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...
The anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill was finally adopted and presented in the upper house of the Indian Parliament yesterday by the Standing Committee. It reportedly had agreement on 13 major issues and dissents on more than 20 other issues. The committee said that a few crucial issues have been left for debate in the Parliament and that these issues need to be debated over a long period of time. Nothing wrong in that because nobody can expect such a crucial Bill to be passed overnight and corruption eliminated next day! Anna Hazare, as expected and in tremendous anticipation (knowingly?), is going ahead with his one-day strike in the Indian capital tomorrow. The opposition parties would again join gleefully to continue opposing the Government for an issue they only never allowed to be discussed and debated upon. I am privileged to overhear a discussion between two commoners today at a public place. One of them middle-aged and the other in prime youth. First the elder one commente...