Hazra Adhiti

Adhiti means Adhyankari (The Learners) in Bengali. Few learners from different colleges in Kolkata have assembled in a small place of Kalighat, South Kolkata, for practicing reading poems, stories, plays of different writers in Bengali literature in the year of 1998. At the same time the members have planned to favour the slum children residing in the adjacent area of Kalighat. The junior members were helped by their seniors in developing their school studies and sometimes all the members practiced rhymes, poems and the story telling together during the recess. Eminent performers from different cultural fields were glad to receive the invitation from the members of Adhiti and were interested enough to enrich the group. Some of the senior members have joined in the departments of Drama and Dance at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, in order to enhance their knowledge. Adhiti began to steadily emphasize on story telling, after witnessing the performance of Kahani ki Manchan by the Repertory Company of National School of Drama under the direction of Debendraraj Ankur, ex Director of the school in the National Theatre Festival organized by Nandikar,Kolkata. , Later Adhiti organized performances on rhymes, story telling and play reading at the auditoriums in Kolkata regularly. The members of the group enriched themselves by observing the presentations of the eminent performers like Praidp Ghosh, Partha Ghosh, Saoli Mitra and others. Singers like Smt. Suchitra Mitra, Gita Ghatak, Arghya Sen have also participated in our programs. Members have improved themselves through these performances. Then Adhiti has received invitations for preparing productions for the children sections of Doordarshan Kendra, Kolkata. Adhiti is one of the primary groups in Kolkata to perform story telling or Galpoavinay in Bengali. Adhitis GalpoAvinay was and is still highly applauded not only in Kolkata but also in different districts of West Bengal. The group has received invitations from different Colleges, Universities and other Institutions during the hundred fiftieth birth anniversary of Rabindranath Thakur, to perform GalpoAvinay. At the same time, Adhiti is busy for the fortification and the development of the slum children with different activities. The members have performed the first full length theatre production, Mahajatra Botika based on a famous American Play, Arsenic and Old lace by Joseph Kesselring. The play was highly applauded by the spectators of Kolkata and the Critics had appreciated even. The play was produced in the year of 2011 and ran more than two years. Then Adhiti has produced a compilation of short stories from Rabindranath Thakur, Ek Guccha Galpo , by name. The eminent artist Bijaylakshmi Burman( by invitation) , along with two other senior popular actors, Debashis Roychowdhury and Arunita Roychowdhury (from the Group) have performed the play. Now Adhiti is preparing the play Rakta Pushpa , written by the famous playwright, Mahesh Elkunchwar. The play s English adaptation, Flower of Blood , was translated by Sarmila Moitra. Apart from the cultural activities Adhiti is always interested to serve for the betterment of the people and the society.