Shows
Sunday Suspense (Full Episodes)গৌড়মল্লার - পর্ব ২Saradindu Bandopadhyay's Gourmallar - Part 2 on Sunday Suspense Starring: Narration - Deep Manabdeb - Shaheb Chattopadhyay Bajradeb - Soumya Mukherjee Young Rangana, young Gopa - Ria Senior Rangana - Ivana Chatakthakur, Akrur Das, Barun Dutta - Arghya Basu Kuhu - Dana Bimbadhar - Somak Ray Sheelbhadra - Utpal Sarkar Manipadma, Kachhu - Agni Mahattoro Moshai, Bateshwar - Pushpal Young Bheel & guard - Arijit Mangala - Mohor Gunja - Koyeli Joynag - Shakyo Roy Rani Sheekharini - Debi Miscellaneous & chorus voices...2024-01-281h 22
Sunday Suspense (Full Episodes)গৌড়মল্লার - পর্ব ১Saradindu Bandopadhyay's Gourmallar - Part 1 on Sunday Suspense Starring: Narration - Deep Manabdeb - Shaheb Chattopadhyay Bajradeb - Soumya Mukherjee Young Rangana, young Gopa - Ria Senior Rangana - Ivana Chatakthakur, Akrur Das, Barun Dutta - Arghya Basu Kuhu - Dana Bimbadhar - Somak Ray Sheelbhadra - Utpal Sarkar Manipadma, Kachhu - Agni Mahattoro Moshai, Bateshwar - Pushpal Young Bheel & guard - Arijit Mangala - Mohor Gunja - Koyeli Joynag - Shakyo Roy Rani Sheekharini - Debi Miscellaneous & chorus voices...2024-01-211h 47
Barun’s NewsletterWhy human surrogacy is more a moral issue than a legal issueAs our own species is in the process of proving, one cannot have superior science and inferior morals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying.Arthur C ClarkePropagation is the nature of all living organisms. Starting from the microscopic unicellular organisms, to us humans, none are beyond the urge to propagate. Whatever ways we humans want to see ourselves in a different light, we are nothing but like any other living being, governed by the primordial urge to propagate ourselves through reproduction. But we have walked a long way from nature while becoming civilized...2022-01-0112 min
Barun’s NewsletterTwo deaths and a divided society - when your silence don't speakThere comes a time when the silence is more eloquent than thousand words. When the silence weighs heavily like a huge boulder on the consciousness of those on the receiving end. But this is not one of those occasions. Now is the time to speak out loud and clear, to pass on the message to those in power who have failed and are failing us since we got our independence more than 75 years back. I am talking about the terror and atrocities inflicted by our state on the hapless citizens in the name of fighting against...2021-12-1907 min
Barun’s Newsletter10 Wonderful Fictions I Read During My Growing Up YearsRecently, one of my childhood friends shared a link to a nice article. The article celebrated the 50th year of publishing of Frederick Forsyth’s, The Day of the Jackal. This classic spy thriller was published 50 years ago in 1971. The article made me nostalgic. It made me go back to my growing up years, to reminiscent of the novels I read. I was never a discerning reader. I would read anything that I could lay my hands on. And there was no dearth of books at our home when I was growing up in the1960/the 70s. Reading bo...2021-11-1126 min
Barun’s NewsletterHow Oedipus and Yayati syndrome help us understand Western and Indian cultureWe may all know the Greek mythological story of Oedipus. The story originates from the folk traditions of Albania. Finland, Cyprus, and Greece. The western culture evolved around this region over the past few millennia and influenced most of the present western thought. Like all folk and mythological stories, there are quite a few versions of the story. The most accepted version was the play by Sophocles named Oedipus Rex, which was first performed in 429 BCE, and considered as the Greek tragedy par excellence. Let me recount the story in short before I venture...2021-11-0910 min
Barun’s NewsletterKolkata's unique Durga puja themes, its social consciousness, and my musingsThe Puja festival in Kolkata has just concluded. All the excitements and anticipations are over. One sometimes feels that the anticipation, the build-up, the sense of something great and exciting about to happen, just before the puja festival, is more exciting than when the puja starts. Once the puja starts, it is over in a blink. The days pass in a blur, and suddenly we witness the Bisorjon in Dasomi. Forlorn sad feelings set in, in the hearts of every resident of Bengal and the Bengalis living far away from home. The long wait for the puja next...2021-10-3011 min
Barun’s NewsletterWhy Do We Invoke Fate to Hide Society's Apathy for the Less PrivilegedWe all know about Aesop’s Fables. The folk tales told by Aesop, a Greek slave in the pre-Christian era, and much later re-told to propagate Christian morality to all. Recently, I came across a beautiful Aesop’s story about an ass and his dissatisfied life. The story goes like this.The Story - The Ass and His MastersThis ass was highly dissatisfied with his life. His master is a herb farmer. Though the ass does not have to carry any heavy loads, yet he is not satisfied. His master would not provide enou...2021-10-1408 min
Barun’s NewsletterParks In Kolkata - A Dying Civic Facility In The Alter Of DevelopmentWould you agree that as a congested city, Kolkata does not have enough urban open space? Would you agree that whatever open space we still have around us needs preservation at any cost? Would you agree that encroachment in public places is a bane in the lives of most Kolkata residents?Most of the time, I move around in the city in my self-driven car. In self-driving mode, one is so engrossed in navigating around the congested traffic that it sometimes becomes difficult to notice changes around you unless it is directly related to the traffic. ...2021-10-1006 min
Barun’s NewsletterFear of Failure is the Pebble in our Shoes Holding Us Back ForeverIt isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wears you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. Muhammad Ali The Rumble in the Jungle is called the greatest sporting event in the 20th century. It was a heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974. George Foreman was younger, heavier, and fitter than Muhammad Ali. He was the favourite of the bookies, with Ali as a 4-1 underdog. And to top it all, he was the reigning and undefeated Heavyweight World champion at that time.In contrast, Muha...2021-10-0406 min
Barun’s NewsletterRomance of October - the month of eternal hope, goodwill, and cheersIt is that month of the year. The month of October. So dear to all Bengalis.Bengalis’ love affair with October - Sharat - is logic-defying. The blue sky with fluffy white clouds floating, rain-washed green trees and fields, the fresh bloom of Shiuli - cruciferous flower, the wave of kashful -Katkins, in English - swaying in the mild morning breeze have all a magical feel that makes all Bengalis misty-eyed. With the morning chill comes the hint of winter that the north wind brings. It does not matter where a Bengali is...2021-10-0105 min
Barun’s NewsletterGanesh Chaturthi and Hanuman Jayanti - two new kids in the blockOnly the other day, during the beginning of this month, I came across four community-organized Ganesh Puja in my neighbourhood. This is within a stretch of around three kilometres. I was surprised. Ganesh puja is highly popular in Maharashtra, as popular as Durga puja is in Bengal. Though Ganesh is worshipped even before the beginning of Durga Puja, as a part of religious ritual, yet it never was a popular deity in this part of the country. The inclusion of Ganesh puja and Hanuman Jayanti celebration in Bengal is a recent phenomenon - not even a decade old.2021-09-2312 min
Barun’s NewsletterHow would a child feel growing up with missed childhood in Kashmir?For the children of Kashmir, who know nothing of a normal childhood.Farah BashirI am sure all of you have read the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Those who have not read the book at least know about the book. Anne Frank was a young Jewish Dutch girl. Nazis were occupying the Netherlands in 1942. And she, with her family members, was hiding in the attic of her father’s office so as not to get caught by the Nazis. On her thirteenth birthday, her father had presented her wi...2021-09-1511 min
Barun’s NewsletterHow to make mediocre films from the Masterpiece storiesWhen a film is made from a well-known story of a famous writer, the filmmaker does not have many options. The first option is to follow the story as written by the author. The filmmaker must make the film as true to the original story as possible. He can, of course, take some cinematic liberties to suit his format. Cinematic idioms and language, after all, are different from the literary art form. And following the original story without changing much is usually the safest bet for a filmmaker. Immediately, two films come to mind that followed...2021-09-1109 min
Barun’s NewsletterWhy Suffer From Misery And Lead An Agonizing Life“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition. ― Martha WashingtonI sometimes wonder why a person feels miserable. For someone, misery is a constant companion. For others, it is occasional. And, of course, for a few, the feeling is absent altogether. Someone may have everything, yet she may feel miserable most of the time. And the reverse is also true. A person may not have anyt...2021-09-0209 min
Barun’s NewsletterAfghanistan, Taliban, and Human Suffering“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort.”Edward Said, Orientalism. I know I am entering into murky waters while I write this post. But I am helpless. So much dust is blowing in the social media open ground that it is becoming difficult to get the real picture. But that will take some time when the dust is settled if i...2021-08-2614 min
Barun’s Newsletter"I’M FALLING APART. CAN YOU PUT ME BACK TOGETHER?"We dread change. Don’t we all?Have you ever thought about why a child is always happy?Children embrace and welcome change without any qualms. They are so much into change that they do not even realize that they are changing every moment. Change is part of their growing-up process. No wonder children are happy most of the time.This happiness remains till they grow up. While growing up, they start to hold on to different pieces of baggage gathered around them in bits and pieces. The more they hold on to that ex...2021-08-1904 min
Barun’s Newsletter15 August 2021Since the morning, social media are abuzz with independence day good wishes. We are all busy receiving and forwarding these messages to our social media contacts indiscriminately.I am not against greeting each other to commemorate a day, especially when the day is as important as a day as our national independence. It is the right thing to do. After all, 75 years ago, today, we ceased to be a colony of a European island nation as we got our political independence. Today should also be the time to introspect and ask a few questions, even at...2021-08-1603 min
Barun’s NewsletterPrimary Education As Essential Service"In ancient shadows and twilights Where childhood had strayed, The world's great sorrows were born And its heroes were made. In the lost boyhood of JudasChrist was betrayed. " - George Willam RusselThe right to education is paramount. At no point can this fact be ignored. Our constitution has provided primary education as a fundamental right by article 21A of the constitution. Article 21A states that the education of children of the age group 6 to 14 is the responsibility of the state...2021-08-0916 min
Barun’s Newsletter"The thought sings its way into the soul"I was racking my brain what to write. To find a topic that is dear to me - on which I have something to talk about. The internet is a great place to go if you are doing any research and know what you are looking for. But nothing seems to be falling in place. Nothing seems to be quite right. If you do not know what you are looking for, what would you search for? A lot of ideas were coming but the effort to see through those ideas into a cohesive written piece was...2021-08-0404 min
Barun’s NewsletterPandemic Is A Portal“May tomorrow be more than just another name for today.”Eduardo Galeano, Children of the DaysPandemic Is A Portal. I borrowed the title of this post from Arundhati Roy’s essay of the same name. A portal is a doorway. One emerges into a changed world and realities when one passes through it.Her essay is in a political and social context. She wrote how our society would change once we emerge out of the present situation. So many things are changing around us, and so fast. Our old understandings of things...2021-07-2710 min