Cultural Streams International

Biography

A. N. 'SHEN' SENGUPTA

Shen was born on the delta formed by two mighty rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, and housing an enormous seaside forest roamed by the Royal Bengal tigers. He has lived in villages with mud huts with thatched roofs, lining paths made of earth and traversed by pedestrians and bullock carts. He has also lived and worked on Manhattan, almost in the shadow of the Empire State Building and the Museum of Modern Art, which routinely displayed original canvases of the masters. Hailing from the tropical plains, he has climbed the Himalayas on foot and experienced arctic cold conditions in Winnipeg, Canada, where a car has to be plugged in for twenty-four hours and where powder-like dry snow does not melt for six months in a year. He has also lived in the shearing heat of the deserts of Saudi Arabia, where pink sand dunes in the evenings and date-palm lined streams soothe one’s heart.

An avid reader of geography and history during his own ‘Harry Potter’ age, Shen went on to explore geography and history first hand during his later years of life. His voyages took him to the Tiotihuacan Ruins in Mexico, the interior tunnels of the Great Pyramid and the tombs dug into the hills, lining up the Niles, the catacombs of the early Christians under Rome and the cave dwellings of early man in the Dordogne Valley of France. He literally combed Europe studying the medi walled towns, castles, and cathedrals, exuberant Renaissance and Baroque palaces, and also the futuristic new towns. In Japan he rode the Bullet Train on one hand and stayed in the traditional ryokan with floor mats, on the other.

Education at two of the great institutions in the world, Harvard University and M.I.T., brought Shen in intimate contact with people from all corners of the globe. Here he learnt first hand that below the surface differences all people are the same and they are basically warm-hearted and wonderful. Professionally an Architect-Planner-Regional Planner-Urban Designer with many major towns and buildings to his credit, Shen also taught these subjects at several universities in the USA, Canada, and India, including the French-speaking Université de Montréal. Among his favourite subjects was History of Cities, which, as he researched into the past, led him straight to Anthropology.

Shen was a young boy when Japan bombed Kolkata, during World War II. Since then he has seen many heart-wrenching strifes and upheavals. He has also seen how lifestyles, social norms, and values of people all over the world have changed, and in spite of globalization which was to bring people closer together, there is much isolationism. He feels that he can and must try in a small way, banking on his global background, to bring people closer together.

All that is beautiful among the various peoples of this world and the flora and fauna.

Classical, Jazz,and any good music , which touches my soul.

Pather Panchali, The Good Earth, My Fair Lady, Doctor Zhivago,Sound of
Music, Jurasic Park, Jaws, Black Orpheus, Red Shoes, Charlie Chaplin, etc. etc.

Nature , Astronomy, History, BBC, Lucy,Andy Griffith, TCM Movies etc. etc.

Sarat Chandra, Rabidranath, Bankim Chandra, etc. etc.

"We see people dying everyday but do not think that we will too " ---Mahabharata.

" The Universe has no edge and has no Center".