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...
In a school certificate examination in a certain language in a certain place in Maharashtra something very unusual happened. The exam hall was filled with bright and expectant students waiting in suspense for the question papers to be distributed. When the suspense ended and they had their papers in hand they hardly expected what they encountered. Thee was a question that left them all shell shocked. Some of them got emotional, some of them broke down and some of them protested vehemently. Even most of the teachers on duty became very angry and supported the students. The exam schedule got disturbed and absolute confusion prevailed. Finally the authorities canceled the question papers on that particular subject and gave assurances for rescheduling. The authorities also promised to take stern action against the setters of that question paper. The question was ‘how would you write a letter to your younger brother on your father’s sudden death’. They came prepared for the exams, but defi...