Category Archives: Leaders

If you missed Tansen, listen to his descendant

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Abdul Rashid Khan will perform at Sursagar’s ‘Living Legends and Budding Masters’ series at Alliance Francaise on January 30 at 6.30 p.m. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (107), based in Kolkata, was the oldest living legend to be bestowed Padma Bhushan

He is the direct descendant of Tansen and has been performing for 75 years. He has performed nearly 3,000 concerts and composed 2,000 bandish , which are being sung by leading Hindustani musicians. In 2013, when he was conferred the Padma Bhushan, he was the oldest living legend to be bestowed the honour.

“I am Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, 107 years young,” declares the maestro jokingly. “Some members of my family have lived up to the age of 110 and beyond,” he says.

Born in 1908 at Salon near Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Rashid Khan is the son of Chote Usuf Khan of the Gwalior Gharana. He is the 23{+r}{+d}generation of Tansen’s family and traces his ancestry to Surat Sen, one of the maestro’s four sons.

“My father, and uncle Bade Usuf Khan, trained me in a 10-hour schedule that was followed by a four-hour riyaaz (practice) every day for 22 years.

“Only when I touched 30 did my gurus allow me to step on a stage. That was the kind of integrity we followed,” says the Ustad, who once had Zakir Hussain, then 16, playing the tabla.

After obtaining a degree from Allahabad University, Rashid Khan went to Rae Bareli. He performed a slew of concerts in every nook and corner of India. “I have performed at every maharaja’s court in pre-Independent India. Rae Bareli alone had 22 maharajas and each would demand a particular raag ,” he says recollecting the traditional four to five hour concerts that were in vogue then.

In 1991, he was specially invited by the ITC Sangeeth Research Academy in Kolkata to take over as the senior guru. He has been teaching there for the last 25 years. His traditional compositions have been recorded by the BBC and Iraq Radio.

The UP Sangeet Natak Academi and the ITC Sangeet Research Academy have more than 1500 compositions of the ustad in their collection.

And the secret of his longevity?

“All we know is that he prays five times a day,” says grandson Bilal Khan, who accompanies the ustad on the tabla.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – January 29th, 2015

80 years that are lighter than roses

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders

Kolkata :

The ‘Teen Bhubaner Pare’ pair of 1969 showed their chemistry is intact even in 2015 when the graceful Tanuja met the evergreen Soumitra to wish him on his 81st on Monday.

When Soumitra’s Chatterjee’s daughter Poulami pointed out that their ethnic attires complemented each other, Tanuja responded: “It’s unintentionally coordinated. We’re the best,” giving the original Feluda a playful nudge.

And it was not just the chemistry, but the energy too that had a renewed vigour to it. As the camera flashes threatened not to cease in the greenroom, Tanuja exclaimed: “So many people! If we do a movie together now it’ll be an instant hit.”

Soumitra, ‘Pulu’ to Tanuja, nodded vigorously. “Yes, we must do another film as the lead pair.” When someone asked how he was enjoying his birthday, he said: “I’m not enjoying it at all. I haven’t had the chance to eat, sleep or bathe.”

Tanuja said: “May you live a 100 years.” He replied: “But that would be too painful.” Soumitra had high fever and had to take paracetamol tablets through the day.

But once they hit the stage for a conversation moderated by poet Srijato, the warmth that could be felt wasn’t because of a virus. The moderator asked him whether having nothing left to unveil on his life was a curse or boon, Soumitra said: “If you spend so many decades under public glare, you have to forego a private life. But such long stints also produce friends, like I have one in Tanuja. Not because we have worked in many films together, but more like things happen in home. You strike a certain understanding. Now the industry has changed a lot. Back then, it was so homely that if I had a headache, she would say ‘shhh’ and take out an ointment to rub on my temple.”

When Srijato asked her about her bond with the Chatterjee family, Tanuja said: “How to explain… When I met Pulu he didn’t feel like a stranger.” Srijato interjected: “Did you know he still has a cheque signed by you with him?” Tanuja was astounded. “You mean you didn’t encash it?”

Soumitra explained: “She had a plan to launch Kajol in a film that also featured me. She had even given me a cheque in advance. But the film didn’t happen.” Tanuja repeated: “You seriously didn’t encash it?”

The real impatient, inspired Soumitra came out when he was asked: “Despite so much success how are you still not complacent?” “I’m unsatisfied by nature. Even if I like my work in a particular field, it is so short-lived that it’s negligible. My icon is Rabindranath Tagore, the most successful of them all. He achieved everything, but didn’t sit back in complacence. He had grievances and they reflected in his art. With such an example before me, how can I be satisfied!” he said.

Tanuja said she feels the same way but this was a lesson she “learned anew this evening”. She elaborated: “When someone asks me: ‘What’s your best film?’ I say: ‘I haven’t done it yet.’ I love your attitude.”

Despite a sore throat, Soumitra recited one of his poems selected by Srijato and went on to recite one more. A book on him by Tapan Sinha Foundation was launched on the occasion while theatre group Mukhomukhi felicitated Tanuja. Sketch artist Ekta Bhattacharjee was invited to present her hand-drawn portrait to Soumitra while veteran artist Rabin Mandal presented him with a book on his artwork recently published by Delhi Art Gallery.

And the moment the audience cheered the most? When the onscreen pair hugged. Before signing off, Soumitra had one last witty bomb to drop. “Back in the greenroom, a person came up and presented me with a bouquet of roses. He said there were 80 of them. I realised that 80 years were not as heavy as that many flowers.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Shounak Ghosal, TNN / January 20th, 2015

Officers awarded during investiture ceremony in Kolkata

Leaders, Records, All

Kolkata :

At the investiture ceremony held at Fort William in Kolkata on the occasion of the 67th Army Day recently, 23 Army personnel and an Air Force officer were awarded gallantry and distinguished services awards. The awards were presented by Lt Gen MMS Rai, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command at the Albert Ekka Auditorium. Several units were also awarded Unit Citations and Appreciations.

“Fourteen Army personnel received Sena Medals (Gallantry) for their courage and bravery during counter-insurgency operations in the North East. The citations were sagas of valour of these brave men effectively eliminating terrorists with professional elan, indomitable courage with disregard for their personal safety. They achieved this using minimum force to ensure safety of innocent citizens ensuring negligible collateral damage. Two Sena Medals (Distinguished), two Bars to Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and five VSMs were also awarded to personnel for their commendable performance,” an officer said.

Lt Gen Raman Dhawan, GOC, Bengal Area and Gp Capt Tarun Kumar Singha, CPRO, Ministry of Defence in Kolkata were conferred Bars to their VSMs. This signifies that they are being awarded the VSM twice.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jayanta Gupta, TNN / January 20th, 2015

Feminist Jasodhara passes away

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders

Eminent Leftist feminist Jasodhara Bagchi breathed her last here on Friday morning. She was 77.

She suffered a cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure, her daughter Tista Bagchi told The Hindu .

Educated at the city’s Presidency University, Oxford University and Cambridge University, she taught English briefly at the Lady Brabourne College here. From 1964, she spent a major part of her life teaching English at Jadavpur University and went to become the founder-director of the School of Women’s Studies there. Although Ms.Bagchi retired in 1997, she continued to teach at the School of Women’s Studies as an emeritus professor till her death.

Married to renowned economist Amiya Bagchi, she was the former chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Women. She wrote extensively on social and women’s issues and has been vocal in supporting women movements.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Special Correspondent / Kolkata – January 10th, 2015

Bringing smiles to a thousand lips

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kolkata :

About 25 years ago, a surgeon at the state-run SSKM Hospital, Sankar Chatterjee, had applied stitches on the scalp of a Congress leader, a woman who was to create history in Bengal by single-handedly dislodging the Left Front from power.

Today, Chatterjee has created a sort of record by himself. As a project director of Smile Train programme, he has performed cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries on 1,000 underprivileged children in Tripura and Assam over the last six years.

“On August 16, 1990, I was on duty at SSKM Hospital when Mamata Banerjee was wheeled in with two deep injuries on her scalp. She had fended off a third blow with her left arm and fractured it. I was called in to repair the injuries to her scalp as a micro-surgeon. I applied 18 stitches on her scalp under local anesthesia. She didn’t even wince when I applied local anesthesia for the stitches,” Chatterjee recalled.

He took early retirement from state health service and became a part of Smile Train in 2008. He was assigned two hospitals at Agartala and Silchar where cleft surgeries were to be conducted free of cost.

“In Agartala and Silchar, my experience have been heartwarming. The smiles on the faces of the children after they see their ‘new’ faces on mirrors are worth dying for. I still remember a 14-year-old girl from Silchar who turned up a month after her surgery. She told me: ‘Daktarbabu, ami jiboney prothom baar lipstick lagiyechhi (Doctor, I have applied lipstick for the first time in my life).’ I was overwhelmed,” Chatterjee added.

Chatterjee completed his 100th cleft lip surgery in Silchar around the time when the film “Smile Pinki” bagged an Academy Award in 2008.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jayanta Gupta, TNN / January 11th, 2015

Sarat library without a librarian

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

Sarat01KOLKATA14dec2014

Factfile

Name:Sarat Smriti Granthagar
Estd: 1956
Address: Village and PO – Panitras, PS – Bagnan
No. of members: 1,029
Membership fees: Rs 2 per month for general members, free for children
Rare books: Collection of old volumes from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s personal library

Panitras in Bagnan is popularly known as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s home. Not only did Sarat Chandra live here, but his sister’s house was also in Gobindapur, in Bagnan. Sarat Chandra’s house in Panitras is now a tourist attraction and a heritage property. However, there are many other things in this village that are associated with the novelist. The local library is dedicated to him. It was named Sarat Smriti Granthagar by the local people, who started it in 1956. Sarat Mela is held on the ground adjoining the library.

Some of Sarat Chandra’s belongings are also displayed at the library. An inkpot, a porcelain pen holder, an old pair of slippers, a torch, a hukkah and also a small wooden writing table. Although these have heritage value, the library authorities can only afford to keep these things stacked on top of an old cupboard. Interested people can take a look by bringing them down.

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Sarat Smriti Granthagar was started by the local people who wanted to promote education in this area. Sarat Chandra being a popular figure at that time, they decided to name the library after him. It started functioning from a mud house in the locality. Some years later, in 1960, a permanent structure came up where the library now stands. In the same year, it became a government-sponsored library and in 1987 it was given the status of a town library. The total membership of the library now stands at 1,029 out of which only 235 are active members. The children’s section has 371 members, most of whom are students of the nearby schools, Panitras Boys’ School and Samta Sarat Chandra Uchha Balika Vidyalaya.

“Almost all students from the two schools come to this library for membership. Since we have a huge collection of reference books, they find it easier to study here,” said Gaurav Guria, a staff at the library. Students find this library useful since many old textbooks that have gone out of print, are available here. “Students studying in college or doing their post graduation in Bengali, often tell us that many of the texts here cannot be found in the market anymore,” said Guria. The library also has a career guidance section, which is useful to those studying for competitive exams.

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Although it is a popular library in this part of Howrah, Sarat Smriti Granthagar is operating without a librarian for more than two years. “The librarian and the assistant librarian retired some years back and both positions are lying vacant. A librarian was appointed for a year here in 2011, but after he left, no one has been appointed. The district library authorities are aware of the fact that there is no librarian at our library. However, they have not managed to appoint anyone in this position so far. So it is up to us to run the library on our own,” said Guria. The retired assistant librarian was asked to look into the running of the library, however, he could not continue due to illness.

The library has 11,245 titles. A collection of 133 encyclopaedias, gazettes and other books used by Sarat Chandra has been kept in this library. Copies of the Indian Quarterly Register and Indian Annual Register of 1920, 1925, 1929 and other years, are part of the novelist’s collection. Volumes of Nelson’s Encyclopaedia used by the author are also here. The books have been bound and preserved well. “The Howrah Municipal Corporation has taken initiative in 1999 to preserve these books,” said Guria.

Grants come regularly to the town library. It receives Rs 48,000 as annual grant. In 2010-11, the library received a computer from Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF).

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Howrah> Story / by Dalia Mukherjee / Friday – December 12th, 2014

Tapan Raychaudhari, the renaissance man

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Records, All

Calcutta University V-C remembers the historian

Historians and students in Kolkata remembered Tapan Raychaudhari as a man who had all the qualities of a ‘Renaissance man’. The eminent economic and social historian Tapan Raychaudhari breathed his last on Wednesday in Oxford. He was 90 and had not fully recovered from a stroke he suffered last year.

Professor Raychaudhuri was a Reader in Modern South Asian History at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, from 1973 to 1992. An alumni of Presidency University, he completed his second D. Phil. in Oxford University in the late 1950s, and was the Emeritus Fellow of St. Antony’s College until his death. The winner of a Padma Bhushan in 2007 for his contribution to the study of history, Professor Raychaudhari authored several books on colonial India.

Among his many publications are Bengal Under Akbar and Jahangir, Jan Company in Coromandel, Europe Reconsidered: Perceptions of the West in Nineteenth Century Bengal, and The Cambridge Economic History of India (co-edited with Irfan Habib). He had also penned two autobiographies — Bangal Nama in Bengali and The World in Our Time in English.

Remembering his teacher at Oxford University, Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University Suranjan Das said Professor Raychaudhuri took equal interest in both academic as well as personal concerns of the student, a quality which is rarely found in a teacher.

Recalling an incident when his foodie professor personally accompanied him and another student to the dining hall to help shed their inhibitions in a new environment, Professor Das told The Hindu: “Professor Raychaudhuri never imposed his ideologies on us. Even if he differed with our arguments, he would think from our point of view and accordingly assist us to arrive at a logical decision. He treated criticism for his own work in an intellectual way.”

Although Professor Raychaudhuri migrated to the U.K. in 1970’s, he was passionate about research on Indian studies and helped establish the Centre for Indian Studies at Oxford University to encourage research on Indian studies to help dispel commonly-held stereotypes about India and Indian pluralism. Instead of focusing purely on research and analysis, the Centre would take a cultural approach on Indian studies to help understand Indian culture.

Professor Raychaudhuri was a strong critic of post-modernism and believed in empirical studies, the Vice-Chancellor said adding that his wife Pratima Raychaudhuri had played a critical role in supporting him in the domestic front.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Staff Reporter / Kolkata – December 01st, 2014

Calcutta University confers Honoris Causa on President

Education, Leaders, Records, All

Kolkata :

President Pranab Mukherjee was awarded Honoris Causa by Calcutta University on Friday.

After assuming office as the President of India, Mukherjee has received several offers of honorary doctorate from universities, all of which he has refused. He felt that as the President of India, he should not accept such offers. But, when it came from his own alma mater, his sentiments overwhelmed him, Mukherjee said.

“I thank the university for bestowing upon me the Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Medal that was introduced a year ago to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the towering personality of Indian education,” he said at the CU convocation.

Recalling his ties with the varsity, Mukherjee said he studied at Suri Vidyasagar College. “I pursued law and two postgraduate degrees — modern history and political science — from CU. It is my good luck to have been associated with this esteemed institution,” he said. It might be mentioned that the President had also taught for sometime at Vidyanagar College in South 24-Parganas.

On the sidelines of the convocation, CU VC Suranjan Das shared an anecdote. “Much after he left the university as a student, a few years ago he requested us for duplicate copies of his registration card. I was amazed as he remembered his registration and roll numbers. We could immediately provide the copies,” Das said.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, too, was present at the convocation where DSc was awarded to scientist Bikash Sinha and ENT surgeon L S Ojha. DLitt was awarded to former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey. Among the eminent teachers awarded was historian Jayanta Kumar Roy for his substantial contribution to the university.

Later in the day, the President inaugurated the 150-bed facility of Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata at Mullickbazar — a PPP project in which the health department and KMC chipped in for the venture of three NRI doctors.

Mukherjee urged young doctors to embrace value-based principles while aspiring to be top professionals. “They have to remember that the nation invested in their education and they should never snap the sacred bond with the motherland while pursuing higher studies abroad.”

The President wanted a suitable rehab policy for patients with neurological problems, which is growing among the elderly populace with increased life span. “Elderly people are suffering from diseases like dementia, for which the need for medical aid and treatment cost are increasing. The dignity of patients is to be protected so that they are not isolated,” he said. He wanted campaigns highlighting treatment of neuro-psychiatric diseases.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / November 29th, 2014

Japanese scholar traces history of Kolkata

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Once Okamoto Yoshiko starts speaking on the history of Bengal, jaws are bound to drop. Yoshiko, a history scholar of modern Japanese thought at Institute of Asian Cultural Studies of International Christian University, Tokyo, is tracing the untold history of Bengal and the city in connection with modern Japanese thought.

For last few days, she has been running from one house to another belonging to forgotten luminaries of Calcutta in search of documents, old photographs and books to track the vibrant bond Japan shared with Bengal more than 100 years ago.

Recently, Yoshiko was sifting through old books and documents at the house of Tapan Sen, great grandson of Narendranath Sen (1843-1911), the founder-editor of nationalist newspaper, Indian Mirror.

“He was a liberal Hindu, with a deep interest in other religions, particularly Buddhism. He was the founder of the Theosophical Society of Bengal,” Yoshiko said.

Yoshiko is working towards a book on an international religious conference that was to be held in Japan — a cancelled event at Kyoto in 1903. The key mover of the conference was Okakura Kakuzo (1863 -1913). This was after Kakuzo and art historian and Japanese monk Oda Tokuno came to Kolkata in 1902 and 1903 and met literary, cultural and spiritual luminaries like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita. Narendranath Sen was elected chairman of the committee for the religious conference, Yoshiko said.

Why did the conference not shape up? “One of the reasons was the premature death of Swami Vivekananda. Without him the conference would have lost its sheen. There were other reasons as well. But the cancelled conference became a threshold of modern Japanese thought and forged an international intellectual network. With the idea of one-Asia, Kakuzo ceased to identify himself as Japanese but an Asian,” Yoshiko explained. The conference evoked world-wide response. Two Indian monks — Swami Rama Tirtha and Agamiya Parama Tattava — travelled to Tokyo for the conference.

Kakuzo had some wonderful intellectual exchanges with Narendranath Sen, who first interviewed Vivekananda after his return to India. In fact, Narendranath was the prime mover behind Vivekananda’s supposed participation at the Kyoto conference, the scholar explained. Yoshiko was sad that the original house of Narendranath Sen was razed.

Like Tagore, Kakuzo’s prophesy in his book, ‘The Ideas of the East’, proved true a century later, she said. “He noted that Japan’s rapid modernization was not universally applauded in Asia,” Yoshiko said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay, TNN / November 13th, 2014

Calcutta captures King – Superstar dances and dimples his way into 10,000 hearts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders

Shahrukh01KOLKATA31oct2014

Shah Rukh Khan rocked St. Xavier’s College on Wednesday evening with his dimpled smile, star appeal and snappy quips, giving a 10,000-strong crowd of screaming fans plentiful “happy” moments to remember the evening by.

If a kiss each on the forehead was a fairy tale come true for three second-year students, SRK’s spontaneity ensured that everyone else had something to take away from the hour-long Happy New Year show “Indiawaale Kolkata Mein Chha Gaye!” — presented by t2 in association with CenturyPly and Gameplan, powered by Glamour World Ayurvedic and partnered by the St. Xavier’s College Alumni Association and 91.9 Friends FM.

Chants of “We want Shah Rukh” had rent the air from 5.30pm with half the crowd already on the playground by then, armed with posters professing their love for King Khan and wishing HNY “good luck”. By the time SRK, Farah Khan and the rest of the Indiawaale team arrived from The Oberoi Grand, the crowd had doubled.

First on the stage was director Farah, who promised the audience King Khan in exchange for another promise. “Promise me, all 10,000 of you will go and watch Happy New Year again tomorrow, then I’ll ask Shah Rukh to come on stage,” she said.

For SRK, this crowd would have promised her the moon.

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Shah Rukh jogged onto the stage clad in ripped denims, black tee, tan leather jacket and his trademark dimpled smile. Delirium.

“There is no place like Calcutta for the love that I get and this is even beyond that. So, thank you very much. I am going to be here. I will talk for you, I will dance for you. I will do everything that you guys say,” promised Shah Rukh.

He proceeded to do just that and more.

The crowd would roar in approval whenever Shah Rukh said something, the screaming continuing when his HNY co-stars Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah or director Farah endorsed the Bolly Badshah’s love for his adopted hometown. “Shah Rukh told me that when you come to Calcutta with him, you witness love like you have never before, and I am witnessing it right now,” Farah said.

“I genuinely feel like a king of the world because of everyone in Calcutta. I was born in Delhi and brought up in Mumbai, but I can tell you, absolutely, unquantifiably, the love that I get in Calcutta I get nowhere else. As long as I am working I want to come back and do something special for Calcutta so please pray for me that I can do so,” Shah Rukh added.

He went on to repeat a dialogue from Happy New Year that he said was closest to his heart and one which students could learn from — “Duniya mein do tarah ke log hote hain, winners and losers, lekin zindagi har loser ko woh ek mowka zaroor deti hai jismein woh winner ban sakte hain.”

While Shah Rukh the non-stop entertainer didn’t come as a surprise, at Xavier’s on Wednesday it was his turn to be entertained by his fans. Ten Xaverians got the opportunity to perform not just for, but with King Khan, Sonu, Vivaan and Farah.

While Moubani Roy Choudhury tried a dialogue from HNY, to which Shah Rukh responded with a “You are breathtaking”, fellow Xaverian Virender Singh sang Indiawaale. But it was when four students chosen to dance with the star took the stage that the fun went up a notch.

“I am switching to the Xavier’s team. I am in Calcutta, I have to be with my city. You guys (Farah, Vivaan and Sonu) can represent HNY,” SRK said, slipping between the Xaverians.

After the group had danced to various songs from HNY, Shah Rukh announced that it was time to groove to something different. “Can we have Lungi dance, please?” he hollered.

The audience went wild, as did everyone on stage.

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When Class VI student of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School Divyansh Agarwal was reported missing in the crowd crush, SRK did his bit in locating him. “Divyansh, your parents are a little worried. Can you come in front of the stage? You can use this as an excuse to come up and see us from up close as well,” Shah Rukh said, prompting the ladies in the audience to call out that they were all “lost”.

SRK immediately flashed a dimpled smile and flipped a thumbs up sign.

While Shah Rukh hugged, danced, sang along and blew kisses at the audience every few minutes, what he didn’t do despite several requests was take off his black tee and show his eight-pack abs.

The audience did get a glimpse of hunk Sonu’s pectorals though, thanks to director Farah’s bullying.

The HNY team was felicitated by Father Felix Raj, principal of St. Xavier’s College, and also cut a cake to celebrate the success of the film.

Each member of the HNY team got a Xaverian T-shirt and a cap.

The best gift, of course, was reserved for the audience: SRK up close and personal.

What makes SRK a winner each time he takes the stage? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Story> Calcutta / by Chandreyee Chatterjee and Pramita Ghosh / Thursday – October 30th, 2014