Graduate Student after 3rd Semester

The third semester of my graduate studies is almost at its end. I am going back home in two weeks after one and a half years. I have been out of home since I was nine, studying always in boarding schools. But it was never for such a long stretch. Naturally, I am excited. However, right now it’s not only the excitement creeping in my mind; it’s also the uneasiness of a graduate student in one’s second year. To be honest, I have no idea where my research is heading. In the past one year I have learnt things, understood concepts and become more confident. But I doubt my abilities to conduct research on my own. So far, whatever I have achieved has largely been a favor from my senior in the lab. Unfortunately, he is graduating soon and soon it’s going to be a one-man-show, that one man being yours truly. It has got sort of an uncanny feeling when you know that you got no one for ready support. As far the advisor is concerned, I think other than some lucky graduate students, it’s hardly a factor save for the final stages when you need contacts for a job. From an optimistic perspective, hopefully it will help me grow as an independent researcher. Well, let’s put it in different words. It will be a test for me whether I can be independent and whether I can be a researcher, because so far I have been neither.

Saawariya

(Don't bother to watch)

Half an hour through the movie and we were out of the theatre. Well, that gives you the gist of what is coming. It was a massacre. Whatever story it was getting at, was punctuated with a song almost every seven minutes. The tunes were good but then you are at the movie for the story and not entirely for songs. How long can you stand that? The dialogues were rarely catchy and the build-up wasn’t good at all. I can’t vouch for the whole of the movie because, as you know, I had given up pretty soon. The movie was set in a picturesque background which looks like a fairytale. That was good; it was artistic and poetic in some sense. May be people who understand the nitty-gritty’s of photography or shooting might appreciate that but that wasn’t good enough for the common audience. I am not complaining about the acting, however. Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan, and the newbies, both Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor looked great and did a good job. It could have been passed as a good attempt for a new setting in bollywood by a new director. But, Sanjay Leela Bansali; we definitely expected a lot lot better .

Natyoshala- Free Bengali Drama (Bangla Natok) Audio, Scripts, Reports and More

Natyoshala, a non-profit collective initiative, is an open source bengali drama portal that provides the unique setting to share your interest with other drama enthusiasts. Here Bengali Drama (Bangla Natok) enthusiasts will find bengali audio plays (bangla natok), bengali audio books, bengali drama scripts and bengali drama reports. However, the most unique part is the way you can contribute and participate as a passionate drama person. Present your recording of a bengali audio play or an audio book. Upload a bengali drama script that you composed or adapted from a story. Submit a report about a recent bangla natok, which you watched or performed, say at your parar pujo. Browse through different kinds of bangla natok contents, put your comments, rate the contents and discuss your thoughts about this website and bengali drama in general at the forum.

Durga Puja in Chicago

We organized Durga Puja 2007 in downtown Chicago (in the west campus of University of Illinois at Chicago) for the first time on 13th and 14th October. We were excited to have such a big event which is so very close to the heart every Bengali. It was organized by students living in and around Chicago and we were overwhelmed with the support and enthusiasm bestowed by the student community. However, along with the young hearts, we were fortunate to have the experience of senior members on our side too. With the support of all, we saw a turn up of over 300 people in the event making it a huge success.
Here are a few videos from the event -
Pujo




Pujo




Ya Chandi Shloka




Bangla Natok by Natyoshala




Snake Dance




Dance on Dola Re

The Bahá’í and the Ramakrishna Mission

Do you know of the Bahá’í faith? I guess most of you don’t. Well, do you know the famous Lotus Temple in Delhi? I guess you do. That temple is the worshipping place for the Bahá’í in Asia, one among the places they have, each in one continent. I visited the Bahá’í house of worship in Wilmette, Illinois very close to Chicago and was impressed by their thoughts. What was particularly interesting to me was the similarity with the Ramakrishna Mission movement, I am so familiar with.

Both of them started in the nineteenth century, the RK Mission with the teachings of Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and the Bahá’í with those of Bahá’u’lláh (1819-1850). They flourished because of their liberal outlooks and their trend of accepting all sorts of people from varying background. They accept all religions to be true, all spiritual leaders as messengers of God and the humanity as one unique community. Both the religions were introduced to the western world at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and have, since then, gathered large number of followers in all parts of the world. They have well-maintained hierarchical structures and have a democratic style of organization.

However there are differences nonetheless. I think the Bahá’í faith is more concentrated, as it seems, they have an official community with registered members. They accept donations only from registered members (which I consider to be justified enough to keep away political and other agendas out of the realm of religion) and as such that makes a very clear-cut definition of who is a Bahá’í and who is not. They are a more well-defined separate religion. On the other hand, Ramakrishna Mission is not a separate religion. Obviously there are monastic members who are like ‘registered’ members of the order, but you don’t have to be a RKMissionite or something like that to offer your financial help to the society. You can be a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim and a member of the RKMission at the same time.

For more info check http://www.bahai.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Mission

(I am not an expert on either of the religious orders. My comments or opinions are my personal only and not targeted to particularly promote or defile any particular school of thought. I just found it interesting to note the similarities (and dissimilarities) of the two orders in a short span of time.)