Rinku Sarkar- daughter of a fish vendor in Mirpara, Liluah, set an example for independent-minded women when she started her small-scale unit Rinku Enterprises in her very own home, earlier this year, with the help of Webcon (West Bengal Consultancy Organisation).
In a well-attended inaugural program, the local councillors of Ward numbers 22 and 24 of Bally, lauded the efforts of this gritty young girl, who is trying to carve a niche for herself . Her small-scale unit in Howrah deals with repairing and maintenance of refrigerators, air coolers and air conditioners. Outstanding among the successful trainees of The Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute , Rinku opted for a trade generally associated with men.
This institute has been rendering a yeoman's service to the local residents for the past few years, by imparting non-formal training with entrepreneurship in various market-oriented trades like the maintenance and repairing of air-conditioners and refrigerators, wool-knitting, manufacture of jute products, tailoring, mushroom cultivation, welding and house wiring. No course fee is charged and residential facilities are available as well.
Quite interestingly, more than 65 percent of the institute's trainees are girls, who are often equally, if not more industrious, enterprising, and eager-to-learn than their male counterparts.
Rinku is one among the 250 people who were trained in the institute, and are all self-employed today. She is a school dropout, barely out of her teen and one could lose her in a crowd. But, what sets her apart from others is her never-say-die attitude, her will to succeed and a strong grit and determination to make it big. Today, she is very close to achieving the kind of success and self-dependence, most people can only dream of.
She, however, candidly confessed that she would have been just another school drop-out but for the support and the guidance of Brother T.V. Mathew, the technical director, Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute, Mirpara, Liluah. Also, he encouraged her to qualify for the Madhyamik, she adds.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
The Big Scoop
Being an ice cream entrepreneur is really cool, and when it comes to gelato, Natasha Aggarwal is the ice queen.
On a hot sunny afternoon, when your crisp cotton shirt begins to limp, very few people can resist a scoop of an ice cream. And the Italians would probably go for gelato. Well, for the uninitiated, gelato is a lighter, more intensely flavourful Italian ice cream. And chances are you'll probably get to taste one soon enough. Thanks to Natasha Aggarwal.
Barely a year into this business and Mama Mia, the Kolkata based gelataria, has started spreading its wings to other cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. Its entrepreneur-23 year old Natasha Aggarwal is a happy girl, because she takes the credit of having opened India's first gelataria Mama Mia at New Alipore, Kolkata, on 1st May, 2005. It was eastern India's first gelataria. Today, there are as many as three outlets of Mama Mia in Kolkata itself.
Her success in Kolkata encouraged her to launch two outlets in Mumbai and the latest addition in her count being an outlet in Bangalore.
Natasha reminisces about the time when she initially opened her first outlet in Kolkata, "I was the chef, the salesgirl, all rolled into one. My family members encouraged and supported me a lot." Now she has trained a team of workers and chefs.
Natasha herself comes from an ice-cream background, her father Shanti Aggarwal being the proprietor of the popular Rollicks ice cream. After graduating with a BBA degree from UK's Warwick University, she decided to start off on an independent enterprise. In fact, Natasha started off by taking a loan for her venture instead of depending on family resources.
When asked why gelatos? She says, "I always felt that there is a huge gap in the premium segment of ice cream. So, I mulled over the idea of doing something to fill the vaccum in this segment." Further adding, "When I went on a holiday to Italy, I had a taste of Italian gelatos. I found that they tasted different from our regular ice-creams. I just felt that this was something most people in India haven't tasted."
Gelato, a delicacy from Italy, is what 'kulfi' is to India. The production of gelato is an Italian art that originated in Tuscany in 1565 and has since become an integral part of Italian culture and cuisine. There are basically two types of gelatos — fruit gelato and cream gelato. The fruit gelato is made with natural fruit pulp and hence the fat content is very nominal. The cream gelato on the other hand, includes innovative creations of non-fruit flavours. Gelatos have low fat content and are different in texture and taste from the industrial ice cream. This is because the volume of air which is used to fluff up frozen desserts is 30% in gelato as compared to 100% in ice cream, thereby making gelatos far more intense in flavour and rich in smoothness.
Natasha says, "Gelatos have to be made fresh daily and so have to be made on a small scale. Making of gelatos is very labour intensive and a lot of handwork is involved." Natasha, who learnt the art of making gelatos under Chef Danielle Ghisalberti of Bergamo, Italy, has made sure that her gelatos are based on the original recipes from the chef.
"Our gelatos are manufactured in the traditional homemade artisan style — in small batches, involving a greater level of craftsmanship and skill in comparison to regular industrial ice cream." As a tribute to gelato's land of origin, Natasha has given her outlet an Italian sounding name — Mama Mia! With its premium products and snazzy interiors, one could, in fact, mistake it for an actual Italian joint. She laughs, "Many people actually enquired if I had taken franchisee for an Italian company. People were taken aback when told that Mama Mia is a Kolkata-based company."
Among the varieties of fruit gelatos offered are- orange, honeydew melon, watermelon, Sicily lemon, green apple, wine grape, passion fruit, ginger lemon, blueberry, strawberry and mango, to mention a few. Natasha points out that lactose intolerant people just freak out on the fruit gelatos. Also, keeping diabetic clients in mind, Natasha has kept two varieties of sugar-free gelatos — vanilla and chocolate.
Some of the popular cream gelatos available are, tiramisu, natural pistachio, natural vanilla, pinacolada, muddy fudge, cookie crumble, figs and cream, forest berries and cream, chocolate cinnamon, Nutella and Kit Kat to name a few. The place is also into gelato cakes, comprising four primary flavours — cookie crumbles, Caffe Italiano, Chocossism and mixed berries.
On a hot sunny afternoon, when your crisp cotton shirt begins to limp, very few people can resist a scoop of an ice cream. And the Italians would probably go for gelato. Well, for the uninitiated, gelato is a lighter, more intensely flavourful Italian ice cream. And chances are you'll probably get to taste one soon enough. Thanks to Natasha Aggarwal.
Barely a year into this business and Mama Mia, the Kolkata based gelataria, has started spreading its wings to other cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. Its entrepreneur-23 year old Natasha Aggarwal is a happy girl, because she takes the credit of having opened India's first gelataria Mama Mia at New Alipore, Kolkata, on 1st May, 2005. It was eastern India's first gelataria. Today, there are as many as three outlets of Mama Mia in Kolkata itself.
Her success in Kolkata encouraged her to launch two outlets in Mumbai and the latest addition in her count being an outlet in Bangalore.
Natasha reminisces about the time when she initially opened her first outlet in Kolkata, "I was the chef, the salesgirl, all rolled into one. My family members encouraged and supported me a lot." Now she has trained a team of workers and chefs.
Natasha herself comes from an ice-cream background, her father Shanti Aggarwal being the proprietor of the popular Rollicks ice cream. After graduating with a BBA degree from UK's Warwick University, she decided to start off on an independent enterprise. In fact, Natasha started off by taking a loan for her venture instead of depending on family resources.
When asked why gelatos? She says, "I always felt that there is a huge gap in the premium segment of ice cream. So, I mulled over the idea of doing something to fill the vaccum in this segment." Further adding, "When I went on a holiday to Italy, I had a taste of Italian gelatos. I found that they tasted different from our regular ice-creams. I just felt that this was something most people in India haven't tasted."
Gelato, a delicacy from Italy, is what 'kulfi' is to India. The production of gelato is an Italian art that originated in Tuscany in 1565 and has since become an integral part of Italian culture and cuisine. There are basically two types of gelatos — fruit gelato and cream gelato. The fruit gelato is made with natural fruit pulp and hence the fat content is very nominal. The cream gelato on the other hand, includes innovative creations of non-fruit flavours. Gelatos have low fat content and are different in texture and taste from the industrial ice cream. This is because the volume of air which is used to fluff up frozen desserts is 30% in gelato as compared to 100% in ice cream, thereby making gelatos far more intense in flavour and rich in smoothness.
Natasha says, "Gelatos have to be made fresh daily and so have to be made on a small scale. Making of gelatos is very labour intensive and a lot of handwork is involved." Natasha, who learnt the art of making gelatos under Chef Danielle Ghisalberti of Bergamo, Italy, has made sure that her gelatos are based on the original recipes from the chef.
"Our gelatos are manufactured in the traditional homemade artisan style — in small batches, involving a greater level of craftsmanship and skill in comparison to regular industrial ice cream." As a tribute to gelato's land of origin, Natasha has given her outlet an Italian sounding name — Mama Mia! With its premium products and snazzy interiors, one could, in fact, mistake it for an actual Italian joint. She laughs, "Many people actually enquired if I had taken franchisee for an Italian company. People were taken aback when told that Mama Mia is a Kolkata-based company."
Among the varieties of fruit gelatos offered are- orange, honeydew melon, watermelon, Sicily lemon, green apple, wine grape, passion fruit, ginger lemon, blueberry, strawberry and mango, to mention a few. Natasha points out that lactose intolerant people just freak out on the fruit gelatos. Also, keeping diabetic clients in mind, Natasha has kept two varieties of sugar-free gelatos — vanilla and chocolate.
Some of the popular cream gelatos available are, tiramisu, natural pistachio, natural vanilla, pinacolada, muddy fudge, cookie crumble, figs and cream, forest berries and cream, chocolate cinnamon, Nutella and Kit Kat to name a few. The place is also into gelato cakes, comprising four primary flavours — cookie crumbles, Caffe Italiano, Chocossism and mixed berries.
Friday, 15 June 2007
Feast for the Bookworms of Kolkata
With the book fair being shoved to a seedy outpost of the metropolis, Kolkata booklovers now have quite a news to gorge on. The city is planning to have a book mall, ''Varna Parichay'', the very first of its kind, spread over 7,80,000 sqft designed by the ace architect Hafeez Contractor. The book mall will replace the 90-year old municipal market on College Street, the cultural focal point of Kolkata.
According to company sources, the five floor mall (around 5,00,000 sq ft) of the seven-storey block would comprise an auction space for rare books and manuscripts run by an agency, where the buyers and sellers can interact regularly, along with a host of other features never before seen in the country under a single roof. The mall would also include a coffee shop, library and a multi-level car parking facility.
As per the estimates, the establishment cost and the other expenses amount to Rs 158 crore approximately. The project is being developed in a public-private partnership- a fifty-fifty joint venture, between the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Bengal Shelter Housing Development Ltd. The latter plans to finish the construction work by April 2010.
According to company sources, the five floor mall (around 5,00,000 sq ft) of the seven-storey block would comprise an auction space for rare books and manuscripts run by an agency, where the buyers and sellers can interact regularly, along with a host of other features never before seen in the country under a single roof. The mall would also include a coffee shop, library and a multi-level car parking facility.
As per the estimates, the establishment cost and the other expenses amount to Rs 158 crore approximately. The project is being developed in a public-private partnership- a fifty-fifty joint venture, between the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Bengal Shelter Housing Development Ltd. The latter plans to finish the construction work by April 2010.
The Scene-stealers of Indian Football- Mohun Bagan-East Bengal Rivalry
What makes people watch the game of football staying up all night? What exactly gives it the universal appeal and popularity it has? What actually lies behind this game that fascinates the young and the old equally? The answer is precise and simple- football is the game of 'the people'….the masses.
But when it comes to Indian football, there is more to the aforementioned reason for such fondness we have for it, slightly different from the conventionally existing ones, like, the love for the game or watching real talents, competent players as scene-stealers. The existing conflict between the different local clubs is what comes first to mind, especially those of Goa and Bengal, since Indian soccer has a strong base in these two places. However, Bengal rivalry still continues to play a major role in it. And this pervades the scene in the field making the game interesting and exciting like no other. Take for example the long-term rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal…perhaps the greatest one in the history of Indian football.
The East Bengal Club, based in Calcutta as of 2004 had won top honors in the National Football League, two years running. They were the first and the only Indian club in over forty years to win a continental trophy when they beat BEC Tero Sasano in the final of the 2003 ASEAN cup championship. Whereas, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (Mohun Bagan AC) - the oldest football club in Asia, established on August 15, 1889 has been immensely successful since its foundation, and has maintained its status as one of India's most successful clubs with the legacy of being the former's toughest competitor. Mohun Bagan was in fact the first Indian team to have defeated a foreign team, when it defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment to lift the 1911 IFA Shield. The association has always carried on an intense local rivalry with the East Bengal Club that represents Bengalis hailing from eastern part of Bengal, along with innumerable supporters from the western part too. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan represents Ghotis comprising a class of people from western part of Bengal, with some from the eastern side as well. East Bengal fans celebrate their victory by eating Hilsa fish while Mohun Bagan supporters do the same by eating Prawns. With the passage of time, both teams now have fans belonging to various communities and regions of India and through ethnic conflict have found prolific expression in their rivalry...
But when it comes to Indian football, there is more to the aforementioned reason for such fondness we have for it, slightly different from the conventionally existing ones, like, the love for the game or watching real talents, competent players as scene-stealers. The existing conflict between the different local clubs is what comes first to mind, especially those of Goa and Bengal, since Indian soccer has a strong base in these two places. However, Bengal rivalry still continues to play a major role in it. And this pervades the scene in the field making the game interesting and exciting like no other. Take for example the long-term rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal…perhaps the greatest one in the history of Indian football.
The East Bengal Club, based in Calcutta as of 2004 had won top honors in the National Football League, two years running. They were the first and the only Indian club in over forty years to win a continental trophy when they beat BEC Tero Sasano in the final of the 2003 ASEAN cup championship. Whereas, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (Mohun Bagan AC) - the oldest football club in Asia, established on August 15, 1889 has been immensely successful since its foundation, and has maintained its status as one of India's most successful clubs with the legacy of being the former's toughest competitor. Mohun Bagan was in fact the first Indian team to have defeated a foreign team, when it defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment to lift the 1911 IFA Shield. The association has always carried on an intense local rivalry with the East Bengal Club that represents Bengalis hailing from eastern part of Bengal, along with innumerable supporters from the western part too. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan represents Ghotis comprising a class of people from western part of Bengal, with some from the eastern side as well. East Bengal fans celebrate their victory by eating Hilsa fish while Mohun Bagan supporters do the same by eating Prawns. With the passage of time, both teams now have fans belonging to various communities and regions of India and through ethnic conflict have found prolific expression in their rivalry...
Life is a maze of death...
Show me how to ease this pain…
And lose it all again,
before it drives me insane…
A life,
Lived on the jagged edge of a knife…
Has been a real pain,
Where all my efforts have been in vain…
Many a times have I tried to kill
the excruciating pain I often feel
Lying deep within me, tearing me apart…
Maybe it’s just the beginning…
A fresh new start…
And now, I feel so lost
And I feel so low,
Since I know I have to let go,
For this pain I can endure no more…
Bitterness has filled me to the core.
I tried to make, I tried to shake,
a countless time for my sake I tried to break
And once in a while
I chose to walk that extra mile.
But now it all seems so futile…
Many a times have I tried restoring the long lost faith,
Not knowing- LIFE IZ A MAZE OF DEATH!
Often you must have heard it said…
It only lasts for a short while
with faces bearing a sardonic smile…
At last I’ve been proven wrong;
perhaps I was never built that strong.
I can’t put up with it anymore, I can take it no more
Cos I feel so tired and I feel so sore...
Gradually I’m losing the faith I once tried to restore…
So now, there lies the bloodstained twisted wire…
feels like my body has been set on fire...
This marks the end of pain,
And the end of faith…
LIFE IZ NOTHING BUT A MAZE OF DEATH!!!
And lose it all again,
before it drives me insane…
A life,
Lived on the jagged edge of a knife…
Has been a real pain,
Where all my efforts have been in vain…
Many a times have I tried to kill
the excruciating pain I often feel
Lying deep within me, tearing me apart…
Maybe it’s just the beginning…
A fresh new start…
And now, I feel so lost
And I feel so low,
Since I know I have to let go,
For this pain I can endure no more…
Bitterness has filled me to the core.
I tried to make, I tried to shake,
a countless time for my sake I tried to break
And once in a while
I chose to walk that extra mile.
But now it all seems so futile…
Many a times have I tried restoring the long lost faith,
Not knowing- LIFE IZ A MAZE OF DEATH!
Often you must have heard it said…
It only lasts for a short while
with faces bearing a sardonic smile…
At last I’ve been proven wrong;
perhaps I was never built that strong.
I can’t put up with it anymore, I can take it no more
Cos I feel so tired and I feel so sore...
Gradually I’m losing the faith I once tried to restore…
So now, there lies the bloodstained twisted wire…
feels like my body has been set on fire...
This marks the end of pain,
And the end of faith…
LIFE IZ NOTHING BUT A MAZE OF DEATH!!!
Life... or something like it?
A silent rebel, she rose from the floor,
hard and cold to touch, no sign of life…
Her spirits crushed, her soul scarred and bruised,
devoid of all human attributes…
oblivious and indifferent to every emotion lost…
Lacking any sign of life…
Am I still alive? Sigh…
starts taking deep breaths...stops for a while,
steals a glance at the marks left behind by the storm
that raved along her body, mind and soul. Clothes torn...hair disheveled...
Her stolid face bears the marks of tears long dried up,
Lacking any sign of life…
Embarrassment? No longer there...
The dejected feel is now a nonentity.
I am not alive, I cannot feel
Life? Or something that looks like life?
There is neither a beginning…nor an end
merely a dead existence…
Lacking any sign of life…
It has been quite some time now…
Blood still oozing out of cuts and lacerations…
It used to leave her weak once, but hurts no more…
Not anymore.
The agonizing pain- nonexistent.
A gory picture…
Lacking any sign of life…
There comes the sound of his approaching footsteps…
drawing closer...he, nearing his end every fleeting second…
An inch closer will leave him departed, beaten to jelly,
body tattered…shredded into pieces.
She revels in the thought of a lifeless existence without him…
her face shows no sign of discomfort…
lacking every sign of life…
She nurtured many hopes in her heart…
never imagined herself capable of hatred like that!
She could make it work, if only he would let her…
Or that was what she thought.
Contemplating on the sinful thought,
leaves her in tears...streaming down her face...
Shows what? Every sign of life!
hard and cold to touch, no sign of life…
Her spirits crushed, her soul scarred and bruised,
devoid of all human attributes…
oblivious and indifferent to every emotion lost…
Lacking any sign of life…
Am I still alive? Sigh…
starts taking deep breaths...stops for a while,
steals a glance at the marks left behind by the storm
that raved along her body, mind and soul. Clothes torn...hair disheveled...
Her stolid face bears the marks of tears long dried up,
Lacking any sign of life…
Embarrassment? No longer there...
The dejected feel is now a nonentity.
I am not alive, I cannot feel
Life? Or something that looks like life?
There is neither a beginning…nor an end
merely a dead existence…
Lacking any sign of life…
It has been quite some time now…
Blood still oozing out of cuts and lacerations…
It used to leave her weak once, but hurts no more…
Not anymore.
The agonizing pain- nonexistent.
A gory picture…
Lacking any sign of life…
There comes the sound of his approaching footsteps…
drawing closer...he, nearing his end every fleeting second…
An inch closer will leave him departed, beaten to jelly,
body tattered…shredded into pieces.
She revels in the thought of a lifeless existence without him…
her face shows no sign of discomfort…
lacking every sign of life…
She nurtured many hopes in her heart…
never imagined herself capable of hatred like that!
She could make it work, if only he would let her…
Or that was what she thought.
Contemplating on the sinful thought,
leaves her in tears...streaming down her face...
Shows what? Every sign of life!
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