It is drizzling and the chill of Calcutta’s coldest winter days does not keep the culture-loving Bengalis indoors. They are indeed citizens of what has come to be known as the “culture capital of the country.” Between December and January, therefore, the city, and really the entire state of Bengal, is inundated with a plethora of cultural activities from book fairs to theatre festivals.
The kick-off begins with an annual theatre and book festival organized by Bengal education minister Bratya Basu, who, before joining politics in 2011, when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool came to power in the state, was already a veteran thespian, who has and continues to direct and act plays and movies.
“Muktodhara” as the festivals are called, is as the name suggests, a “free for all” and entry is unrestricted and there is no entry fee. The venues of both are Dum Dum, Basu’s Assembly constituency, of which he is MLA. “The idea is that these should be accessible to everyone and not become an esoteric engagement,” says Basu. Indeed, those taking part in the theatre festival competitions, an integral part of the program since its inception, represent different districts around Bengal and the book fair hosts musical programs in which talented but “unsung” artists from around the state are invited to perform.
The book fair, other than the nearly hundred stalls showcasing known and unknown authors, is unique in the way that artisans are given a platform to highlight their craft. This year’s draw and attraction were the captivating “human statues” depicting the city of Calcutta’s iconic and landmark themes. A real-life, hand-drawn rickshaw puller, for instance, who, it would be impossible to know was real, unless he smiled or sneezed perhaps.
I tried to extract a quote from him but he hardly acknowledged me, staring blankly ahead. Then there was the outstanding, quite literally, postman, wearing a dhoti and carrying a brown jute sack on his left shoulder and a lantern on his right hand. He represented the “runner” of olden days who ran on bare foot, delivering mail throughout the night and whose life was so sensitively captured in the immortalized words of the poet Sukanta Bhattacharya and subsequently turned into a hit song by composer Salil Chowdhury. Then there were horse-drawn carriages which were book stalls represented to look like the famous Calcutta icon, the tram. The ad-hoc structures included the Victoria Memorial.
Muktodhara, the theatre festival, which showcased the works of 26 different districts, was held on a sprawling meadow, under the canopy of a large canvas tent. But the free-spiritedness of the festival of delineated through an open-air screen, which streamed the ongoing play for outsiders to watch. “Not everyone can find the time to sit through a play so we wanted to give glimpses to those who wanted to watch them but did not get around to it,” Basu explained. The added draw was the free-flowing, delectable, “jhal muri”, the Bengali’s favorite snack which is “created” by mixing generous doses of sliced hot, green chillies and other condiments into munchy, crunchy popped rice served in a “thonga”, a tiny, hand-held bag made from pages of old newspapers. Served with hot chai, that is tea in clay cups or “bhaars” and the atmosphere was out of this world. Actually, it was very much in this world – local and very Bengali to be exact.