Shonibarer Adda: Calcutta in Hindsight and Foresight
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Date: 29 November 2025
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Venue: KCC 4th Floor, Hall 1 & 2
Recommended age: 18 and above
OPEN TO ALL
Kolkata Centre for Creativity presents Shonibarer Adda: Calcutta in Hindsight and Foresight — an immersive evening of stories, ideas, and reflections on the city we call home. This adda journeys through time: from the forgotten memories of precolonial Bengal to the layered realities of today, and the possibilities of a more hopeful civic future.
Through conversation, music, art, and poetry, the adda unfolds in three movements - Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight, led by historians, heritage practitioners, and passionate citizen voices. The panel features Prof. Shrimoyee Guha Thakurta, Iftekhar Ahsan, Dr. Debasis Bose, Pradeep and Bonani Kakkar, and will be moderated by Mrinalini Majumdar. Together, they explore what Calcutta once was, what it has become, and what it might yet become.
Join us as we honour the city’s resilience while imagining new paths forward.
About the Speakers
Prof. Shrimoyee Guha Thakurta is an Associate Professor and former Head of History at Scottish Church College. Her work explores Calcutta’s pre-colonial and colonial past, its evolving institutions, architecture, and cultural identity. She studies the city as a living space shaped by memory, change, and everyday experience.
Iftekhar Ahsan is the founder of Calcutta Walks, created to help people experience the city’s neighbourhoods, stories, and everyday magic up close. His love for Calcutta also shaped The Calcutta Bungalow, a restored heritage home in North Kolkata that keeps the charm of the old city alive.
Dr. Debasis Bose is a dermatologist and historian who has spent decades tracing Kolkata’s old families, neighbourhoods, and architectural landmarks. Through works like Kolkatar Purakatha and his studies on thakurdalans, he brings the city’s social memory alive with warmth and detail, earning a reputation as one of Kolkata’s most compelling storytellers.
Pradip and Bonani Kakkar are the driving forces behind PUBLIC, a pioneering citizen movement that has reshaped environmental action in Kolkata. Bonani has fought tirelessly through public interest litigation to safeguard the city’s wetlands, rivers, and green spaces. Pradip shifted from academics to grassroots environmental activism, advocating sustainable planning and civic responsibility. Their combined work includes legal reform, research, and community mobilisation, and has inspired generations, and their book Once Upon a City records these stories of collective resistance and change.
Moderator:
Mrinalini Majumdar is a lawyer and human rights defender whose work spans gender-based violence, artists’ rights, and inclusive policy reform. An IVLP alumnus and UN Women in Conflict Resolution Fellow, her work combines legal advocacy with artistic practice. She co-founded Nagorik Chetona, a citizen watchdog collective for rights and accountability in Kolkata.
They will be joined by artists with diverse voices who will narrate the stories of the city.
