Me and My World: 2008

Sunday 23 November 2008

My songs my music

‘Roddoor’ : A Bengali Band that Will Make You Proud

It all started on a foggy evening in late November 2008. A group of young Bengalis got together and worked out a musical way of getting some sunshine in the UK. They formed a band that would break all barriers of race, language, and colour and named it ‘Roddoor’, which literally means ‘Sunshine’ in Bengali.
The idea of forming a band surprisingly came from the networking site ‘Orkut’, at the ‘Bengalis in UK’ community. Many people showed interest to get together: some said they could sing, others said they could play instruments, and some others offered to lend their instruments to the band. After a lot of discussions it was decided that the first meeting would take place at Dr. Ritwik Raychaudhuri’s residence in Manchester. A bundle of songs were discussed and it was resolved that we would cover different genres, starting from old Hindi and Bengali classics to modern ‘Jibonmukhi’ and band songs, to popular English songs. Dr. Samarnath Sen happily designed a website for the band on the spot.
‘Roddoor Kids’ section was formed to encourage children of the members to take part in performances. This is a conscious effort to bring second-generation Indians in the UK together through exposure to their cultural and musical roots.
Another interesting point is that Dr Debashis Roy has been presenting quite a few Jibonmukhi songs which he himself, along with a friend composed when they were medical students back in the late ‘80s-early ‘90s. These were possibly the first Jibonmukhi songs composed in West Bengal. Among these, the most admired have been ‘M.B.B.S.’ and ‘Biyer Gaan’ which have become immensely popular due to their comical libretto.
‘Roddoor’ has been privileged to sing at various venues all across the UK, the most prestigious being Rudolf Steiner Hall in London. The Bengali community in UK has welcomed Roddoor with outstretched arms: two performances in Reading in the same month, London, Manchester, Walsall are but a few places to mention. We are looking forward to performing at the London Mayor’s Diwali celebrations on Trafalgar Square and at famed Durga Pujas in England.
The present ‘Roddoor’ has moved from Orkut as we have had new members joining us. Quite a few members of the group are doctors and they have led it with unrivalled enthusiasm. The background of our members is as follows:
Dr Ritwik Raychaudhuri: Consultant in Medicine, based in Manchester – Creative head, lead male vocalist and keyboard player
Mrs Nilanjana Raychoudhury: GP, also based in Manchester- Compere
Dr Samarnath Sen: Registrar in Paediatrics, based in Lancashire – Manager of the audio-visual side and website designer
Mrs Kamalika Sen: Lecturer in English Language, also based in Lancashire – Vocalist, in charge of PR section and Roddoor Kids section
Dr Sumanta Gupta: Consultant in Psychiatry, based in Manchester – Vocalist and stage manager, takes care of PR with Kamalika
Mrs Nilanjana Chatterjee: Operations Manager at Mothercare UK Ltd., lives in London - Vocalist and newest member
Mrs Sumita Maitra: Homemaker and ‘Boudi’ to all of us, lives in Liverpool and has a very sweet voice – Vocalist
Mrs Sharmila Gupta: Works in IT, also from Manchester, sound manager and advisor
Dr Debashis Roy: Consultant in Medicine, lives in Coventry – in charge of drum section
Dr Emily Allcock: GP trainee, resides in Manchester - guitarist
Mr Tapas Haldar: Senior employee with Network Rail, from Manchester – advisor and presenter of ‘Shruti Natok’ (Vocal plays), jointly with his wife Mrs Alo Halder
With your love and blessings we hope to bring music to more and more hearts. Please visit our website at www.roddoor.co.uk and show your support by signing the guestbook.

With best wishes from
Kamalika Sen
(PR- ‘Roddoor’)

Friday 25 April 2008

Thought of the Day

I like to think - I've never been a do-er. I like to just think and think (you must be thinking ''What a hopeless person!:( ) As we grow older, we learn from things, people, and situations around us. Every single day leaves us with some kind of teaching, or realisation. This learning helps us become stronger, and sometimes changes our way of looking at things.
I thought it would be interesting if I could write down my 'Thought of the day' every day on this blog.It will serve 2 purposes -
a. Will add something to my blog everyday,
b. Will help me come back to my thoughts and learn much more from them later also.

Thought of the day: 27th January, 2010

Coming back to 'Me and My World' after a huge gap of time. Feels good, I should have come back before!
Thought of the day: This is for unfit people like me- start exercising, it makes you feel good!

Thought of the Day: 27 Apr 2008

No matter how tired you are, you can still carry on with your work if you make up your mind.

3rd May 2008

Plants and trees have healing powers.

14th May 2008

Human beings have to fight all the way - you fight with odds, with bad health, with difficult situations, 'different-from-you' people, and yourself.

15th May 2008

Smile even if you're sad, and you amy see the sun shine tomorrow.

and,

(This I've just learnt from someone who I don't know) - Thank you Ananya

Never give up on yourself for anyone else. It's not worth all the pain and sacrifice.

21st May 2008

Today is a sad day in my Mother's life, she has lost one of the five dogs who have been living with her for the past 7 years. The little white dog was very lovingly called ''Jhumpu'' by my Granny and all of us. I remember watching tv with Jhumpu on my lap. She was very calm and quiet, never asked for anything except love and a little touch. My mother says that Jhumpu has given her lots of happy moments all these years.

Let me say something about Ma here: she has been looking after numerous dogs and cats for about a decade now. She keeps five 'deshi' dogs inside the house, and feeds about 6 or 7 local dogs and I guess about 10-15 cats every day, 3 times a day. She also gives food and biscuits to all the dogs near her office; there is nobody to feed them and she wonders how these dogs will survive when she retires next year, because no one else will pay any attention to them. Ma not only lovingly gives them food, but also pays for and administers any medicine that may be required from time to time.

The ones that live with her are regularly injected against Rabies, she also makes sure that one or two of the outside dogs get the injection every year. We have a vet who visits whenever one of the family-members is ill.

I have seldom seen a selfless person like my Mum.

Today Ma has lost one of her companions, and I know exactly how she feels. When I spoke to her today, I learnt two very important things mentioning:

Firstly,

Animals will never behave as lowly as human beings can.

Secondly,

Every single act of selfishness and insensitivity that you carry out will and does come back to you in due course: there is no escape from Karma.

11th October 2008

Returning to my page after a long time! My thought of today: a new friend can make you love your family more!

Love to all -

Tuesday 22 April 2008

HIS songs for you -

Me and My World: The tunes to live and die for...

The tunes to live and die for...

http://www.esnips.com/web/kamalikassStuff

Hi Friends!

Back after a looong time - was kinda busy, and tired, and uninspired as well. Just to let anyone who may be reading this blog know that I've just started recording some Tagore songs on my computer, and have uploaded a few on the link on top of this page. If you have the time, why not give them a listen?
True my singing is not the same as it used to be before, nonetheless I am mortified with the thought of not being able to sing in a youthful voice one day. How foolish I am! Trying to defy the truth, and render the known 'unknown'!!!
But I guess there are still some years to go in between, so sing I will, and hopefully listen you will!

Cheers everybody!

Kamalika.

Thursday 28 February 2008

US and THEM

This is an amazing understanding of Eastern Culture Vs. Western Culture... a really an interesting representation.

It very well applies to all Asians - including Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Thais, Koreans, Indonesian, Malays, Dayaks, etc.

These icons were designed by Liu Young who was born in China and educated in Germany. Blue --> Westerner Red --> Asian

Opinion