Source : Times of India
One of the most anticipated events in town, the first edition of the Times Litfest Kolkata took place on Sunday at the Tollygunge Club.With a crosssection of authors, publishers and speakers like Ruskin Bond, Allan Pease, Barbara Pease, Anand Neelakantan, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sourav Ganguly, Jaya Ahsan, Onir and many others in attendance, it was indeed a treat for Kolkata’s book lovers who poured in to the club to listen to them.
After an eventful day, it was time for everyone to let their hair down. A lavish dinner spread, along with cocktails, was arranged for the guests at the Far Pavilion. Musical duo Soumyojit and Sourendro performed at the adjacent lawn. They rendered songs like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, Mast Kalandar and Jai Ho, among others. Darga singer Saleem Hassan Chisti also performed along with the musical duo and their band. They ended their act by signing Chiro Sokha fused with a sufi number. Nandini Nandy, one of the club members, said, “I loved Soumyojit and Sourendro’s performance. I have heard them before and I really like the way they experiment with each of their songs.”
We spotted theatre director Debesh Chattopadhyay, who was also one of the speakers at the fest, riding a golf cart with actorpolitician Bratya Basu. Jaya flew in from Sydney to join Selina Hossain, Anisul Hoque and Farah Ghuznavi at the session on The Other Bangla: Literature Across Borders. “I’ll be back in Kolkata this December. This event was special and I had to come,” said Jaya. The guests were seen enjoying the cocktails and the lavish spread of delicacies. On the dinner menu were dishes like peas pulao, dal makhani, corn palak, veg jhal farezi, veg cutlet and palak paneer. The dessert counter had a yummy vanilla and kiwi pastry apart from a few other sweet dishes.
