Author: Swati Bakshi
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
ISBN: 1482818671
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 183
Book Description
Ananya is a simple middle-class woman. This story is about her journey through thick and thin, moon after moon, her struggle, her faith, and most importantly, her spirit. It is about how she stumbled into the idiosyncrasies of society and then the rare triumph of her courage and her conviction. On her wedding night, she discovered she was married to a drug addict. A bad marriage followed despite her efforts to keep it pieced together. Without any complaint, grudge, or malice, she just took things in her stride and moved on, willingly embracing the hardships that came her way. Her only friends in her trials and tribulations were unrelenting courage and faith. As she was rebuilding her life, brick by brick, she met a stranger, Samarth, on the Internet on a lazy afternoon. They struck a chord instantly, and life again began to smile for Ananya. She saw a new meaning, a new direction, and a new dawn as their relationship slowly blossomed into love. However, the novel does not just tell the story of Ananya, but it also brings to the forefront the mind-set of our society. That it doesnt make life easier for someone wanting to live with dignity. It spreads spikes on the path.
Ananya
Author: Swati Bakshi
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
ISBN: 1482818671
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 183
Book Description
Ananya is a simple middle-class woman. This story is about her journey through thick and thin, moon after moon, her struggle, her faith, and most importantly, her spirit. It is about how she stumbled into the idiosyncrasies of society and then the rare triumph of her courage and her conviction. On her wedding night, she discovered she was married to a drug addict. A bad marriage followed despite her efforts to keep it pieced together. Without any complaint, grudge, or malice, she just took things in her stride and moved on, willingly embracing the hardships that came her way. Her only friends in her trials and tribulations were unrelenting courage and faith. As she was rebuilding her life, brick by brick, she met a stranger, Samarth, on the Internet on a lazy afternoon. They struck a chord instantly, and life again began to smile for Ananya. She saw a new meaning, a new direction, and a new dawn as their relationship slowly blossomed into love. However, the novel does not just tell the story of Ananya, but it also brings to the forefront the mind-set of our society. That it doesnt make life easier for someone wanting to live with dignity. It spreads spikes on the path.
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
ISBN: 1482818671
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 183
Book Description
Ananya is a simple middle-class woman. This story is about her journey through thick and thin, moon after moon, her struggle, her faith, and most importantly, her spirit. It is about how she stumbled into the idiosyncrasies of society and then the rare triumph of her courage and her conviction. On her wedding night, she discovered she was married to a drug addict. A bad marriage followed despite her efforts to keep it pieced together. Without any complaint, grudge, or malice, she just took things in her stride and moved on, willingly embracing the hardships that came her way. Her only friends in her trials and tribulations were unrelenting courage and faith. As she was rebuilding her life, brick by brick, she met a stranger, Samarth, on the Internet on a lazy afternoon. They struck a chord instantly, and life again began to smile for Ananya. She saw a new meaning, a new direction, and a new dawn as their relationship slowly blossomed into love. However, the novel does not just tell the story of Ananya, but it also brings to the forefront the mind-set of our society. That it doesnt make life easier for someone wanting to live with dignity. It spreads spikes on the path.
Nazrul Institute Journal
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bengali literature
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bengali literature
Languages : en
Pages : 446
Book Description
First Light
Author: Sunil Gangopadhyay
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351188884
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 995
Book Description
The sequel to the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Those Days, First Light is a magnificent novel set at the turn of the twentieth century in a Bengal where the old and young India are jostling for space. Prominent among its many characters are Rabindranath Tagore or Robi, the young, dreamy poet, torn between his art and the love for his beautiful, ethereal sister-in-law, Kadambari Devi, and the handsome, dynamic Naren Datta, later to become Swami Vivekananda, who abandons his Brahmo Samaj leanings and surrenders himself completely to his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna. The story also touches upon the lives of the men and women rising to the call of nationalism; the doctors and scientists determined to pull their land out of the morass of superstition and blind beliefs, and the growing theatre movement of Bengal, with its brilliant actors and actresses who leave behind the squalor of their lives every night to deliver lines breathtaking in their beauty. Through all this runs the story of Bharat and Bhumisuta - one an illegitimate prince, the other a slave who rises to become the finest actress of her age - who cling to their self-respect and love in a society which has little time for people like them. Grand in its scale and crackling with the energy of its prose, First Light is a rich and comprehensive portrait of Bengal, from its sleepy, slow-changing villages to the bustling city of Calcutta where the genteel and the grotesque live together. Equally, it is a chronicle of a whole nation waking up to a new, modern sensibility.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351188884
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 995
Book Description
The sequel to the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Those Days, First Light is a magnificent novel set at the turn of the twentieth century in a Bengal where the old and young India are jostling for space. Prominent among its many characters are Rabindranath Tagore or Robi, the young, dreamy poet, torn between his art and the love for his beautiful, ethereal sister-in-law, Kadambari Devi, and the handsome, dynamic Naren Datta, later to become Swami Vivekananda, who abandons his Brahmo Samaj leanings and surrenders himself completely to his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna. The story also touches upon the lives of the men and women rising to the call of nationalism; the doctors and scientists determined to pull their land out of the morass of superstition and blind beliefs, and the growing theatre movement of Bengal, with its brilliant actors and actresses who leave behind the squalor of their lives every night to deliver lines breathtaking in their beauty. Through all this runs the story of Bharat and Bhumisuta - one an illegitimate prince, the other a slave who rises to become the finest actress of her age - who cling to their self-respect and love in a society which has little time for people like them. Grand in its scale and crackling with the energy of its prose, First Light is a rich and comprehensive portrait of Bengal, from its sleepy, slow-changing villages to the bustling city of Calcutta where the genteel and the grotesque live together. Equally, it is a chronicle of a whole nation waking up to a new, modern sensibility.
Medicine and Colonial Engagements in India and Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Poonam Bala
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527511898
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
This volume examines the various modalities of imperial engagements with the colonized peoples in the former British colonies of India and in sub-Saharan Africa. Articulated through race, gender and medicine, these modalities also became colonial sites of desire addressing colonial anxieties ensuing from concerted engagements. Focussing on colonial India, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, this volume brings together essays from eminent scholars to examine the dynamics of colonial engagements and their implications in understanding their role in the dominant discourses of the empire. Given its transnational perspective in addressing colonial India and Sub-Saharan Africa, the book will appeal to historians, sociologists, and anthropologists, and to scholars and students in colonial studies, cultural studies, history of medicine and world history.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527511898
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
This volume examines the various modalities of imperial engagements with the colonized peoples in the former British colonies of India and in sub-Saharan Africa. Articulated through race, gender and medicine, these modalities also became colonial sites of desire addressing colonial anxieties ensuing from concerted engagements. Focussing on colonial India, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, this volume brings together essays from eminent scholars to examine the dynamics of colonial engagements and their implications in understanding their role in the dominant discourses of the empire. Given its transnational perspective in addressing colonial India and Sub-Saharan Africa, the book will appeal to historians, sociologists, and anthropologists, and to scholars and students in colonial studies, cultural studies, history of medicine and world history.
Classic Sunil Gangopadhyay
Author: Sunil Gangopadhyay
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184759983
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 2008
Book Description
This special omnibus edition brings together the three great historical novels Sunil Gangopadhyay wrote. The Bengal Renaissance forms the backdrop to the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Those Days, in which a feudal aristocracy awakens to its social obligations. In its sequel First Light, a turn-of-the-century Bengal, led by Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, awakens to a new, modern sensibility. And in The Lonely Emperor, the story of India’s greatest professional stage actor Sisir Bhaduri, the past gives way to the present as the country gains independence. Those Days (Sei Somoy), First Light (Prothom Alo), The Lonely Emperor (Nisshongo Samrat) Translated by Aruna Chakravarti and Sreejata Guha
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184759983
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 2008
Book Description
This special omnibus edition brings together the three great historical novels Sunil Gangopadhyay wrote. The Bengal Renaissance forms the backdrop to the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Those Days, in which a feudal aristocracy awakens to its social obligations. In its sequel First Light, a turn-of-the-century Bengal, led by Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, awakens to a new, modern sensibility. And in The Lonely Emperor, the story of India’s greatest professional stage actor Sisir Bhaduri, the past gives way to the present as the country gains independence. Those Days (Sei Somoy), First Light (Prothom Alo), The Lonely Emperor (Nisshongo Samrat) Translated by Aruna Chakravarti and Sreejata Guha
Igifu
Author: Scholastique Mukasonga
Publisher: Archipelago
ISBN: 1939810795
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 122
Book Description
The stories in Igifu summon phantom memories of Rwanda and radiate with the fierce ache of a survivor. From the National Book Award finalist who Zadie Smith says, "rescues a million souls from the collective noun genocide." Scholastique Mukasonga's autobiographical stories rend a glorious Rwanda from the obliterating force of recent history, conjuring the noble cows of her home or the dew-swollen grass they graze on. In the title story, five-year-old Colomba tells of a merciless overlord, hunger or igifu, gnawing away at her belly. She searches for sap at the bud of a flower, scraps of sweet potato at the foot of her parent's bed, or a few grains of sorghum in the floor sweepings. Igifu becomes a dizzying hole in her stomach, a plunging abyss into which she falls. In a desperate act of preservation, Colomba's mother gathers enough sorghum to whip up a nourishing porridge, bringing Colomba back to life. This elixir courses through each story, a balm to soothe the pains of those so ferociously fighting for survival. Her writing eclipses the great gaps of time and memory; in one scene she is a child sitting squat with a jug of sweet, frothy milk and in another she is an exiled teacher, writing down lists of her dead. As in all her work, Scholastique sits up with them, her witty and beaming beloved.
Publisher: Archipelago
ISBN: 1939810795
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 122
Book Description
The stories in Igifu summon phantom memories of Rwanda and radiate with the fierce ache of a survivor. From the National Book Award finalist who Zadie Smith says, "rescues a million souls from the collective noun genocide." Scholastique Mukasonga's autobiographical stories rend a glorious Rwanda from the obliterating force of recent history, conjuring the noble cows of her home or the dew-swollen grass they graze on. In the title story, five-year-old Colomba tells of a merciless overlord, hunger or igifu, gnawing away at her belly. She searches for sap at the bud of a flower, scraps of sweet potato at the foot of her parent's bed, or a few grains of sorghum in the floor sweepings. Igifu becomes a dizzying hole in her stomach, a plunging abyss into which she falls. In a desperate act of preservation, Colomba's mother gathers enough sorghum to whip up a nourishing porridge, bringing Colomba back to life. This elixir courses through each story, a balm to soothe the pains of those so ferociously fighting for survival. Her writing eclipses the great gaps of time and memory; in one scene she is a child sitting squat with a jug of sweet, frothy milk and in another she is an exiled teacher, writing down lists of her dead. As in all her work, Scholastique sits up with them, her witty and beaming beloved.
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
Author: Petina Gappah
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982110341
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
A powerful, moving, and revelatory novel set in nineteenth-century Africa--the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried the body of explorer and missionary David Livingstone from Zambia to Zanzibar so that his remains could be returned home to England. Dawn, 1 May 1873, on the outskirts of Chitambo's village, near Lake Bangweulu in modern-day Zambia. The Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone has died. He had been heading south in the African interior on an increasingly maniacal mission to penetrate the greatest secret of Victorian exploration. He wanted to find the source of the world's longest river, the Nile. Instead, on an isolated and swampy floodplain, Dr. Livingstone found his death. How Livingstone is to be buried will be decided by his African companions, a group of sixty-nine men, women, and children. They decide that come what may, Livingstone, his papers and maps, must all be carried to England. They bury his heart and other organs under a tree and dry his flesh like jerky in the sun. Over nine months, battling severe illness and hunger, hostile chiefs and unknown terrain, all while taking a tortuous route of more than 1,000 miles to the coast to avoid marauding slave traders, they march with Livingstone's body and the evidence of his explorations. Their journey has been called "the most extraordinary story in African exploration." In this novel, their story is retold anew in the distinct, indelible voices of Livingstone's sharp-tongued female cook, Halima; a repressed, formerly enslaved African missionary named Jacob Wainwright; and the collective voice of the retainers. The result is a profound and tragic journey--an epic like no other--that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love. In Out of Darkness, Shining Light, Petina Gappah has created an ambitious and artful masterpiece.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982110341
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
A powerful, moving, and revelatory novel set in nineteenth-century Africa--the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried the body of explorer and missionary David Livingstone from Zambia to Zanzibar so that his remains could be returned home to England. Dawn, 1 May 1873, on the outskirts of Chitambo's village, near Lake Bangweulu in modern-day Zambia. The Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone has died. He had been heading south in the African interior on an increasingly maniacal mission to penetrate the greatest secret of Victorian exploration. He wanted to find the source of the world's longest river, the Nile. Instead, on an isolated and swampy floodplain, Dr. Livingstone found his death. How Livingstone is to be buried will be decided by his African companions, a group of sixty-nine men, women, and children. They decide that come what may, Livingstone, his papers and maps, must all be carried to England. They bury his heart and other organs under a tree and dry his flesh like jerky in the sun. Over nine months, battling severe illness and hunger, hostile chiefs and unknown terrain, all while taking a tortuous route of more than 1,000 miles to the coast to avoid marauding slave traders, they march with Livingstone's body and the evidence of his explorations. Their journey has been called "the most extraordinary story in African exploration." In this novel, their story is retold anew in the distinct, indelible voices of Livingstone's sharp-tongued female cook, Halima; a repressed, formerly enslaved African missionary named Jacob Wainwright; and the collective voice of the retainers. The result is a profound and tragic journey--an epic like no other--that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love. In Out of Darkness, Shining Light, Petina Gappah has created an ambitious and artful masterpiece.
Ekdin prem chilo
Author: Sumana Sharma
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
ISBN: 1482833697
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 81
Book Description
This book is a collection of love poems. Love is the main stimuli of life. Like a gliding star, it shows the right path to all of us. When you read those poetry you will discover the amazing part of life. Your mind will be rejuvenated. You will again fall in love with nature, with people because we are universally connected to each other.There are some cosmic connection between you and me. you will find out the hidden treasure within you. This is poetry which keeps our heart young forever. Each poetry of this book is about love. That includes different kind of love of our live. Somewhere you will find out the love for her love. Somewhere there is mother-child love. Somewhere there is longing for God. Love is our very nature. All the poems of this book are based on the very experiences of the poet herself.
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
ISBN: 1482833697
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 81
Book Description
This book is a collection of love poems. Love is the main stimuli of life. Like a gliding star, it shows the right path to all of us. When you read those poetry you will discover the amazing part of life. Your mind will be rejuvenated. You will again fall in love with nature, with people because we are universally connected to each other.There are some cosmic connection between you and me. you will find out the hidden treasure within you. This is poetry which keeps our heart young forever. Each poetry of this book is about love. That includes different kind of love of our live. Somewhere you will find out the love for her love. Somewhere there is mother-child love. Somewhere there is longing for God. Love is our very nature. All the poems of this book are based on the very experiences of the poet herself.
Integrated Electronics
Author:
Publisher: Allied Publishers
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Publisher: Allied Publishers
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
Art and culture of west Bengal
Author: Sahanawaz Hussain
Publisher: Crown publishing
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The book ART AND CULTURE OF WEST BENGAL by Sahanawaz Hussain highlights the different culture of west Bengal. The state west Bengal has a diverse culture. Author Sahanawaz Hussain highlights all the culture of different district of west Bengal starting from North Bengal to South Bengal. West Bengal boasts a rich literary and cultural heritage with evidenced by authors like Rabindranath Tagore,folk music like baul,Gambhira as well as Najrul Geeti,Rabindra Sangeet. West Bengal is the home of a thriving cinema industry dubbed Tollywood.throughout the year many festivals are celebrated in bengal. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BOOK:- Art & Culture (Literature) The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, Mangalkavya, Shreekrishna Kirtana, ThakurmarJhuli, and stories related to Gopal Bhar. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Jibananda Das and Manik Bandyopadhyay. In modern times Jibanananda Das, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay among others are well known. (Music and Dance) The Baul tradition is a unique heritage of Bengali folk music, which has also been influenced by regional music traditions. Other folk music forms include Gombhira and Bhawaiya. Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. West Bengal also has an heritage in North Indian classical music. Rabindrasangeet, songs composed and set into tune by Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul geeti (by Kazi Nazrul Islam) are popular. Also prominent are other musical forms like Dwijendralal, Atulprasad and Rajanikanta's songs, and adhunik or modern music from films and other composers. From the early 1990s, there has been an emergence and popularisation of new genres of music, including fusions of Baul and Jazz by several Bangla bands, as well as the emergence of what has been called Jeebonmukhi Gaan (a modern genre based on realism). Bengali dance forms draw from folk traditions, especially those of the tribal groups, as well as the broader Indian dance traditions. Chau dance of Purulia is a rare form of mask dance. State is known for Bengali folk music such as baul and kirtans and gajan, and modern songs including Bengali adhunik songs. (Films) The state is home to a thriving cinema industry, dubbed Tollywood. Tollygunj in Kolkata is the location of numerous Bengali movie studios, and the name Tollywood (similar to Hollywood and Bollywood) is derived from that name. The Bengali film industry is well known for all kind of films, and has produced acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak. Prominent contemporary directors include Buddhadev Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh.It has also produced famous film personalities like Uttam Kumar,Soumitra Chatterjee,Suchitra Sen,Kanon Devi,Kishore Kumar and many more. (Fine Arts) Bengal had been the harbinger of modernism in fine arts. Abanindranath Tagore, called the father of Modern Indian Art had started the Bengal School of Art which was to create styles of art outside the European realist tradition which was taught in art colleges under the colonial administration of the British Government. The movement had many adherents like Gaganendranath Tagore, RamkinkarBaij, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. After Indian Independence, important groups like the Calcutta Group and the Society of Contemporary Artists were formed in Bengal which dominated the art scene in India. (Reformist Heritage) The capital, Kolkata, was the workplace of several social reformers, like Raja Ram Mohan Ray, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Swami Vivekananda. These social reforms have eventually led to a cultural atmosphere where practices like sati, dowry, and caste-based discrimination or untouchability, the evils that crept into the Hindu society, were abolished. (Costumes) Bengali women commonly wear the shaŗi , often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear Western attire. Among men, western dressing has greater acceptance. Men also wear traditional costumes such as the panjabi with dhuti, often on cultural occasions. (Festivals) Durga Puja in October is the most popular festival in the West Bengal. Poila Baishakhthe Bengali New Year, Rathayatra, Dolyatra or Basanta-Utsab, Nobanno, Poush Parbon (festival of Poush), Kali Puja, SaraswatiPuja, LaxmiPuja, Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and Muharram are other major festivals.
Publisher: Crown publishing
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The book ART AND CULTURE OF WEST BENGAL by Sahanawaz Hussain highlights the different culture of west Bengal. The state west Bengal has a diverse culture. Author Sahanawaz Hussain highlights all the culture of different district of west Bengal starting from North Bengal to South Bengal. West Bengal boasts a rich literary and cultural heritage with evidenced by authors like Rabindranath Tagore,folk music like baul,Gambhira as well as Najrul Geeti,Rabindra Sangeet. West Bengal is the home of a thriving cinema industry dubbed Tollywood.throughout the year many festivals are celebrated in bengal. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BOOK:- Art & Culture (Literature) The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, Mangalkavya, Shreekrishna Kirtana, ThakurmarJhuli, and stories related to Gopal Bhar. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Jibananda Das and Manik Bandyopadhyay. In modern times Jibanananda Das, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay among others are well known. (Music and Dance) The Baul tradition is a unique heritage of Bengali folk music, which has also been influenced by regional music traditions. Other folk music forms include Gombhira and Bhawaiya. Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. West Bengal also has an heritage in North Indian classical music. Rabindrasangeet, songs composed and set into tune by Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul geeti (by Kazi Nazrul Islam) are popular. Also prominent are other musical forms like Dwijendralal, Atulprasad and Rajanikanta's songs, and adhunik or modern music from films and other composers. From the early 1990s, there has been an emergence and popularisation of new genres of music, including fusions of Baul and Jazz by several Bangla bands, as well as the emergence of what has been called Jeebonmukhi Gaan (a modern genre based on realism). Bengali dance forms draw from folk traditions, especially those of the tribal groups, as well as the broader Indian dance traditions. Chau dance of Purulia is a rare form of mask dance. State is known for Bengali folk music such as baul and kirtans and gajan, and modern songs including Bengali adhunik songs. (Films) The state is home to a thriving cinema industry, dubbed Tollywood. Tollygunj in Kolkata is the location of numerous Bengali movie studios, and the name Tollywood (similar to Hollywood and Bollywood) is derived from that name. The Bengali film industry is well known for all kind of films, and has produced acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak. Prominent contemporary directors include Buddhadev Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh.It has also produced famous film personalities like Uttam Kumar,Soumitra Chatterjee,Suchitra Sen,Kanon Devi,Kishore Kumar and many more. (Fine Arts) Bengal had been the harbinger of modernism in fine arts. Abanindranath Tagore, called the father of Modern Indian Art had started the Bengal School of Art which was to create styles of art outside the European realist tradition which was taught in art colleges under the colonial administration of the British Government. The movement had many adherents like Gaganendranath Tagore, RamkinkarBaij, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. After Indian Independence, important groups like the Calcutta Group and the Society of Contemporary Artists were formed in Bengal which dominated the art scene in India. (Reformist Heritage) The capital, Kolkata, was the workplace of several social reformers, like Raja Ram Mohan Ray, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Swami Vivekananda. These social reforms have eventually led to a cultural atmosphere where practices like sati, dowry, and caste-based discrimination or untouchability, the evils that crept into the Hindu society, were abolished. (Costumes) Bengali women commonly wear the shaŗi , often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear Western attire. Among men, western dressing has greater acceptance. Men also wear traditional costumes such as the panjabi with dhuti, often on cultural occasions. (Festivals) Durga Puja in October is the most popular festival in the West Bengal. Poila Baishakhthe Bengali New Year, Rathayatra, Dolyatra or Basanta-Utsab, Nobanno, Poush Parbon (festival of Poush), Kali Puja, SaraswatiPuja, LaxmiPuja, Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and Muharram are other major festivals.