Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
One of our neighbors has been maintaining their stray habits. We all should love animals. And we do love them. But the profound question is should we love them at the cost of us human beings. There are lots of problems caused by stray dogs and cats to residents, passersby and all including bites. Authorities always plan many things but fail always at the implementation level due to, of course, the animal lovers. And problems always remain. Our neighbor is trying to take care of all stray animals of the locality by feeding them at the staircase landing space and inside the house. If you are unfortunate enough to pass by just at the time of their main door opening up it’s all cats and dogs raining out on you! At many times dogs regally lounge on the landing space just outside the door and if you are ascending or descending the stairs you have to cross within biting distance. Good neighbors that we are we never make scenes except asking the watchmen sometimes to scare away the strays. Th...