These two poems by poet Nirupam Chakraborty are fantastic. It shows his literary sense and control over the language.

There is another reason for these verses touching me. I stayed in Finland for several months, and the river Aurajoki and the old cathedral beside it had once been very close to my heart. The first poem seems to be reflecting my feeling about the beautiful place. It has been a nice nostalgic feeling. I could see the place through the poem. Congratulations to the poet. I would request him to keep the good work up.

Shubhabrata Datta (shu.d...@...)

I’m glad that seasoned traveler Dr. Bewtra has written about Foz do Iguaçu (‘Iguaçu’ in Portuguese, ‘Iguazú’ in Spanish); as, to me, it brought back so much of fond memories. Once I rafted up to ‘`Devil’s throat’' mentioned in her anecdote and also took a chopper ride above the falls. We were suddenly surrounded by a cylinder of rainbow colored water as we were inside the ‘throat’. Nothing else was visible then, not even the sky. For a while I thought I would never be able to come out of it! Dr. Bewtra has very nicely described this experience and I would vouch for it! And who would have thought that even this ferociously turbulent water would be home to jacaré – one of the species of South American crocodiles? I saw them merrily moving around every now and then. Yes, I did crossover to the Argentinean side, for which Dr. Bewtra has got a much better story to tell. I have also seen the nearby Itaipu dam from the Brazilian side. It’s a joint venture between Brazil and Paraguay, constructed by annihilating several of Foz do Iguaçu’s beautiful sisters!

As for the depressing streets of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, they still bring to my mind Neruda’s ‘Walking Around’: (The following translation is by Robert Bly. A nice Bangla version is available in Bishnu Dey’s ‘Hey bideshi phool’)

“There are sulphur-colored birds, and hideous intestines
hanging over the doors of houses that I hate,
and there are false teeth forgotten in a coffeepot,
there are mirrors
that ought to have wept from shame and terror,
there are umbrellas everywhere, and venoms, and umbilical cords.

I stroll along serenely, with my eyes, my shoes,
my rage, forgetting everything,
I walk by, going through office buildings and orthopedic shops,
and courtyards with washing hanging from the line:
underwear, towels and shirts from which slow
dirty tears are falling”

I will look forward to reading more of such interesting travelogues from Dr. Bewtra.

Nirupam Chakraborti (nchak...@...)

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dBÀg\v jZS ÞþɽS öÀÝ ÀwÀaS !--®²ÞÉ°@Ø

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q^°þSfU cå®f (indranilb...$..)

A real piece of poetic expression from Anushtup Sett. Many congratulations...

Chandrabhanu Basak (cbasa...@...)

Hindol is as usual magnificent. His genius is mesmerizing and stunning. Hindol, more, more from you.

Prasenjit da. (prasen7...@...)

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ÀUZÀ@ØÌ ÞAÌAOA© jZS ÞÉÀcS | öFÉJ, qASq A©AS | -- ®²ÞÉ°@Ø

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The approach to frame contemporary sociopolitical scenario of West Bengal with a researcher's perception is undoubtedly quite praiseworthy. The work raises expectation for a detailed life style, works, philosophy and perception of Bauls' life at this century. The form of the work, however, is a bit more classic. I enjoyed the first episode of "Jatri" for its social meaningfulness. Best wishes for Debjyoti!

Roddur Roy (roddur.r...@...)

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BÝ^ä @ØÌ (jayantakar..@...)

°É-d-H ÀUZÉ | As usual from Chhanda Bewtra | ~ÉhaÉ a^°ÉA°, j@ØvÉ Þþrð ~ÉÀa : ®ÉAUT ~ÉAU Às ®ÉÀÝAxvA¬Ø@Ø mvÉA¦ ~cü ~ÌASÀËÉUABÕÌ mªÉÀË» ÞQØfö©FÉ ®TË»S @ØÀÌAaÀUS (Chapter-XX, Fall of a Sparrow)À®vÉ ~ÉBÀ@ØÌ A°ÀS TÉSÉ ®¯ºc A@Ø ?

°fÞßÌ ÀOMo¨Ìf (cdpnk...@...)

The author responds:

Sorry for writing in English, Bengali fonts do not work well on mac.

Thank you so much for your kind letters and comments. Re: your question about Salim Ali, yes, you are right. He did kill many birds in order to study them and collect them as specimens. It will be a scandal if anyone did it now. I guess, in those early days, without good close up photographic equipment, it was really difficult to study the birds in detail, classify, draw pictures etc. In fact, John Audubon, the father of American ornithology, the guru of bird watching and conservation, whose exquisitely detailed bird drawings are collectors' items all over the world, he too was a hunter and killed every bird first and then artistically arranged them and hand painted their pictures. The primitive cameras those days would not have allowed such details otherwise. Fortunately, nowadays, there is no need or excuse for such violence.

Here is an interesting quote from Dr. Ali himself on this matter (cited from Wikipedia):

"...it is true that I despise purposeless killing, and regard it as an act of vandalism, deserving the severest condemnation. But my love for birds is not of the sentimental variety. It is essentially aesthetic and scientific, and in some cases may even be pragmatic. For a scientific approach to bird study, it is often necessary to sacrifice a few, ... (and) I have no doubt that but for the methodical collecting of specimens in my earlier years - several thousands, alas - it would have been impossible to advance our taxonomical knowledge of Indian birds ... nor indeed of their geographic distribution, ecology, and bionomics."

­ Salim Ali (1985):195

Chhanda Bewtra
(October 9, 2010)

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°fÞßÌ OnØc©»f (dipankardha...@...)

AÞþÝ ATAöÌ°É,

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Ardhendu Samanta (ardhendu1...@...)

Very nice pictures. It would be helpful if the author added some descriptions with each photo.

Chhanda Bewtra (cbewtra..@...)

The story by Yashodhara Roychowdhury makes me aware of the inner world of women in our society. Her observation of those women who are closely related to us helps me understand their real identities and their emotional world. I thank the writer for such a good writing.

Kallol Chakraborty (kallol...@...)

Beautiful description in a story telling style.

S. Majumdar (shreemaj...@...)

Great evaluation of the present day trend of Rabindrasangeet. Geeta Ghatak was an outstanding singer with 'parishilita kantha'. Now a days attention to the lyrics falls short and a slow morose style dominates. This is the number one reason for unpopularity of Rabindrasangeet and the singers are the killers. 'Akkhomer balaatkaar' on Rabindrasangeet. The scary thing is that these pseudo singers are teaching Rabindrasangeet to children. Obviously some lyrics are beyond the grasping ability of most artists.

Shree Majumdar (shreem...@...)

°fÞßÌ ÀOMo¨Ìf (cdpn....@....)