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 South West Monsoon arrived dot on time in Kerala on 1st June, 2020 and hit Maharashtra on 11th June--late by only a day. In the next two days the Monsoon covered all of Maharashtra including the COVID-tormented city of Mumbai. While there have been heavy rains in all parts of the state Mumbai and its suburbs have not felt the presence of the Monsoon yet--rains so far only scattered and inconsistent, unable to lessen the discomfort of the people as humidity was increasing all the time. Recently cyclone Nisarga headed for Mumbai side-tracked the city at the last minute and roared into interior Maharashtra just before the Alibaug town on the coast. That was perhaps a sort of a divine intervention sparing the city reeling under COVID spread from another disaster. In the last two days thunderstorms as per weather forecast for Mumbai and Thane didn't materialize at all. However, we would rather not expect the same treatment to be meted out to the city in regard to the Monsoon too. T...