja days see people of all ages from any background (caste, creed, religion, or nationality) throng the pandals to take in their beauty to their heart’s content. Not a wonder that Maa Durga’s puja is termed ‘sarbojanin’ (for all).
Here I’ve 3 images of the designs of the inner roof of the pandals – Singhi Park, Ekdalia Evergreen and Suruchi Sangha.
Well that is the motto that Doostang prides in. Doostang is a job site that is shaped as a social network for job placement. But the site is not for all.
When I tried to make a go, pat came the reply that the site was not available to be seen by people from my country. Scratching the surface I find the site is an old place probably exclusively for people from MIT and Stanford University. The idea has been to use the Internet to help former university members in obtaining good positions with companies or organizations.
The one thing that comes clear from the site and a related video below is that nearly 70% of all jobs are filled in through referrals. Just as well.
But pray what happens to persons who are really skilled but have no one to refer them? Are there sites that offer anonymous referrals? It may be something like you know a person is really good for a post but would rather prefer anonymity when you refer him or her.
Discerning watchers who are regular witness to how the Internet has evolved over the last decade firmly believe that it’s still in an early stage. Those who have embraced this fast-becoming all-pervasive medium of communication beyond simply searching and emailing are considered a step or 2 ahead of others in realizing their dream goals.
For now let the dream goal be how to make more money online. This week let me deal on earning money through hawking your expertise. No, it’s not online tutorials (I’ll come to it may be next week) wherein you offer your mathematics knowledge online every night to a set of students.
Rather hawking your expertise as meant here is offering brief one-off solutions where you charge your client on per-minute basis. A similar example is that of Yahoo! Answers, a great help by all means, but there the interaction is not live and there is no money to be earned.
In contrast BitWine is like a community platform where you as an expert offer your advice on any subject you’re comfortable with, and charge money for it. Know more at how BitWine works.
How are you paid? It’s better you get a PayPal account so that you can accept payment from virtually anywhere around the globe. In addition you may also get a Skype account that would facilitate talking to your clients live through the Internet.
In December last BitWine has commenced partnering with Skype to offer the "BitWine Taskbar Skype Edition" that is fully integrated into Skype 3.0, which allows users (like you or your client) to provide paid advice or instantly purchase the advice or knowledge urgently needed using Skype and PayPal.
I haven’t personally tried BitWine. So I may not comment on how fast you can make money through it. If any of my readers has tried it, do send in your comments.
However, in order to succeed online you ought to consider 2 important points.
One, as said in my last week’s post, do have a website of yours because that is where you can build your credentials that can be seen by your BitWine and other clients before they choose your service.
Two, establish multiple sources for making money online. BitWine is one. There can be others.
Will come back next Sunday. Until then goodbye, and best wishes.
At Mudiali there is no beating drums about themes for Durga Puja. There is mostly no pomp, grandeur, or shouting from rooftops. The fare is mostly simple yet grand. Mudiali Club's puja reminds one of a well-laid plan nicely executed, a cohesive unit at work, and excelling at whatever model is chosen. For me seeing Mudiali's puja is spending well my precious time.
It’s not that I targeted this puja. But when I happen to pass by it on Manoharpukur Road this morning, I can’t help but pause a while to see the puja. The façade resembles an old castle – an old rage among Kolkatta’s famed pujas – and it’s well made.
What however steals your attention is the debi protima that looks splendid. Judge for yourself.
If you’re linked in, you may have a half-chance. If not, have no fear. Just tread to Maddox Square on the puja days. There is a fair chance you’ll come across your old pal.
If luck is not in favor, you may meet the pal of your pal or someone who happens to know where your once-upon-a time next-door sweetheart lives. Maddox Square livens up the true spirit of stocktaking whether 2 years or 2 decades old with equal élan.
To me the Maddox Square puja represents another tradition. It’s perhaps the only puja where you still get to see kuchir kaaj – repetitive small folds of decorating cloth made into nice designs – on the inside. This famous Bengali handiwork is today largely forgotten in favor of pre-made decorative panels.
If yesterday was dry today is bright. Kolkattans have today woken up to a dazzling sunlit morning. The sky is clear, a gentle breeze blowing that indicates there is less likelihood of rains.
The newspapers have dutifully mentioned the rush of pandal hoppers the entire day yesterday, but the big news is that the CBI has registered a case of murder against the Todis for the unfortunate death of Rizwanur Rahman.
As I write this I can hear slokas being recited through the loudspeaker at our para pujo. The Mahanabami is underway in just the right spirit. There is no doubt the day awaits people thronging the pandals in full force. Meanwhile here is an account of my visit to the Badamtala puja last morning.
Badamtala puja is a must-see if only because it always tries to do something new, something innovative and less traversed. Guess there are great creative minds that work for each year's puja.
This year too it's no different. The pandal depicts 'deblok', or heaven where millions of gods and goddesses reside. Wonder if we the earthly people will ever get a chance there! If not, I do not mind, for I've visited the pandal and immensely liked it.
Note the video looks dark, but click on it, you'll see the puja clearly.
Early morning today the Durga Puja pandal at the Pocket 40 of Chittaranjan Park in Delhi caught fire, and it took the fire tenders nearly 45 minutes to extinguish it. Predictably, a pall of gloom has descended at the place.
Fire in Delhi puja pandals is however not new. Several years back the B-Block puja pandal was completely gutted because of a devastating fire. The pandal that year was built on a massive scale like the ones seen in Kolkata. However the fire so much affected the organizers that from next year the B-Block puja would have pretty simple pandals.
In Delhi, what normally happens (at least in CR Park pujas) is that a huge shamiana is built under which everything is accommodated – the idols, the stage where functions take place, numerous commercial stalls, and even the makeshift kitchen.
The Mela Ground puja that attracts huge crowd right from Mahasosthi Anandamela including Delhi’s who’s whos’ is a big testimony to such arrangements.
Not a wonder therefore that the pandals are not only a fire’s delight but also if it happens the entire place gets gutted very soon. The Pocket 40 puja has houses around very close to the pandal. Lucky the people there are because the fire could be extinguished this morning before it could spread and do much damage.
In my young days the only pujas in the north that drew us from the south of the city used to be those of Vivekananda Sporting Club and Simla Byam Samity, both in Maniktala. Of course we would also see Bagbazar Sarbojanin, and if mood permitted, the pujas at Ahiritola and Kumartuli.
Now, the only puja in Maniktala area that I like is at Chaltabagan Lohapatty. This year too is not an exception. The fact that it makes good use of limited space it has on the footpath of Rammohan Sarani speaks a lot about the organiser’s ability. The pandal here is in the form an old-fashioned bojra or country-ship in which Maa Durga sets sail in all majesty.
The newspaper says Suruchi Sangha's budget this year is around Rs.9 lakhs. If so, it's evident in their entire puja setup.
Suruchi Sangha is located at New Alipore petrol pump. It shot into prominence a few years ago on the back of their silver jubilee celebration (if my memory serves me right). Since then there’s no looking back.
This time the puja is modeled after Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram, and it must be said they worked really hard to make the concept a success. See for yourself in the photographs and a short video below. It's sheer class written all over.
An inkling of sort was available when comScore made public its findings of Google totally dominating the global search scene. As much as 37.1 billion global searches including YouTube’s 5 billion were made through Google out of a total of 61 billion searches in August last.
In percentage terms Google’s global search share is an overwhelming 61% even as other search giants like Yahoo and MSN trail far behind. If you extrapolate August’s search figures for the quarter from July to September, Google’s search figures conveniently cross one hundred billion.
With so high use of its facility it is no wonder that Google’s results will also be eye-popping, which is mainly on account of its dominant share of online ad market.
Its Q3 results announced yesterday indicate that that its net earnings for the quarter has risen to $3.01 billion, a 61% jump year-on-year. The per-share earning also shows a healthy rise to $3.91. Incidentally, both the earnings beat the analysts’ estimates.
For once it appeared the puja days would be awash with ungodly rains. Such was the intensity this morning that all hopes of enjoyment during the 3 main puja days vanished in the thin air.
I ventured out on a personal work, and all I could see everywhere were dismal faces decidedly downcast at the prospect of watery puja. Then, at around 3 in the afternoon, the sky started clearing.
The sun peeped out tentatively through thinning veil of clouds, and though many places had accumulated ankle-deep water, the mood of the people changed for the better.
Now, as the evening is getting old, people are streaming out on the road from all sides, making good of the time lost in the morning. As I sit at home and write this I’ve no doubt there are the usual traffic snarls on the road at places where popular pujas are located.
It’s being a surprisingly eventful day so far the weather is concerned. As the saying goes, all is well that ends well. Let us hope so, fervently.
Here are some glimpses of Ekdalia Evergreen puja this morning. The video inside was taken when people were offering pushp-anjali. At that very moment it was raining torrentially outside.
Come some 7 years from now to the city with no particular address to take refuge, chance is you’ll be heading to EM Bypass to lodge at one of the many hotels that will dot the arterial road. And mind you all of these hotels will be at least 5-star properties, if not better, vying for your attention.
As of now there’s ITC Sonar Bangla opposite Science City, and at Kadapara adjoining the giant Salt Lake Stadium is the Hyatt Regency.
Among the new ones the first off the block will be twin 5-star hotels on the nearly 7-acre plot beside ITC Sonar Bangla to its north that was acquired by the Emaar-MGF Group last year. The 2 hotels here will be Holiday Inn Bangla and the exclusive JW Marriot, both with 250 rooms each.
Close to Emaar-MGF plot is coming up DLF’s 600-room, Rs.500 crore hotel with Hilton. And at the Ruby Hospital crossing the place from where the 3-wheeler autos start for Gariahat will see massive activities in the form of 200-room Taj Gateway Hotel coming up.
If these are not sufficient, there is more. The grapevine has it that the 5-acre plot in Chandra Garden opposite the Science City on the eastern side of the Bypass that has just been acquired by the LIC will house a 5-star hotel apart from other buildings.
There may be more as the development of the entire stretch on Bypass speeds up. Did anyone imagine even 2 years back that there would be at least 7 top-notch hotels in the city in one particular stretch only? No doubt the story in Kolkata is fast changing.
Not long back whenever one wanted to inquire if you’ve taken an insurance cover on your life, he would invariably ask, “Did you do LIC?” In those days the insurance sector was not opened for private participation, so therefore there was no choice for taking out a life insurance except from LIC.
Now the picture has changed. Lots of companies have come to with wide range of offers. Yet it would be fairly often that one still says, “Did you do LIC?”
Brand value is not the only strength of LIC. As events have proved, LIC has mustered an enormous financial muscle after insurance privatization. It is a very strong player on the bourses, and now it seems LIC is also becoming a big-time realtor.
In the recent keenly followed KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) auction of the 5-acre plot opposite Science City on EM Bypass, LIC has emerged winner with a record price of Rs.276.2 crore, which translates to Rs.55.24 crore an acre.
This is a stupendous price considering that only a year back when the Emaar-MGF Group acquired a 6.24-acre property beside ITC Sonar Bangla at the rate of Rs.34.13 crore an acre, it was labeled an outlandish price.
According to reports there were 57 companies that bought the bid documents for this property. This included the famed biggies like Reliance and DLF. But as the D-day neared, 55 of them decided not to submit bid since they thought KMC’s floor price of Rs.275 crore was way too high.
Their gamble didn’t pay off since KMC decided to go ahead anyway, which is how LIC has landed the prized plot. The only other final contender was the Apeejay Surrendra Group’s Park Hotel but they were successfully outbid by the LIC.
What will LIC do with the prestigious acquisition? That unfolds in the next story.
The drummers trooping in at the pandal for the first time this puja announce their arrival by a quick rendering early morning even as I take the pictures again (refer, Themed puja).
Protima has been installed though Maa is yet to be 'armed'. That will happen later in the day after bodhan, that is welcoming the mother.
Meanwhile as the drums beat, children from nowhere come rushing wide-eyed with hope, joy, and surprise. They talk animatedly about the plans to enjoy the coming days. Like every year this year too the festivities are here. The puja at long last begins.
Somehow I never to cease to get awed by the massive steel frame of the Howrah Bridge every time I happen to pass through it. I also rue that the magnificence of the bridge, the majesty of the ever-flowing river beneath, and the beauty of the grand façade of the Howrah Station get paled by everything unruly that goes on every minute at the place.
Blessed are those who appreciate and upkeeps the beauty. Cursed are those who scupper that with all the deliberation at command. We the Kolkattans belong to the latter category.
Here’s a snap of the bridge as I passed through it recently, and thereafter a breezy video taken by my son.
Gusty wind flowed the entire day yesterday. It rained at selected places – more in the south of the city than in the north. And suddenly it felt quite cold as if it heralded the onset of winter.
People however kept their fingers firmly crossed. It rained so much this year – and till just a fortnight back – that no one was willing to stick out neck and say this puja will see dry days.
Meanwhile, last-minute touches are being applied at all the pandals and in places where there’ll be heavy footfalls like every year. The papers have come out with their findings about which pujas are the most attractive.
Anandabazar Patrika for example has accorded extraordinary status to only 2 pujas – Belur Math and Bagbazar Sarbojanin. It is apparent they want to steer clear from controversies, and therefore played safe by declaring no third extraordinary puja.
Those they declare as must-sees are Ahiritola Sarbojanin (pandal made in bamboo and leaves), College Square (Sai Baba temple; lighting), Ekdalia Evergreen (Akshardham temple of Ahmedabad), Badamtala Aashar Sangha (theme: heaven), New Alipore Suruchi Sangha (Sabarmati Ashram), Khidirpur 25 Palli (Sun meeting earth), Barisha Club (ceramic effect), Sitalatala Kishore Sangha (world under Maa’s blessings), and Salt Lake FD-Block (Hary Potter’s Hogwarts Palace).
