Kolkata Korner

‘Thematic’ Contest

This is what Bengal’s biggest festival—the Durga Pujas—has been reducedto. Every community Puja has to have a ‘theme’. And, the pandal as well asthe idols of the goddess and her children (Saraswati, Kartick, Ganesha andLakshmi) have to be modeled, painted, clothed and lighted in consonance with thepre-determined ‘theme’. The themes could range from the inane —like afishing village (as in one in North Kolkata) and Writers’ Building (the statesecretariat) —to tragedies —like floods in Rajasthan or the recent Mumbaitrain blasts. In between are the ones that try to focus attention on traditionalcrafts, like the one this year where the pandal would be replete with combs ofvarious shapes, shades and sizes. The organisers say they want to highlight thedying craft of comb-making. All this just to attract crowds, the bigger thebetter, and get any of the number of awards sponsored by everyone from mediahouses to oil companies and pharma majors. And oh, the priest does drop in toconduct the rituals, but in just one corner of the pandal, unnoticed by themultitudes gawking at the ‘creative’ or ‘innovative’ genius of theorganizers, his recitation of shlokas drowned in the din of Hindi movie songsand bustle of the crowds.

Re-Branding the Puja

It’s high time, thus, that instead of Durga Pujas, Bengalis re-brand theirannual festival as ‘Sarodutsav’ (or the festival during the Month of Sharad),a name the atheistic Marxist rulers of Bengal gave the Pujas many years ago.There’s very little of the religious aspect left in the Durga Pujas anyway.The rituals interest very few, if any, and are conducted in an extremelyperfunctory and casual manner. The Durga Pujas are all about buying new clothesand, in this consumerist age, the latest white goods, electronic gadgets,goodies and even automobiles, showing off the latest acquisitions, hopping fromone pandal to another, gorging on everything from the unhygienic phuchkas, stalekebabs and greasy rolls to sinful desserts and calorie-laden biryanis and havinga good time. In the not too distant past, this was the time when one would gettogether with neighbours, relatives and friends to organize the Puja,participate in the rituals, organize and enjoy small cultural programmes andstrengthen social bonds. Change is inevitable, but no other community has made amockery of their main religious festival by degrading it into a mindless,synthetic and brash carnival like the Bengalis have.

In Deep Waters

Kolkata has had more than its share of rains this year. In fact, since thethird week of July, it has been raining nearly every day. And whenever thedownpour was heavy, the city went under a few feet of water. After every suchdeluge and water logging, our ‘city father’, Mayor Bikash RanjanBhattacharya, promised that the next time it trained, the water would drain outin a jiffy. And every time, his promise sank disgracefully. Exasperated with theMayor’s empty promises, scribes last week asked Chief Minister BuddhadebBhattacharjee when Kolkatans can expect respite from waterlogging after everyheavy downpour. The CM’s response stumped them. "Water logging? What waterlogging? Where? When? I don’t know anything," he said with a broad smilebefore strolling away. The CM may have thought he was being smart, but lakhs ofsuffering Kolkatans can’t be faulted for construing that blithe response as anuncaring, casual, irresponsible and unbecoming comment from Bhattacharjee.Surely, Bhattacharjee can’t be in the dark about flooded streets andlocalities? So why the casual, even mocking, response? Ah, Bhattacharjee is,after all, a Marxist and when have Marxists ever acknowledged their failures?

Chinese Toehold

This would surely warm the cockles of every Marxist’s heart. A small pieceof communist Bengal will be named after a city in the country they draw morethan just moral inspiration from-China. A plot of land at Rajarhat, a newadjunct of Kolkata, has been earmarked as a hi-tech zone where software,hardware and other hi-tech units from China and India would set up shop. Thehi-tech zone, a joint venture between a Bengal-based company and a Chinesecompany that administers a similar hi-tech zone at Nanjing, the capital of China’sJiangsu province, will be named the Nanjing Bengal Peerless Hi-tech Zone.Chinese firms that will occupy half of the planned 60,000 square feet area inthe Rajarhat complex have promised to pump in Rs 150 crore (a modest sum whencompared to the size of investments of even Indian IT and BPO firms in Bengal)for setting up units here. The venture, obviously, has the blessings of theruling Marxists here since the official name of the hi-tech zone has beendecided after consultations with the state government. While getting in foreigninvestments is desirable, one wonders why this bending over backwards to pleasethe Chinese? Would the state government ever agree to name any part of Bengalafter a city in the USA or UK? Or will China ever name even a small corner thereas ‘Kolkata’ or ‘Kalyani’?

On A Roll Again

As Kolkata Korner happily announced a few weeks ago, Nizam’s has re-openedagain! The look is new—the walls have got a fresh coat of paint, new chairsand tables have been brought in and sparkling crockery and cutlery have made anappearance. But everything else that matters remains the same—themouth-watering fragrance of kebabs, the taste and succulence and the magic touchof the cooks. Ever since the eatery—it, in fact, is an institution byitself—opened its doors on Wednesday, it has remained flooded by customers,most of whom are youngsters. Few, however, know the history of Nizam’s and thefamous kati roll. Here it is: Sheikh Hassan Razzaq used to run a small shopbehind New Market at the turn of this century selling kebabs and paranthas. Onefine day, an Englishman in a hurry came by and asked Razzaq to pack some food.Knowing that the gora sahib wouldn’t want to grease his fingers, Razzaq putsome kebabs on a paranthas, rolled it and wrapped it in a piece of paper.Presto, the kati roll was born! And millions since then have delightedlydevoured it.

Sacrilegious or pragmatism?

Nandan, the seat of Bengal’s high-brow culture vultures (well, it’sactually a state owned complex housing three movie halls), has so far beenscreening only off-beat, quality films. The ones that usually find place inretrospectives and alternate film fests. But a few months ago, the Bengalgovernment decided to screen Bollywood masala films. The next change at Nandanis Omkara. Madhur Bhandarkar’s Page Three, Amitabh Bachchan-RaniMukherjee starrer Black, Bose: The Forgotten Hero and Rang deBasanti have already been screened at Nandan. The reason cited by the stateis that Nandan also has to meet its expenses and with the ‘off-beat’ and ‘quality’films attracting very few viewers, it is prudent to screen ‘mainstream’ andpopular films. But, contend those who run Nandan, only critically acclaimedBollywood films will be shown. Fine, but did Rang de Basanti find favourwith serious critics? And, by the way, Krrish was also shown recently atNandan. So why should KANK or even Lage Raho Munnabhai be denied a place?Be that as it may, it's good to see the last bastion of the cultural snobs ofKolkata fall to crass commercialism.