School floats Bangla Club to foster love for classics

To familiarize the Gen Y with the bookworm's hub College Street away from the synthetic environment of bookstores, an elite school in the city has floated 'Bangla Club' for its English and Hindi-speaking students.
Introducing the cast and crew of Gogoler Kirti, a quint-essential children's Bengali film, with its ninth and tenth standard students, one of the spearheads of the Bangla Club Chitralekha Mukherjee of Birla Boys' High School said. "We have a roadmap to initiate our children with the by-gone classicists like Samaresh Basu, the milestones in Indian literature.
"We collaborate in organizing events which talk about our heritage and culture, we organize debates and we egg on the club members to take Bengali classics of Bibhutibhusan and others from the library," the soft-spoken teacher said.

"Besides penning literary works like Pari and Dekhi Nai Phire, Samaresh had equally enthralled children and adults with his sharp-inquisitive boy sleuth Gogol, whose annual sojourn to a tourist spot during puja vacation and tackling web of crimes were keenly followed in Anandamela Saradiya in 80s," popular singer Parama, having two little school going boys, said.
"From experience I have seen how adrift today's children are from these literary gems excepting Feluda perhaps. So every school should have such Bangla Club to foster the interest among us," Parama, having been part of Anik Dutta's Aschorjo Prodip besides Gogoler Kirti, said.

Debayun, student of class vi of the institution, however has already been hooked to the intriguing world of Bengali thrillers from Nihar Ranjan Roy to Samaresh Basu, from Gogol to Kiriti and even Kakababu by Sunil Gangopadhyay.

"I have immensely enjoyed reading 'Sei Barir Khonje' (In search of that house) and yes I also read Rowling." "Harry Potter and Gogol can co-exist in my world, and the Bangla Club nurtures that root of Bengaliness," the son of civil servant parents told PTI.
"As part of the Birla House alumni, known as Hindi High in our days, all I can say, if the parents are willing to plant the sapling of Bengaliness in their ward's conscience the school can do the rest," actor Saheb Chatterjee, having essayed the lead role in Yogayog, a film based on Tagore's famous short story, said.

"Having a little daughter I know what today's kids are like. All the children of the school here are my real 'Gogol's. Look how they bonded with Ahijit, my screen Gogol." "Ahijit has promised to initiate his class mates in St James to Bengali literature, Samaresh Basu and Premendra Mitra, Satyajit Ray to Sirshendu. We hope celluloid plays a role to foster one's love for literature," Gogoler Kirti director Pompi Ghosh Mukherjee said.