What drives youth when choosing careers? Love of the profession or just lucre? Parental pressure or pure passion? Dilemmas always existed. But the Covid-19 pandemic which has wreaked havoc on lives and […]
For Love or Lucre?
A Year of Music in the Mother Tongue
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival of a music genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. Cuckoo News is honoured and humbled to have received this gift from […]
They Come Riding on Clouds
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival of a music genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. Day breaks. Kabir Suman wakes up, haunted by tunes humming in his […]
A Tune for the Tigress
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival of a musical genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. “Banglai jitbe, tai gaan badhi,” (Because I know that Bengal/Bengali will win……. that’s […]
For the Love of the Language
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival of a musical genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. February 21, 1952. Dhaka (capital city of then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh). Since […]
Love Letters
On February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, the world celebrates love in unique ways. In Mumbai, “Readings in the Shed,” a group of passionate writers and thespians, digs out and reads out the […]
Vagabond Visitors and Foliage Filters
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival* of a musical genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. “Light filters through foliage”. Photo by Koli Mitra On the cold morning of […]
The Mind behind the Mask
The glassy waters of a gurgling brook reflect the changing colours of the day like a mirror. Gray-blue in the cool morning air. Red-orange in the heat of midday. A burst of […]
Of Memories and Music: the Continuing Saga of Apu
“Apu, ei Apu, Where are you?” The voice of the young girl, calling out to her kid brother, floats in. And we know who she is. Or rather who she was. And […]
Every Song Has Its Day
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival* of a musical genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. August 27, 2018. Exactly two years ago today. Kabir Suman, singer, song-writer, composer […]
5Pointz: The Legacy of Ephemeral Art
[Editor’s note: earlier this spring, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided an important case legally protecting works of art, even ephemeral ones. The issue is again resonant […]
Rain Ragas in the Vernacular
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival* of a music genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. “I am not the ‘miss you’, ‘miss it’ type,” says Kabir Suman, […]
Apu, the Road, and Sixty Years
Apu’s story, in Bibhuti Bhusan Bandyopadhyay’s epic novel, did not end where Ray’s trilogy, based on the book, did. He lived on. And now he returns. In this series of articles, Cuckoo […]
Shadow Mistress, Chhayanat
In this series of articles, Cuckoo News documents the revival* of a music genre, Bangla Khayal, by a musical genius, Kabir Suman. It’s 8:30 in the morning on a dazzling day in […]
The Jokers Go Home…The Audience Longs To Also
In a Last Act, the pretty Sheetal blew a flying kiss inside a stadium. The stadium in the Yamuna Sports Complex in East Delhi has been converted into a shelter for migrant […]
