As we await the arrival of one of my closest friends to join us for what should turn out to be one of the most interesting and 'off beat' project handled by A-L, I cannot help but reminisce about the beginning of this month when my first vacation in the last one year of A-L took me around one of the most interesting journeys I have taken of late. I spent 10 days travelling, exploring and appetizing Kolkata and around. Now, I have an admission to make. I was prejudiced about the experience much before it started. As I came out of Netaji Subhash Airport, I was wondering as to what made me use up a precious vacation to travel around what is termed as a messy, future less, aimless 'City of Joy'! A probable reason was to go and see how my sister is coping up with her relocation to Nadia, but the quintessential 'dil' wanted 'more'. But still, who leaves a messy city (sorry delhi) to go on a vacation in another messy City (no offences, Kolkata)?
Having read a lot about Kolkata as I grew up and having a substantial number of Bengali friends, it remained the only part of the country, which I had not been to and here I was, roaming around the city and exploring it in a manner like a typical firang. Now, as much against my temptations, I will not treat this blog as a travel memoir about my beautiful experiences in the length and breadth of Kolkatta, Nadia, Shantiniketan, Sunderbans. I could go on an on about my innumerable experiences in the local from Sealdah(Kolkatta) to Kachrapada (Nadia), the ferry ride across Hooghly and spending three days on the ferry in and around Sunderban reserves! But, what remains is love with the Bengali heart!
What a majestic view it was! No, it was not honest and it definitely was not incorruptible or lacked crookedness that prevails in any other place in India (or maybe world), but it had a loving touch to it. It was a heart that would bend to your will, not on showering it with some Gandhis, but by merely imposing your assertiveness to it.
Every communication with any entity had to start with a strong usage of 'Dada' and see how the solution unfolded itself. It stood true at several junctures. A rude usage could be used to wake up a sleeping cabbie at 330 in the morning! A polite usage could get the waiter to serve extra curries with 'Ilsa' and 'Bhetki' or to get his expertise on how a crab is devoured to help enjoy the meal. A loving usage could get a rikshaw puller to act as a guide (and mind you, without any extra charge) to take you around in Shantiniketan to places that 'Lonely planet' definitely missed out on. A use in a manner that reflected unfamiliarisation with the local language could get half the bogey in a local to advise you as to which station is nearest to your destination . An affectionate usage could get people sharing their entire life's problems and a complimentary usage could nearly land you in a local meeting of a hot headed political party(depending which side you are on). Usage as a plea could get you pearls of wisdom that you would remember forever!
Travelling around Bengal, I met a heart that grossly underestimates its powers and its reach. It will not be fair to judge Bengal on the sight of a failed university or the fact that almost nothing happens without its share of bandhs or protests. You have to see the full 'josh type' university that is growing up amidst the ruins of the old agricultural university. You have to go in and around the salt lake city to see the growth potential. You have to see the thoroughness of their counsels who we regularly deal with and learn from. You have to see their utilised resources to understand what was the bedrock of Indian industry until half a century back.
wishing my new (and old) friends a happy future. And on the professional experience front, we have a lot to share! till next time ...
Very evocative piece! I find myself pleasantly surprised. Bengal, it seems, has made quite an impression on you, which, after all, is the natural order of things! ;)
ReplyDeleteMost modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity. Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indigenously. Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it is) and he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's elite etc. And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay.But, the only way to understand what Calcutta is about, is to recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that. Rather, he is proud of the fact. Calcutta's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character. It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation. And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Calcutta embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence.
ReplyDeleteThat's why Calcutta is not for everyone. You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi. You want your cities, rich and impersonal, go to Bombay. You want them high-tech and full of draught beer, Bangalore's your place. But if you want a city with a soul, come to Calcutta.When I look back on the years I've spent in Calcutta - and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away - I don't remember the things that people remember about cities. When I think of London, I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park. When I think of New York, I think of the frenzy of Times Square. When I think of Tokyo, I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku. And when I think of Paris, I think of the Champs Elysee. But when I think of Calcutta, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar or the splendour of the new Howrah 'Bridge'. I think of people. Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget -or replicate - the people of Calcutta?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion. In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world. Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry. And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity. The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion. In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world. Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry. And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity. The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess.
ReplyDeleteIt may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off localities, vie with each other to produce the best pandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Calcutta, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princes Diana and even Saddam Hussain! Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashimi, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole city gooseflesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country - is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking?
ReplyDeleteTo understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta. And to understand Calcutta , you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy. Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Calcutta suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta forever. Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal. It's a feeling that'll never go away
ARTICLE BY VIR SANGHVI