Chennai’s little Bengal

A Facebook group of Bengalis, in the city for work and education, come together for a cultural festival

Kolkata’s adda culture came live last week when Bengalis in the city on work and study organised their first cultural festival.

‘Sagarika,’ organised by Chennai-Bengali Facebook group at Bengal Association, T. Nagar saw the participation of clubs such as Nikhil Bharat Bango Sahityo Sammelon, South Madras Cultural Association, Bengal Association and Dakshini.

Nearly 300 people from different parts of the city attended the day-long event which included dance, quiz, drama and drawing competition.

Canvas, a newly-formed band comprising six IT professionals, stole the show with their performance.

“We did not know each other before ‘Sagarika’ started. From the group page on Facebook, we came to know each other and started jamming during the weekends,” said Ritwik, a drummer.

Dance and drama were also performed by first-timers. While the dance group performed ‘Barsha-Mangal’ (a composition by Rabindranath Tagore), ‘Kaak-Choritra’ was veteran drama-writer Manoj Mitra’s work.

A number of authentic Bengali cuisines added colour to the celebration.