Museum of the Moon at Kolkata

"At night, I open the window and ask the moon to come and press its face against mine. Breathe into mine. Close the language-door and open the love-window. The moon won't use the door, only the window." ~Rumi

An artificial moon, measuring seven meters in diameter and featuring detailed imagery on the surface of the moon was in my city, Kolkata on the 17th and 18th of February. The beautiful artificial moon, known as "Museum of the Moon" is a brilliant artwork by Luke Jerram that is gaining adulation from all over the world. 

The Museum of the Moon traveled to 5 cities in India on the month of February including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Udaipur, Kolkata, and New Delhi. It will travel all around the world in the forthcoming days, enthralling millions of people. 

At Kolkata, it was displayed outside the iconic Victoria Memorial which made it a stunning visual delight. Thousands of people flocked in front of the north gate of Victoria Memorial Hall to view this marvelous piece of art. British Council has made it possible for us to gaze at the Museum of the Moon in India. 

As soon as I heard that Museum of the Moon will be at Kolkata, I couldn't stop myself from rushing to the Victoria Memorial on the 17th February. A musical function was also held in front of Museum of the Moon in the evening of 17th Feb. 

The acclaimed singer-pianist duo of Kolkata, Soumyajit and Sourendra delighted the audience as they sang songs dedicated to the moon which included a few Tagore songs, ghazals, and old Bollywood songs. They ended the function singing the Gayatri mantra, followed by the song "Mile sur mera tumhara" to symbolize the unity and beauty of several cultures in India.  

The musical performance along with the beauty of the moon made the ambiance surreal. Moreover, the wonderful weather of February and the gorgeous Victoria Memorial made it an evening to remember. It made me reflect on the beauty and the serenity of the moon. It also made me nostalgic as I remembered about some of the most beautiful moonlit nights of my life. That evening had the magic to turn anyone poetic. I was so entranced that couldn't wait to scribble a few lines on the moon after returning home. 

When the artist, Luke Jerram was asked about the India tour of "Museum of the Moon", he said, "We are thrilled to be in India and would love to observe and contemplate cultural similarities and differences while simultaneously also considering the latest moon science in the country. The India visit of the "Museum of the Moon" is not only an opportunity of the public to have a close experience with the moon, but also for us to get a deeper understanding of the moon's cultural significance in the country."

To know more about the "Museum of the Moon", visit https://my-moon.org/

"Tell me the story...

About how the sun loved the moon so much

That she died every night

Just to let him breathe..." ~Hanako Ishii

Launch of WritersMelon's Jukebox at Kolkata

I am thrilled to be a part of Writersmelon's Jukebox, an anthology of 15 winning short stories of Melonade, a nationwide writing competition. Jukebox was officially launched in Kolkata on August 19, 2017. The launch was successful, despite heavy rainfall. The book launch took place in the Doodle Room, which is a cozy corner for all art, music and literature lovers of the city. 

It was great to meet Pooja, who represented Writersmelon. Deepti (my coauthor of Jukebox) and I quickly clicked a selfie with Pooja before the launch. 

As Deepti and I were discussing the topics that we will discuss in the book launch, Pooja clicked some of our candid pictures. 

Preparing for the Jukebox launch. @purba_chakraborty @dipteeraut #bookstagram #wmjukebox #booklover

A post shared by writersmelon (@writersmelon) on Aug 19, 2017 at 5:54am PDT

The event started with our brilliant host, Rei, who introduced us and the book, Jukebox to the audience. 

She invited me to talk about my story in Jukebox after the introduction. My short story "Her Favorite Pupil" is about the relationship between a teacher and a speech-impaired student. It is a story about faith and love. Sometimes, all we need in life is a person who has faith in our potential more than we have on our own selves.

I said how a visit to my paternal uncle's deaf and dumb school gave birth to the idea of this story. It was a very special story for me as I understand how a good mentor can shape up the life of a person. During my school days, I was a very shy and introvert child. I remember there was a teacher who was ruthlessly harsh with me whenever I expressed the desire of taking part in extra-curricular activities. And in the same school, I also had a teacher who inspired me a lot. 

Next, my coauthors, Deepti and Uttiya talked about their short stories in Jukebox. 

Deepti's story "A deep fried love story" is a quirky love story of a woman on diet and a man on Alur chop whose paths cross in the Metro station. They see each other every day in the Metro Station, without speaking a word, but acknowledging each other's presence. 

Uttiya's story "Marital Chains" is a dark story about marital rape. Usnis and Ankita's marriage seems ideal, but is far from perfect. Uttiya explained why he had chosen this subject for his story. He explained that he had seen his friends stuck in abusive and disturbing relationships. This is the reason why he chose to write this story as he believes that victims must speak up.

After we talked about our stories, we formally posed with the book for shutterbugs. It was a moment of pride for all of us. All the 15 stories of Jukebox deal with an interesting subject that makes this anthology a treat for book lovers. 

After the formal launch of the book, we read a few passages from our stories for the audience. The book reading session was a lot of fun. 

Thank you everyone for coming to the book launch and making it a success💜💜💜 #repost @writersmelon • • • A short snippet from @purba_chakraborty's story in Jukebox. We hope you like the excerpt and buy the book to read the full story. Jukebox is available on Amazon now. #wmjukebox #jukebox #melonade #writersmelon #readomania #shortstory #booklover #booklaunch #shortstories #authorsofinstagram #purbachakraborty #excerpt #bookreading #booklaunch

A post shared by Purba Chakraborty (@purba_chakraborty) on Aug 19, 2017 at 9:22am PDT

Although it was raining heavily that evening, the launch of Jukebox in Kolkata was a success. We wrapped up the event by signing books for our enthusiastic readers who love reading short stories. 

Had such an amazing evening at the launch of Jukebox 💜 This picture was clicked by my lovely coauthor, Diptee just before the launch 😄 #jukebox #writersmelon #booklaunch #books #bookstagramer #bookishfeature #bookishlove #bookadda #adda #books #doodleroom #readomania #wmjukebox #authorsofinstagram #authorlife #poser #saturday #instabookclub #instabook #instapic

A post shared by Purba Chakraborty (@purba_chakraborty) on Aug 19, 2017 at 8:58am PDT

Buy Jukebox here! 

Vodafone felicitates Voice of Kolkata winners on International Women's Week

Me with the goodie bag after the event

On this International Women's week, Vodafone brought an interesting contest known as the Voice of Kolkata. Women from every walk of life were told to send their voice message in 91.9 Friends Fm official WhatsApp number about what they feel about today's women and the state of women in the country. 

I couldn't stop myself from voicing my thoughts and feelings about today's women on Women's Day. This subject is so close to me as I support women empowerment and equality. I am a feminist. 

What I said in my voice message is exactly similar to my blog post that I wrote on Women's Day: Dear beautiful women, let your soul shine bright! If you haven't read it, you can check it out. I recorded the voice message in the morning of Women's Day and then in the afternoon, I thought to share it with the readers of my blog. 

On the afternoon of 13th March, I got a call from 91.9 Friends Fm informing me that I am one of the winners of Voice of Kolkata. They told me to reach the next day for an event at Vodafone Angel Store by 4 pm. 

Vodafone Angel Store is a very unique store because it is completely managed and run by women. I was absolutely delighted on reaching the Vodafone Angel Store. As I reached at 3.30 pm, they told me to wait for some time. 

I met some of the fellow winners of Voice of Kolkata and we hit it off right away. Rituparna and Jayanti were bundles of positive energy. I did not feel that I met them just a few minutes back. We talked like old pals and clicked selfies throughout the event. The reason we bonded so well was perhaps because we were there that day to celebrate women power in all its glory.

Jayanti, Rituparna and I (From L-R)

All the winners reached by 4 pm. I could spot radio jockey Arko who was there to host the event. There was a delicious chocolate cake kept for all the winners. We were invited by the Vodafone staff to cut it together and celebrate women power. 

Just before cutting the cake!

It was wonderful cutting the cake with all the independent and strong women present there. When you are in the company of like-minded people, you can't help but enjoy every single second. You can see the cake-cutting moments and our short interview in this video. 

After the cake-cutting and interview session, we bonded with each other while having our small cake party. Then the zonal head of Vodafone gave us our goodies and thanked us for voicing our strong opinion and thoughts. 

RJ Arko told four of the winners, including me, to give another short interview on 91.9 Friends Fm. We went live on air and absolutely cherished the experience. 

With the coolest RJ

Finally, the lovely evening ended with all the winners posing with RJ Arko for a group picture. 

RJ Arko with all the winners of Voice of Kolkata

I had a great evening. It was a wonderful post women's day celebration. The goodies made me smile. I got a cool backpack that will accompany me on my next vacation, a cute red umbrella, Vodafone ZooZoo mug and couple Inox tickets. 

In the midst of happiness, I wondered what a beautiful world we will have if only women empower and support each other, shedding their judgmental cloaks. 

"I always believed that one woman's success can only help another woman's success"~ Gloria Vanderbilt

Celebration of literature at the Kolkata Literary Meet

That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longing, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”~F.Scott.Fitzgerald

Being a bibliophile and an ardent literature lover, I wait for the #TataSteelKalam Kolkata Literary Meet every year to listen to my favorite authors, discover new books and attend interesting sessions. This year, the Kolkata Literary Meet was a 5 day literary festival from 25^th January to 29^th January at the Victoria Memorial Hall. The festival was inaugurated by acclaimed novelist, Anita Desai.

The literary sessions were hosted at the two venues of Victoria Memorial Hall – Son-et-Lumiere and Western Quadrangle. Some of the sessions of Tata Steel Kalam also took place at the Calcutta Club. Over 130 celebrated authors, filmmakers and thinkers from various countries assembled at the literary festival to share their thoughts and views.

I went to the Kolkata Literary Meet three days and attended some enriching sessions. On January 26th, I was fortunate to attend one of my favorite authors, Ruskin Bond’s session “Thrills and Spills” where Ruskin Bond discussed why hills are the perfect setting for murders and mystery. It was a great experience when Ruskin Bond read one of the stories from his latest book “Death under the deodars”. 

It was an amazing session, especially when the audience was given the chance to ask him questions. I asked him about one of his short stories, “The Night train at Deoli” and was overjoyed when he answered me. After his session, the audience was told that Ruskin Bond would be signing books at the author’s lounge. Finally, I got the opportunity to have a signed copy and meet my favorite author personally.

On January 27th, I attended the session “Acts of Faith” where Javed Akhtar, Tabish Khair, Mudar Patherya and Shazia Omar discussed about the challenges of Islamophobia, stereotypes and radicalization. It was a very enriching session and I especially loved hearing Javed Akhtar whose views were refined and powerful. 

Then, I attended the next session “Pink and the power of No” where  Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Andrea Tariang and Ritesh Shah spoke about the importance of the movie “Pink”. They were in conversation with author, Kunal Basu. It was a very engaging session where the audience asked plenty of questions to the director about the movie and the change it brought in the mindset of people.

I also went to the festival on the final day, 29^th January. I attended the Children’s Literary Meet Special with Indian sports’ golden boy, Abhinav Bindra and Joybeer Dutta Gupta. The Olympic gold medalist in shooting talked about his journey, his failures and success. It was very motivating when he spoke about the importance of dreams in the life of every person. He said that hard work and persistence are the only way to success. When someone from the audience asked him about the role of his parents, he said that his parents supported and encouraged him whenever he had failures and felt like giving up.

I enjoyed the session “Make up your mind” where Nandana Sen and Nabaneeta Dev Sen read poetry from their latest book “Make up your mind”. The award winning poet, Nabaneeta Dev Sen spoke about Nandana’s translations of her poetry. It was a sheer treat to see the mother and daughter bond on poetry. Overall, I had a great time at the #TataSteelKalam Kolkata Literary Festival. At the end of the festival, my literary appetite is well satiated with new books to read.

It is wonderful to see that Tata recognizes the role of literature and is contributing so much to secure the literature culture in Kolkata. The Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet brings the literary stalwarts from all corners of the world. It gives people a forum to speak their mind and interact with the authors. It encourages the lovers of literature to explore the world of ideas and words without any hesitation. The people of Kolkata look forward to the Kolkata Literary Meet every winter as it gives them the chance to rediscover or rather “readiscover” books.

No Honking : Let Art Show You The Way!

"Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change. It can not only move us, it makes us move." ~ Ossie Davis

Honking is one of the biggest causes of noise pollution. Once we hit the streets, all we can hear is the incessant honking of vehicles around us. It is not only annoying, but also very harmful for the health. The mind gets perturbed and anxiety increases. Moreover, it causes frequent headaches.

And it is not that the people horn only when it is needed. Honking has become a habit. Since I suffer from migraine, I remember having so many headaches when I am outside for a long time. The honking seems unbearable, especially during festivals such as Durga Puja.

Last weekend, I went with my friend to Acropolis Mall, Kolkata and I was pleasantly surprised to see that an exhibition on "No Honking" is taking place there.

All the paintings were done with the honest approach of making people realize how honking is affecting our lives badly. The paintings exuded honesty, intensity and brilliance. The message of each and every painting is profound, that can make a person think deeply.

Let's take a look at some of the paintings of the exhibition. 

This painting titled "Slavery" by artist Amaranth Sharma tries us to show us that our minds have become slaves of compulsive honking. We do not even realize when we honk. 

This painting "Sound of Life" by artist Nimisha Rao shows 2 comparatives: waves of horrible sound and tunes of music. The artist says that let music be our sound of life and not honking. 

The painting titled "Bau Honk Koro" by artist Prantik Chattopadhyay tells that gone are the days when we used to wake up with the chirping of birds. These days, we wake up with loud horns of school buses and vans. 

The painting "Talking to Buddha" by artist Rahul Mukherjee shows that there is so much honking these days that even Buddha would have needed ear plugs if he was here. 

This painting is known as "Ornamental Life" and is created by artist Sheetal Kaluskar. The artist says that it is not cool to flaunt who can honk more. There are far better things to flaunt.

This painting really moved me. The painting titled "Thinker" by artist Debasish Dutta questions "How will the thinker think if he is surrounded by continuous honking?"

This thought provoking painting titled "UnLove" by artist Thakere Naik says that human beings have fallen so much in love with horns that they have forgotten a beautiful world outside. This painting shows the strange love between humans and horns.

"Invite Positive" by artist Poorva Nimkar shows that in order to invite positive, we must say No to unnecessary Honking. 

"Pain" by artist Ananya Dalal shows the painful effects of honking. I could totally relate to the painting.

I am standing beside the painting called "Sound of Silence" by artist Debraj Goswami where the artist hopes for a day when we silence the sound of honking.

I had a great time watching the beautiful paintings and deciphering the message that the artists have tried to convey. However, I couldn't capture all of them due to the crowd. 

It was truly a great initiative to spread the message of "No Honking" through such brilliant paintings. 

Which painting did you like the most? Do you believe that spreading the message through art can bring some change?

The "Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai" Programme

On Saturday, 23^rd July, 2016, I attended the “Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai” programme, an initiative by Tata Motors at G.D Birla Centre for Education in Kolkata. The motto of the programme is to ensure that school children travel safely by bus to school and back to home.

Since it is such a noble initiative, I couldn’t stop myself from attending the programme. The sessions of the programme were very interactive and engaging. At first, a presentation was shown to the bus staff about how they should make sure that the school children are safe and comfortable in their bus. Through the interesting and simple presentation, the bus staff learnt how they should understand the needs of children and talk to them in a win-win approach.

The programme comprised of an interesting movie presentation, simple discussions and fun games, through which the bus staff were taught how to ensure safe travel of school children.

Movie presentation

The 5 things that were mainly highlighted in the “Hamare Bus ki Baat Hai” programme are as follows:

1.  The first thing that was talked about in the session was that the bus staff should be extremely responsible towards the school children.

2 . The second thing that was highlighted in the session was that the bus staff, including the bus driver must know the names of all the school children. This will allow the bus staff to communicate with the school children easily. 

Question/Answer session

3 . The importance of etiquette, manners and grooming was explained to the bus staff.

4. The next thing that was highlighted in the programme was how to handle emergencies and accidents. The bus drivers were told to check the condition of the bus before starting the bus. It was also told to the bus staff to carry a list of emergency phone numbers so that they can call for help, in case an emergency arises.

5. Finally, difficulties faced by the bus staff in handling school children were discussed in details. Solutions were given to each and every problem that the bus staff have to face.

Fun games

Kudos to Tata Motors for this wonderful initiative! They have already conducted close to 800 sessions in schools all over India. Safe travel of school children is extremely important. We get to hear about road accidents so frequently and therefore, I feel that this program of enlightening the bus staff about the safe travel of children is the need of the hour.

Moreover, this program will also help the bus staff to interact with the children and their parents easily. When the parents will see that the bus staff is very friendly and responsible, they can be assured that their kids are taken care of, properly by the bus staff.

The children will also be able to travel to school and back to home safely. They will not have any problem in the bus because the bus staff will communicate with them properly. 

What I really liked about the “Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai” programme was that, through fun sessions, so many things were explained and taught to the bus staff. I am sure that the programme was successful in enhancing the safety skills and communication skills of the school bus staff that day. I could really connect to the exercise and I feel that such sessions can create a very positive change in metropolitan cities where accidents are so frequent.

I am sure everyone will agree with me that the safe travel of children is very essential. As responsible guardians and citizens, we must support this initiative. Follow their Facebook page to know more about their sessions!

You can also visit the site of Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai, where you can take the pledge for children’s safe travel. This is the first thing I did after attending the program.  

I've pledged for safe travel of school children. Have you done your bit too? Pledge now: http://www.hbkbh.com/safe-travel-pledge.aspx