InDepth

An average child takes around five years to fully develop the five senses; so, counting out those formative years makes this Christmas my absolute 28th. Back in my birthplace, today is "Boro Din" or "Bara Din" meaning that it is a day when the "day" starts to elongate itself. Indeed, it means many things on the subtext - among others, it means that more luminous days commence hereafter. In today's edition of InDepth, on the day of Christmas, let us dwell on some aspects of this eternal light. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." - the famous quotation from the Great Bible symbolizes a unique phenomenon. It is the phenomenon of light - the same light that is both peripheral, superficial as well as inwardly, spiritual. God wishes for light, transports His message to all, and finds Jesus to universalize His appeal. The small boy in me, looking at the picture of The Christ, on the very day of Christmas, once asked his ad...

I often get a simple question from my friends. They ask me what the most popular Swedish cuisines are. I usually take the easiest route. I list down a few of my own favorites. The list is not new. It has been the same since the first year I had started to explore food in this country. It might sound a little cliché but all my encounters with my favorite Swedish dishes were filled with a lot of curiosity and expectation. It was thrilling. Before trying the local stuff, I had been cooking and taking my own food to the office and eating it there with other colleagues. It usually works that way in the beginning. But then one day I decided to try something new. I went straight to the office canteen and ordered the non-vegetarian menu. Before this, I had never tried continental food. Baked Salmon: Salmon is a kind of fish that tastes very close to an Indian breed called Hilsa . For those of us that come from West Bengal (the eastern part of India) are, by and large, genuine fi...

The topic for today’s edition is "Subarnarekha" – an immortal creation done by the legendary filmmaker, Ritwik Ghatak, from Bengal. There are several subtopics that we can touch upon as we discuss about the film. These include – partition of India, post-independent chaos, Ritwik's glory and early success at IPTA (the Indian People’s Theater Association), his fascination for Communism and subsequent dissatisfaction, his failures, his own society's indifferent attitude towards his magnanimous talent, his own men betraying him and eventually crushing him in the most disrespectful way. As per records, the movie was released in 1965. Right from the onset, the movie takes off with a terrific clip. Two friends Haraprasad and Ishwar want to help a community affected by the terrible aftermath of the partition. Both are talented; however, one is seemingly selfish. One is flamboyant, he protests when the other wants to leave the place to start a fresh remunerative life. The ...