Taj Mahal is not the Symbol of Love

Lucknow, 24^th February, 2014: An Indian man fatally stabbed his American wife before killing himself near the Taj Mahal, four months after the couple married near the legendary monument of love, police said Saturday.

Bunty Sharma & Erin W. Willinger

Erin W. Willinger's body was found with multiple stab wounds late Thursday night in a deserted part of the city, said Agra Police Chief Shalabh Mathur. Her husband Bunty Sharma committed suicide by igniting cooking gas and causing a massive explosion in his home, Mathur said.

Willinger and Sharma met last year when she visited the Taj Mahal with friends. She and Sharma fell in love and got married in October, police said.

Willinger, 35, from West Chester, Pennsylvania, adopted an Indian name, Kiran Sharma, and began working with a local nongovernmental organization to promote tourism in Agra. Sharma, 32, was a rickshaw cab driver in Agra city.

But police say they separated soon after because of differences.

"Both of them tried to resolve their differences and even met with a marriage counselor," Mathur said.

On Thursday night, Sharma took Willinger out in his vehicle, and on reaching a secluded place stabbed and killed her and dumped the body on the side of the road, Mathur said.

King of Super Sunday

Kolkata, February 9, 2014: College Street of Kolkata is a place which remains abuzz with activities where people throng for all small little books, novels and short stories that suits their needs. But on Sundays the entire area wore a deserted look with no signs of life. And on this day we met the King of Super Sunday Paritosh Bhattacharjee at the grand old historic ‘Coffee House’. 

Paritosh Bhattacharjee at Coffee House- NBI

Sunday is conventionally known as the home sickness day, no office, no work and nothing.  It is the days when people sit back home and spend lovely time with their friends and family members. Yet one striking moments that mesmerised us was the view of a roving bookseller at the Coffee House, Kolkata. Paritosh Bhattacharjee, a graduate from Scottish Church College, in his eighties makes it a point that he hops in every table at the Coffee House on Sundays like other weekdays. He seemed to be dynamically passionate about his profession and love for books always push him to the doors.

Unfortunately, Paritosh lost his parents at a very small age which made him a weak in all aspects. Despite of the demise of his parents, he didn’t lose his faith and continued his studies with his own earnings as he used to give tuitions. The books sold by him are basically the rare collections which we wouldn’t be able to get in the market easily and he is also a reseller of books. Paritosh presents himself unlike the other sellers of books due to his insight knowledge for books as well as his love & devotion for the same. His way of communicating to his prospects, his manners and etiquettes towards every other people makes him impeccable for the profession. When he has been asked eventually the reason behind visiting Coffee House on Sundays as the crowd is lesser, so he firmly replied, “Visiting Coffee House on Sundays makes me visiting new faces at times which are again a good prospect for me to sell books and interacting too. Also I don’t feel like sit back at home during the holidays and hope that it would certainly keep me eventful.”

Paritosh Bhattacharjee has a son who is also doing a business and his family is running smoothly according to his own words. He is a resident from Dum Dum and he exits from his home at 10 AM and reaches at around 10 PM every day to home. During his professional career in selling books in Coffee House, he had words with many eminent people like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Manna Dey and many more. His attire dhoti and kurta makes him look more tangible while operating. The frequent visitors of Coffee House are too much emotionally involved with him and accompany him in his tougher situations of life.

Paritosh Bhattacharjee at Coffee House- NBI

“It gives me immense pleasure while selling books across the entire Coffee House. I also feel like a king of Sunday as being the monopolist who sells books on Sundays in the whole College Street area.” The streets of College Street was all empty, the shutters of the book shops were shut and there was no single chaos of the pedestrians in College Street, therefore it makes this old man really a challenge taker to do trade and committed to do so until his last breath.     

East India Contestants Woo’s Boogie Woogie Kids Championship

Kolkata, December 28, 2013: An Indian TV dance show that telecasts on Sony Entertainment Television. The show made its inception on 1997 and gracefully hosted by Indian film & TV figures namely Javed Jaffrey, Ravi Behl and Naved Jaffrey. Also they are the producers & mentors of the show respectively. It is shot in Mehta Industrial Estate in Andheri, Mumbai. It is one of the oldest dance reality shows on Indian TV and it has become the longest show in India.

The popularity of the dance show has led to the creation of special championship shows, such as kids' championships, teen championships and celebrity championships, in which various Indian celebrities, such as Mithun Chakraborty, Juhi Chawla, Esha Deol, Dia Mirza, Govinda, Vivek Oberoi and Ritesh Deshmukh have participated.

This year it has again came up with a news season which is Boogie Woogie Kids Championship. One of the most appealing facts of this season is that out of 14 finalists in the championship, 7 among them are from East India which is splendidly amazing. On this day of 28^th December, 2013 in Kolkata, those 7 finalists are being encountered with the media and expressed their zeal towards the contest and also love for the dance along with the experiences.

The listings of contestants are viz. Urgen Tenzing Lama, Abhishek Sinha, Smrity Panda, Bebechana Gurung, Ayush Singh, Priyanka Tapadar and Chirasmita Rout. Among these 7 budding stars, Urgen Tenzing Lama is startling and he is only 10 years old from Darjeeling who specialises in Contemporary and Lyrical Hip-Hop dance styles. Even in one of the episodes in this season of Boogie Woogie, actor Shahid Kapoor couldn’t able to stop himself from dancing along with Urgen as he proved to be a spectacular performer.

When these stars have been asked that how the experience is this TV show, then they responded like the known celebrities do. The kids had to say that it’s a great fun and learning process too for being on the show. The hosts Javed Jaffrey, Ravi Behl and Naved Jaffrey are not actually like judges however like the good friends, the mentors and the motivators. The judges are very cooperative with them and they are learning the masterpieces of dance in each & every magical moments in the show.

This kind of reality shows are gradually upbringing the budding stars from every corners of the nation and again a pride to the Eastern part of India. It is the next crucial check if anyone out of these finalists could make it to the winning title.    

Barista Lavazza steps into the Quiz Domain

Kolkata, December 21, 2013: The city of joy in the first day of winter 2013 had an experience of the first ever café quiz contest organised by Barista Lavazza. Barista Lavazza, having the courtesy of innovating and engaging with their customers, has made its inception with “Caffeine Quotient”, which is the freshest sphere among the cafes in India. For this segment, Quizcraft, one of the largest quizzing syndicate, has been enthusiastically allied with Barista Lavazza and with a prime objective to give an optimistic prospect. This also implies that there will be a healthy and fun competition among the individuals as well as groups. 

“Caffeine Quotient” was formally announced on December 07 and will run in selective cafes in two metros i.e. Delhi & Kolkata. The quiz will be open to all customers, irrespective of age group. The contest will be played between 15^th-22^nd December, 2013. The content and execution of quiz rounds will be monitored by Quizcraft. Written, verbal & audio visual rounds will make the quiz more exciting.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Nilanjan Bhattacharya, COO, India and SAARC at Barista Lavazza remarked “Innovation is what we follow and strongly believe in. Whether it is our F&B offerings or consumer engagement activation programmes, we always focus on novelty.  Caffeine Quotient is one of those innovative platforms which helps us establish a direct bond with our consumers and ensures that they keep coming back”.

Barista Lavazza has been applauded hugely across the nation and it has all the international flavours available. So it is implied that in spite of the gossips and hangouts in a cafeteria, there is a bigger platform to move ahead with the acquisition of such quiz contests in the respective venue.