Latest news with #AbolTabol
India Today
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Why Bangladesh razing Satyajit Ray's ancestral home is a shared cultural loss
In the heart of Mymensingh in Bangladesh, a city steeped in undivided Bengal's rich cultural past, bulldozers have begun dismantling a monument symbolic of the subcontinent's artistic renaissance. The ancestral home of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury—zamindar, pioneering publisher, writer, painter and grandfather of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray—is being razed by the interim administration to make way for a new semi-concrete decision has triggered diplomatic overtures, emotional appeals and widespread outrage, laying bare a deeper crisis: the erasure of a shared cultural on Harikishore Ray Chowdhury Road, the house stood on a 36-acre estate once alive with literary and artistic ferment. It was here that Upendrakishore—father of Sukumar Ray and grandfather to Satyajit Ray—envisioned and nurtured a creative legacy that would eventually transcend national boundaries. Often considered the father of children's literature in Bengal, his legacy is inextricably linked with the cultural imagination of the estate wasn't just a residence. It was a complex that included a prayer hall, a workspace (the famed Kachari Bari), multiple ponds, gardens and a playground. It was also the spiritual and artistic hearth for a family that would go on to become synonymous with the Bengali cultural renaissance. Upendrakishore's contributions to children's literature, particularly Tuntunir Boi, and his innovations in halftone printing were revolutionary. Sukumar Ray added to this inheritance with his absurdist verse and sharp satire in works such as Abol Tabol. Though Satyajit Ray never visited this ancestral home, it continued to shape his imagination, rooted as it was in the intellectual traditions his forefathers had a reflective account, filmmaker Sandip Ray revealed that neither he nor his father, Satyajit Ray, had ever visited the ancestral home in Mymensingh. 'Neither Baba (Satyajit Ray) nor I ever saw the building in person,' Sandip said, noting that their knowledge of the house came only from the making of his documentary on Sukumar Ray, Satyajit had initially hoped to include images of the ancestral home. To this end, he sent a close associate involved in his productions to Bangladesh to photograph the building. However, upon receiving the pictures, Satyajit was deeply disheartened by the structure's dilapidated condition. The sight of its decay led him to abandon the idea altogether.'Baba had wanted to use those pictures,' Sandip recalled, 'but after seeing the building in such a ruined state, he decided not to include them in the documentary.'Despite its significance, the property—abandoned for over a decade—had fallen into disrepair. The Mymensingh Shishu Academy, which operated from the building beginning 1989, vacated it in 2007 and shifted to a rented space. Local authorities now cite the building's unsafe condition as justification for Mehedi Zaman, the district's children affairs officer, confirmed that the decision to demolish the house was made by a committee led by the deputy commissioner of Mymensingh, Mofidul Alam. 'The house had been abandoned for 10 years, and Shishu Academy activities have been running from a rented space,' he said, adding that a new semi-concrete structure with multiple rooms will be constructed to resume activities on-site. The project, he insisted, had received necessary approvals and was being undertaken in accordance with official historians, poets and cultural activists across Bangladesh and India have condemned the move as short-sighted and culturally damaging. Sabina Yeasmin, field officer at Bangladesh's department of archaeology for the Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions, acknowledged that while the structure was not officially listed as protected, surveys had identified it as holding archaeological heritage value. Her calls for preservation, too, were responded swiftly and emotionally. In a strongly-worded statement, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) expressed 'profound regret' over the demolition and extended technical and financial support to restore the property. 'Given the building's landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh,' the MEA said in a statement. 'The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose.'advertisementWest Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also voiced concern, calling the news 'extremely distressing.' In a message on X, she wrote: 'The Ray family is one of the foremost bearers and carriers of Bengali culture. News reports reveal that in Bangladesh's Mymensingh city, the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray's grandfather, the renowned writer-editor Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, steeped in his memories, is reportedly being demolished. It is said that the demolition work had already begun.' Mamata urged the Bangladesh government's chief advisor Mohammad Yunus to take steps to conserve the is not the first such episode involving a Bengali cultural landmark in Bangladesh. Just weeks earlier, Mamata had urged New Delhi's intervention after a mob vandalised Rabindranath Tagore's ancestral home in Sirajganj, following a dispute over a parking fee. That house, like the Ray mansion, had once served as an intellectual haven—visited often by Tagore and eventually converted into a demolish the Ray house is to overlook its intangible inheritance. This was no ordinary building; it was a crucible of ideas. It was where Bengal's modernity took root—an incubator for values of reason, art, and social reform, fostered through Brahmo Samaj ideals and disseminated through the pages of Sandesh, the children's magazine founded by Upendrakishore and later revived by Ray family was not a passive chronicler of the Bengali experience but one of its architects. Their works are foundational in West Bengal's education system and, despite not being formally prescribed in school syllabi, remain widely read and cherished in Bangladesh. This is a shared inheritance, not merely Indian or that very inheritance now stands in peril. Just as the Rabindra Kachharibari was nearly lost to administrative apathy and public violence, the Ray mansion, too, risks being flattened into oblivion. Once gone, no amount of reconstruction will restore its authenticity or emotional of now, sections of the building have already been demolished. Without urgent intervention, the remainder is likely to follow. India's offer stands, but no formal agreement has yet been reached. Bangladesh's interim government has so far remained unmoved by appeals—diplomatic or is at stake is not simply the fate of a building but the preservation of a transnational cultural identity. In tearing down this house, a generation risks severing its link to the imaginative, reformist spirit that animated the Bengali demolition of Satyajit Ray's ancestral home—whether partial or complete—is not just about heritage lost. It is about memory forsaken. And in a subcontinent where identity so often hinges on remembrance, such losses are not just regrettable; they are to India Today Magazine- Ends
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
India offers help to Bangladesh to preserve Satyajit Ray's ancestral home
The Indian government on Tuesday noted with 'profound regret' the news that the ancestral property of filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Bangladesh's Mymensingh is to be demolished. The property belonged to Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, a renowned writer-editor. In a statement issued late Tuesday evening, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged the Bangladesh government to reconsider the demolition of the property and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh. India also offered its cooperation to the neighbouring country's government in preserving the structure and turning it into a museum as a symbol of Bengal's socio-cultural renaissance. Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought the intervention of the governments of India and Bangladesh in saving Satyajit Ray's ancestral house. The property, presently owned by the Government of Bangladesh, is in a state of disrepair, the MEA statement noted. 'Given the building's landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh,' the MEA said. The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose, it said. In a post on X, the Bengal CM wrote, 'I learnt from media reports that the memory-entwined ancestral house in Bangladesh's Mymensingh city is being demolished. The reports say that the demolition process had already begun. This is heartbreaking news.' 'The Ray family is one of the most prominent torchbearers of Bengal's culture. Upendrakishore was among the pillars of the Bengal Renaissance. I feel this house is inextricably linked to Bengal's cultural history. I appeal to the Bangladeshi government and to all right-thinking people of that country to preserve this edifice of rich tradition. The Indian government should also intervene,' Banerjee added. In June, Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention in the alleged vandalism of Rabindranath Tagore's ancestral property in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, urging him to ensure that 'perpetrators of this heinous and mindless act' are brought to justice. Upendrakishore (1863–1915), a prominent 19th-century litterateur, painter and publisher, was the father of Bengal's celebrated poet Sukumar Ray (1887–1923), whose nonsense verse Abol Tabol is still popular among speakers of the Bengali language, and the grandfather of filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Upendrakishore started the publication of Sandesh, a children's magazine, in 1913. He was the son-in-law of Brahmo social reformer Dwarkanath Ganguly, whose second wife, Kadambini Ganguly, was India's first woman doctor to practise Western medicine. According to reports, the property, which was built by Upendrakishore more than a century ago and previously housed the Mymensingh Shishu Academy, fell into a state of disrepair after years of neglect by the authorities. 'The house has been left abandoned for 10 years. Shishu Academy activities have been operating from a rented space,' Bangladeshi daily The Daily Star reported, quoting Md Mehedi Zaman, the district Children Affairs Officer. The newspaper attributed the same officer to state that a semi-concrete building with several rooms will be built in place of the old house to restart the academy's activities there.
Mint
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Reconsider demolition: India offers help to Bangladesh with repair & reconstruction of Satyajit Ray's ancestral property
The Government of India on Tuesday said that it is willing to co-operate with the Bangladesh government for the repair and reconstruction of the ancestral property of Satyajit Ray in Bangladesh's Mymensingh. 'Given the building's landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh,' said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement. The government expressed regret that Satyajit Ray's ancestral property, which belonged to his grandfather and eminent litterateur — Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury — presently owned by the Bangladesh government, is being demolished. "The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose," said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray was Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury's grandchild. Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, was a renowned children's Bengali author, and the father of Sukumar Ray — the author of the iconic Bengali poem 'Abol Tabol' — which readers still cherish today.
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The first song of Madam Sengupta is out
Rituparna Sengupta stars as Anurekha, a cartoonist seeking justice for her daughter's murder in Sayantan Ghosal's Madam Sengupta. Set in Kolkata, the film delves into hidden agendas and political rivalries, using Sukumar Ray's poetry as a thematic mirror. The emotional thriller explores grief, love, and the search for truth amidst personal battles, with music by Anupam Roy. Rituparna Sengupta , Rahul Bose, Ananya Chatterjee and Koushik Sen unite in Sayantan Ghosal's Madam Sengupta — a haunting emotional thriller where art and vengeance collide. The first song- Jete Dao sung by Shilpa Rao from the film is out. Set against the vibrant and turbulent backdrop of Kolkata, Madam Sengupta follows Anurekha Sengupta , a celebrated cartoonist, as she seeks the truth behind her daughter Ananya's brutal murder at an university. Her investigation draws her into a shadowy world of hidden agendas, political rivalries, and familial fractures. A distinctive layer in the film is Abol Tabol — Sukumar Ray's classic work of satirical poetry — which serves as both a motif and a mirror, reflecting the surreal absurdities and quiet tragedies Anurekha must confront. Through this lens, Madam Sengupta explores the unsettling intersection of satire, sorrow, and rebellion. Music of the film is scored by Anupam Roy while background score is by Indraadip Dasgupta. "Though I'm known for crafting adventure and thrillers, with Madam Sengupta I wanted to explore a different terrain — an emotional thriller where the battles are fought within, where grief and love sharpen every mystery into something deeply personal. This film is not just about solving a crime; it's about confronting the truths we bury and the resilience that emerges from loss," said Sayantan.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The official poster of Madam Sengupta is out
Sayantan Ghosal's film Madam Sengupta , starring Rituparna Sengupta , Rahul Bose , Ananya Chatterjee and Koushik Sen, is a haunting emotional thriller where art and vengeance collide. Set against the vibrant and turbulent backdrop of Kolkata, Madam Sengupta follows Anurekha Sengupta (Rituparna Sengupta), a celebrated cartoonist, as she seeks the truth behind her daughter Ananya's brutal murder at Bengali University . Her investigation draws her into a shadowy world of hidden agendas, political rivalries, and familial fractures. A distinctive layer in the film is Abol Tabol — Sukumar Ray's classic work of satirical poetry — which serves as both a motif and a mirror, reflecting the surreal absurdities and quiet tragedies Anurekha must confront. Through this lens, Madam Sengupta explores the unsettling intersection of satire, sorrow, and rebellion. 'The film is a gripping emotional thriller that delves beyond the mechanics of mystery into the hearts of those left broken by betrayal and loss,' said Rituparna. Sayantan on his part added, "Though I'm known for crafting adventure and thrillers, with Madam Sengupta I wanted to explore a different terrain — an emotional thriller where the battles are fought within, where grief and love sharpen every mystery into something deeply personal. This film is not just about solving a crime; it's about confronting the truths we bury and the resilience that emerges from loss. Collaborating for the first time with Rituparna has been an incredible experience — she brings an emotional intensity and quiet strength that elevates every moment of the story. With this film, I hope to offer audiences a new kind of theatrical experience — one where mystery, emotion, and human drama collide in unexpected ways.'
