“The one land all men desire to see and having seen once by even a glimpse would not give that glimpse, for the shows of the rest of the world combined” Mark Twain said about Darjeeling Darjeeling In a tea commercial on the television, a picture shows a person drinking tea sitting on a chair which is above the ground, almost touching the ceiling and the caption read ‘DARJEELING TEA! 2000 METERS ABOVE ORDINARY! The caption captures the exquisite quality of Darjeeling Tea, which is considered the best tea in the world. The aromatic tea, the Toy Train from Siliguri to Darjeeling, its highest railway station in the world, Ghoom, and the exotic beauty of Mt. Everest and the Kanchanjeunga range during sunrise has made Darjeeling world famous. Demographics The picturesque hill station of Darjeeling lies in the northern part of West Bengal, India. It lies between 26° 31' and 27° 13' north latitude and between 87° 59' and 88° 53' east longitude. Altitude: Comprising mainly of mountain terrain, Darjeeling stands at a height of 2134m (7053 ft) on a mountain ridge. Area: 11.44 sq. kms. Population: 100,000. Languages spoken: English, Nepali, Hindi, Tibetan and Bengali. Climate: Darjeeling's temperature drops below freezing during the winter season, from November to February. In summer, Darjeeling is pleasantly cool with the maximum temperature reaching about 20°C. Rainfall: Rain falls generally during the months between June and September. Best months to visit: March to mid-June and September to mid-December.
This year, Kabiguru Rabindranath's Birthday was on Tuesday, May 9th.
To keep his vision alive, let us all re-read THIS PRAYER and pass it on.
“Infinite wealth is not yours, my patient and dusky Mother Earth…. I have seen your tender face and I love your mournful dust….”. There was never a poet whose works were as wistful, earthly and tender as Rabindranath Tagore. Among his copious works are over one thousand poems; nearly two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; eight or more volumes of short stories and more than two thousands songs; all of which are celebrated all over the world. Brief Biography: Rabindranath Tagore was born on the 7th of May 1861 as the ninth son of Maharishi Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. His whole family was culturally quite rich and thus they appreciated the young Rabindranath's love for epic literature and language. He also possessed an innate affinity towards reading and writing about nature. The primary years of Rabindranath's education were from home. Rabindranath Tagore spent his youth in an atmosphere ornamented with religion and arts, principally literature and music. In religion, he enjoyed studying the Vedas and the Upanishads. In music Tagore found Indian classical to be inspirational.
Pundit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a polymath. The father of modern Bengali language, his real name was Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay. The title “Vidyasagar”, which means “ocean of knowledge”, was bestowed on him as an honor for his knowledge and excellence. But his contribution to the Bengali society is far more than just scholastic. He is considered as one of the most glowing figures of the Bengal Renaissance of 19th century. He was an academic, philosopher, educator, entrepreneur, writer, translator, reformer and philanthropist. Vidyasagar picked up the social reform work where Raja Rammohan Roy left it. He laid the foundation of the modern Bengali language as we know it today. Vidyasagar was born on Monday the 26th of September 1820 (12 Ashwin 1227 of Bengali Calendar) in a village named Veersingha in the then Hoogley (now part of Midnapore) district of West Bengal. His father was Shri Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother was Shrimati Bhagavati Devi. Vidysagar spent his childhood in extreme poverty. But poverty did not touch his soul, nor could it deter him from his chosen path of achieving his life's goals.
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India. Neighbouring regions are Nepal to the northwest, Sikkim and Bhutan to the north, Assam to the northeast, Bangladesh to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the south, Orissa to the southwest and Jharkhand and Bihar to the west.Bengal was ruled by the Buddhist Pala dynasty from 750 to 1161. The Palas were eclipsed by the Hindu Sena dynasty, who ruled Bengal from 1095 to 1260. Bengal came under Islamic rule starting in the 13th century, and developed into a wealthy centre of trade and industry under the Mughal Empire during the 16th century. European traders had arrived in the late 15th century and eventually the British East India Company controlled the region by the late 18th century, from which the British extended their rule over all of India. When Indian independence was achieved in 1947, Bengal was partitioned into predominantly Hindu West Bengal and predominantly Muslim East Bengal. East Bengal later became known as East Pakistan, and became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. On 2 October 1955, Chandannagar, a former enclave of French India which had passed into Indian control after 1950, was integrated into West Bengal state.
“Infinite wealth is not yours, my patient and dusky Mother Earth…. I have seen your tender face and I love your mournful dust….”. There was never a poet whose works were as wistful, earthly and tender as Rabindranath Tagore. Among his copious works are over one thousand poems; nearly two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; eight or more volumes of short stories and more than two thousands songs; all of which are celebrated all over the world.
Brief Biography:
Pundit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a polymath. The father of modern Bengali language, his real name was Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay. The title “Vidyasagar”, which means “ocean of knowledge”, was bestowed on him as an honor for his knowledge and excellence. But his contribution to the Bengali society is far more than just scholastic. He is considered as one of the most glowing figures of the Bengal Renaissance of 19th century. He was an academic, philosopher, educator, entrepreneur, writer, translator, reformer and philanthropist. Vidyasagar picked up the social reform work where Raja Rammohan Roy left it. He laid the foundation of the modern Bengali language as we know it today. Vidyasagar was born on Monday the 26th of September 1820 (12 Ashwin 1227 of Bengali Calendar) in a village named Veersingha in the then Hoogley (now part of Midnapore) district of West Bengal. His father was Shri Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother was Shrimati Bhagavati Devi. Vidysagar spent his childhood in extreme poverty. But poverty did not touch his soul, nor could it deter him from his chosen path of achieving his life's goals.
