TIMES CITY THE TIMES OF , | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2013 IIT KHARAGPUR TO HOLD PRELIMINARY ROUNDS BAIDYABATI IN CELEBRATORY MOOD AS OF 2014 | 4 ‘LAKSHMAN-DA’ TAKES OVER AS IAF CHIEF | 5 Road cleared for all-night revelry Park Street To Remain Open To Traffic Big-ticket parties are a sell-out

Sumati Yengkhom TNN while live entertainment and music at DANCE FLOOR the ‘Galaxy’ will be crowd-pullers. Kolkata: The year-long wait has come ‘Someplace Else’ will have The Satur- to an end. The New Year is finally ON FIRE day Night Blues playing live and in- round the corner. So what are you wait- house DJs spinning magic at ‘Tantra’. ing for? Put on your dance shoes and A Secret Affair at ‘Roxy’ is sure to make the night special. Shisha make the night very special. According nightclubs and party ® Two party zone, one Private party organizers are hotspots in the city, the craze for ring- of them ‘theme-based’ also having a tough time to meet ing in the New Year has increased ® Unlimited food and THE CLUB STYLE the last-minute rush. Be it be the one at manifold this time around. Most beverage Axis Mall rooftop, Wet-O-Wild at Nicco CC&FC The Tolly party-goers have planned their night- Plush Park or the Backstage Banquets at Sec- out much earlier and made their book- ® -based singers ® Mid-night show on tor V, all are expecting a houseful at ® In-house DJs Traffic across central Kolkata came to a halt on Christmas as Park Street was taken over by revellers ings in advance. Clubs, too, are leaving and dance troupe horse jumping and tent their respective New Year eve party. no stone unturned to cash in on the fes- pegging “All our passes are sold out. Since TIMES NEWS NETWORK No vehicles will be allowed Watch police bikes, 51 RFS (16 tive fever. Shimmers Dalhousie Institute we can not accommodate more people, ® ® Music by DJ Jazzy Joe to be parked on Park Street be- more than usual) and 12 HRFS “Apart from regular clients, we are Exotic dancers ® I am not taking calls from unknown Ball room dance and band Moon Wind Kolkata: If you missed out on tween JL Nehru Road and Wood vehicles will be on the road. expecting a rush of people who party The Park people. We are expecting a footfall of that Christmas dinner at Park Street. No vehicles will be al- Around 1,000 cops in plain- on occasions. Hence we have divided about 500 couples,” said Akshay Jaipu- ® Live entertainment Street with your family because lowed to go towards Free School clothes will merge into the our nightclub into two zones,” said ria, a team member of the event at PC and music shows you had no clue where to park Street from Royd Street up to crowd to spot mischief-makers. Ritesh Shrivastava, head of oper- Chandra Garden. your car, this is your chance to Park Street. All this will come The stand-down this year will ations at ‘Shisha’. While the nightclub Swabhumi With casinos as the theme at the make up for it. into effect from 4pm on Tuesday be extended to 6am instead of will have a regular party zone, it will Swabhumi Heritage Plaza, people will Fresh from their experience and continue till 4am on the the usual 2am. A total 5,000 cops have a ‘theme zone’ that will take the Heritage Plaza get to party the night Vegas style. And on Christmas Day when a part first day of 2014. will man important zones like guests through the journey from ® Casino theme Ukrainian dancers, dazzling beam la- of south and central Kolkata Parking will be allowed on Park Street-Shakespeare Sara- 2013 to 2014. With an offer for unlimited ® Ukrainian dancers ser show and continental, Indian and traffic collapsed trying to ac- Russel Street, Free School ni, Science City, Ballygunge and food and beverage, ‘Passport to 2014’ ® Beam laser show oriental cuisine adding to the zing, the commodate 60,000 revellers on School Street (between Royd Tollygunge. There will be spe- will have special visuals that will make heritage plaza is expecting a huge turn Park Street, Kolkata Police has and Marquis streets), Wood cial watch at leading clubs and the guests feel that they are transiting out on the big night. decided against shutting down Street and RA Kidwai Road (be- select bars. into 2014. The nightclub on Camac Party places like ‘The Chrome’ on the party zone on Tuesday eve- tween Royd Street and Shakes- “The UAV Durdanto will be Street is expecting a footfall of about AJC Bose Road has planed different of- ning. However, there might be peare Sarani). used this year. We are putting 800 in total. fers like fashion show where Tolly- certain restrictions till early Besides Park Street, cops special emphasis on securing “We get a footfall of about 150 to 200 wood actors will walk the ramp with Wednesday morning. have warned of vehicular regu- areas adjoining Park Street, like during a regular party. But going by the city models. Hitting up the ambience Top officers in Lalbazar said lation any time on January 1 at Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, Ca- bookings, we expect the number to will be cabaret dance performance by security hazards have “forced” various places including the In- mac Street and Shakespeare Sa- cross 300 on the New Year eve,” said Su- some Tollywood actress. them to keep a few restrictions dian Museum, Victoria Memo- rani. We will also set up 15 as- mitro Basu, manager of ‘Plush’. The Preparation for the big night is on in place. Park Street and Ho Chi rial, Birla Planetarium, Alipore sistance booths at strategic nightclub on Theatre Road will have its at war-footing by various clubs as well. Minh Sarani will be one way zoo, Kali Temple, Thantania Ka- locations,” said Rajeev Mishra, in-house DJs Deva and Rohan churn- mers’ at Sector V can easily hold about spinmasters at the console. Mumbai-based singer and dance from west to east and Shakes- libari, New Market area and joint CP (headquarters). ing out foot tapping music that would 500 guests, but we expect the footfall to “We are gearing up to make the 31st troupe at CC&FC, ball room dance at peare Sarani from east to west. Millennium Park. On Tuesday, four deputy drag even non-dancers to the floor. The shoot up and hence made arrange- night party very special for our guests. Dalhousie Institute, mid-night show Russel Street and Little Russel For the first time, police will commissioners will be in party hotspot has two kinds of charges ments to accommodate an additional We have an array of events and charg- on horse jumping and tent pegging Street will be one way from be deployed through the night charge of security under the su- – Rs 4000 and Rs 6000 per couple. Major- crowd,” said Vishal Shaw, spokeper- es depend on the venue and the inclu- while grooving to music by DJ Jazzy south to north. Middleton on at least 100 crossings. Special pervision of a joint CP. They ity of the second package has already son of ‘Shimmers’ and ‘Basement’. sion,” said a spokesperson at The Park. Joe and band Moon Wind at The Tolly Street will be one way from east speed-bike checking camps will will lead over 350 policewomen been booked. While the former will have exotic danc- The Park will have its guests spoilt are only few of the parties lined up. to west between Camac Street come up in areas around Park and quick response teams have “We are flooded with calls for en- ers flown in from abroad, ‘Basement’ for a choice. The secret affair at the Kolkata surely is set to party hard and JL Nehru Road. Street. Besides the 20 City been stationed for emergencies. quiry and advance bookings. ‘Shim- on Sarat Bose Road will have in-house ‘Roxy’ is sure to make it a special night through the night as 2014 ushers in. ‘Chander Pahar’ scales new heights Tiger breeding to restart at zoo

Rohit Khanna TNN Tara’ outside Bengal, but the response has Krishnendu Mukherjee TNN cannot breed the hybrid lions GUNNING FOR MORE never been so overwhelming,” said Sub- CARE IN CAPTIVITY and hence the Asiatic lions were Kolkata: It’s was an uphill task for the hasis Ganguli, regional director of Inox. Kolkata: If 2013 took Alipore brought from its counterpart in WHEN WAS THE LAST makers of ‘Chander Pahar’ right from the ‘Chander Pahar’ is also being screened at Zoological Gardens to new . TIME THAT TIGERS WERE beginning. There were challenges of eight Inox theatres outside Bengal. heights for its adoption scheme, However, conservationists shooting in the forests of Africa, then A big push in releasing Bengali films the zoo is set to hit another high BRED IN CAPTIVITY? raised question over such move there was speculation over the possibility outside Bengal came with Jeet-starrer note in the New Year with its In 2005. Two cubs were saying it won’t serve the pur- of producers being able to recover the cost ‘Boss’. The movie was screened in theat- captive breeding programme born then pose of conservation and will and finally, will the film be able to compete res in cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, for the tigers and lions. ® Cross breeding of tigers only raise the footfall in the zoo. with big-budget Bolly flick, ‘Dhoom 3’. But , , , sBhopal, While captive breeding of ti- and lions brought the zoo “Zoos should take up captive barely 10 days after it hit the screen, Ranchi and Jamshedpur apart from met- gers in the zoo last happened al- in the eye of the storm breeding programmes, but the ‘Chander Pahar’ has already become a ro cities. “It was accepted well and ran for most a decade back in 2005, that idea is not to draw tourists only. earlier and it stopped the rage among cinema-goers. Not only has it around two weeks despite a delayed re- of the lions took place even be- We have to keep in mind that the grossed Rs 4.5 crore in the first week, it’s lease,” said Utpal Acharya, country head practice in 1985 23 fore that. Some even claimed WHEN WILL THE PROJECT START? tigers that we have now will not smashing records at theatres across Number (distribution & acquisition) of Reliance that this will probably be the ® At present, the zoo has live forever. The generation metro cities. of multiplexes Entertainment. Later, Prosenjit-starrer first time that two pure Asiatic The zoo authorities will initiate the five tigers, three male and should move on and this is As on Monday, the Rs 15-crore movie ‘Mishar Rahasya’ and Rituparno Ghosh’s BREAK UP screening lions will be bred in the zoo. programme as soon as the winter two female, and a pair of where a zoo plays a crucial was running successfully at 23 multiplex- ‘Chander Pahar’ ‘Satyanweshi’ was also screened at a num- “The technical committee rush is over. They will start with role,” said Ghosh. 8 Mumbai Asiatic lion. It also has es outside Bengal, including eight in outside ber of theatres outside Bengal. of the state zoo authority has al- the captive breeding of tigers Cross breeding of tigers and Mumbai, six in , two in “The response from outside Bengal three white tigers 6 Bangalore Bengal ready approved the proposal. It lions brought the zoo in the eye and and one each in Baroda, Indore, has been huge this time. Although it can- will be presented in its govern- can’t start working on it be- five Bengal tigers — three male of storm earlier. A cross be- Jamshedpur, Hyderabad and Bhubanes- 2 not be compared with the response that Delhi and Pune IN THE ing body meeting next month cause it needs a lot of planning. and two female. Besides, it tween a Bengal tiger and an war. In Bangalore, multiplexes have in- PIPELINE we get from audience in Bengal, it is open- for a final nod,” said zoo direc- Besides, the mating pairs too has three white tigers as well. African lion, Rudrani — a ‘ti- creased number of screens after a week’s 1 Each in Baroda, ing a new area of revenue for the film in- tor K L Ghosh. However, mem- will need time and isolation,” On the lions, the zoo director gon’ born in 1970 — produced a run. Indore, Jamshedpur, 20 dustry in the state,” said Srikant Mohta, ber secretary of state zoo au- Ghosh said. couldn’t confirm the date when litter of seven ‘litigon’ cubs after PVR Cinemas, one of the largest mul- Hyderabad and THEATRES founder of Shree Venkatesh Films. It is al- thority, TVN Rao, said the According to Ghosh, they they were bred in captivity for mating with an Asiatic lion in tiplex chains in India, is screening ‘Chan- Bhubaneswar IN THE US so planning to release ‘Chander Pahar’ in technical committee’s say is fi- have a male tiger in the zoo that the last time. At present, the 1976. One of these ‘litigons’ were der Pahar’ in eight theaters outside Ben- 20 theatres in the US in January. nal here. has the bloodline of Sunder- zoo has a pair of Asiatic lion, marketed by the zoo authorities gal. “In places like Delhi, Mumbai and Director’s Rare. With responses from audience outside So, when will the zoo author- bans big cats and is capable to brought from the Hyderabad as the largest living big cat in the Bangalore, we have seen more than 90% Although multiplex chains have been the state growing rapidly, Reliance enter- ities embark upon the project? mate. “We might consider it for zoo three years back, and three world. It died at the age of 15 in occupancy last weekend. In fact, it was a releasing Bengali films outside Bengal tainment is betting big on Prosenjit-star- As soon as the winter rush is the programme so that the cubs hybrid lions, two male and 1991. The zoo stopped its hybrid houseful in Mumbai last Sunday. Signifi- aimed at Bengali-speaking audience out- rer ‘Jatiswar’. “We will launch it in cities over, said the zoo director. “We get a new gene pool,” he said. afemale. programme in 1985, after there cantly, many non-Bengali audiences are side the state, it was restricted to a very like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, are planning to start the project However, he couldn’t recall Since the Central Zoo Au- was criticism from the scientif- coming to watch the movie as sub-titled few screens in fewer cities. “We had earli- Pune and Baroda. We will also launch the with the captive breeding of the whether it was a rescued Sun- thority of India (CZAI) has ic community which claimed versions were being screened at these er screened movies like ‘Bhooter Bhobish- movie in North America, Singapore, Ma- tigers. But unless the year-end derbans tiger. strongly recommended against that such hybrids suffer from places,” said Shiladitya Bora, head of PVR yat’, ‘Goynar Baksho’ and ‘Meghe Dhaka layasia and Hong Kong,” said Acharya. and New Year rush is over, we The zoo at the moment has the breeding of hybrids, the zoo ‘genetic abnormalities’.

RUBY HEMBROM VOICE OF THE SANTHALS Pix: Sukanta Mukherjee This IT professional With single-minded devotion, this 35- BOOKS ARE year Santhali is making the Adivasi voice gave up a cushy heard the world over by turning the oral THE BEST tradition of millennia into books and PLATFORM TO job to keep Adivasi music Cds in English and taking them beyond the community barrier. GET ADIVASIS VOICES HEARD folklore alive “I quit my job as a learning and devel- opment professional with IBM to do ready started reaching to at least the something for my community. I was clue- youths of her community to begin with. less to what I exactly I wanted to do until Many look up to her to address different I attended a course in publishing in Kolk- issues including education and social ata,” recalls Hembrom. The permanence problems. of the written word hit her like a brain- “I still remember schoolmates making wave. Would the stories she heard from fun of me for my looks and dark complex- her grandma be lost for ever? Will anyone ion. Someone asked me why I didn’t else ever hear it? polish my face when I polished my shoes Hembrom started collecting and col- in the morning. Looking back, I realize lating folklore of the Santhals that have how ignorant they were. I would be very been orally passed down generations and happy if the books we are working on help which are in danger of being lost. Her them enrich their knowledge about Adi- first two books — ‘We Came From Geese’ vasis,” said Ruby. and ‘Earth Rests On A Tortoise’ — were CHRONICLER: Ruby Hembrom wants to “As kids we used hear tales of Santhal mythical stories about the origin of San- preserve Santhal lore in books and CDs creation during tribal story-telling ses- thals. They were written and illustrated sions. But these days many us have moved Sumati Yengkhom | TNN to make them interesting. tion’ by Timotheas Hembrom. will be involved in a project in learning to the cities for work and such lore, which Ruby roped in like minded friends “It is important to write in English so centres for tribal children in Birbum. Her is an integral part of the community, is he passion to give some- Joy Tudu and Luis A Gomez, who has as to make the larger society know about illustrated book on Santhal creation will losing significance. Reproducing them in thing back to her com- worked with various indigenous publi- the tribals, their culture and life. Being be used as a resource for such classes. of stories on living unsung Adivasi he- written from and music CDs will not only munity drives this cations in Latin America, to found a a Santhal myself, it was easy to start writ- “Thrusting tales of alien culture on roes — sports stars, social crusaders. benefit children of the community but all young tribal woman to publishing house, Adivaani (Voice of the ing or translating works of the Santhal these children won’t be very effective. “Books are the best platforms to an- over the world,” said Joy Tudu, a St Xavi- venture into an un- Adivasi), about a year ago. Adivaani’s tribe. But we want to so the same for With Santhali books, they will find and nounce Adivasi presence and to have our er’s College Kolkata graduate. known terrain. Ruby publications include ‘Whose Country is other tribes too,” said Hembrom. immediate connect,” says Hembrom. voices heard,” said Hembrom, a law grad- HemTbrom gave up a well paid job in the it Anyway’ by Gladson Dungdung, an In fact, an organization that works in Next on Adivaani’s list is a book on Adi- uate from Calcutta University. Surely the KNOW A HERO? IT sector in Delhi five years ago and re- activist from Jhakhand, and ‘The Santal tribal areas has sought Hembrom’s help vasi freedom fighters who she says have voice of the quite girl who kept a quiet Log on to kolkataheroes.com to send in turned to Kolkata to preserve the dying and Biblical Creation Traditions: An- in developing an English language skill been deprived their rightful place in mod- profile in class during her school days at your suggestion about a hero you think Santhal language. thropological and Theological Reflec- programme for tribal children. Hembrom ern Indian history. She is creating a bank La Martiniere School for Girls has al- deserves to be on our list