North Kolkata pandals: Of lost traditions, technical dependence & nostalgia

KOLKATA: If you are looking for a trip down memory lane, Hatibagan is a must visit this Puja. A cluster of five pujas, located within a 500m radius on either side of Grey Street and having featured high on the creativity index over the years, promise to make the visitors nostalgic




Tucked away in a narrow alley off Grey Street, the Nabin Pally puja had shot into prominence in 2013 when it made a vibrant pandal using Pakistani truck art. Known for their bright colours splashed across the body of goods vehicles, the pandal panels painted by Pakistani artists captivated the audience.

This time, Nabin Pally is recreating a giant library with thousands of books to showcase the institution that once throbbed with life and now lies on sick bed. “This is a tribute to the libraries that have shut and those on the verge of closing down. When the libraries were vibrant, relationships would develop between readers and books and between the readers and librarians. Now, they have become history. We want those who used to visit libraries once and don’t do so any more to feel the

nostalgia

and maybe get back to books. If in the process, we evoke enough interest among youngsters and children to prompt them to visit a library, nothing would be like it,” Amitava Roy of Nabin Pally.

To ensure that the takeaway from the visit is positive, the pandal tries to harp on the need for books to survive, irrespective of where they are kept. The walk through the pandal ends in a new age café with books to browse and read over a cup ofcoffee between addas.

At Nalin Sarkar Street, the low-key puja in the cramped lane that became an overnight sensation after resident artist Sanatan Dinda took over its reins in the late 1990s has continued to mesmerise the audience though Dinda has moved on to pandals that offer a bigger canvas and purse.

Abhijit Ghatak, this year’s artist, draws inspiration from artist Salvador Dali’s melting clocks to portray the average Kolkatans’ surreal existence with a growing disconnect with fellow humans. “We live in a crowded city with people teeming around us. Yet, we are oblivious of their presence. Though we have thousands of online friends, we are lonely and depression is driving us to acts like suicide,” explained Ghatak.

Hatibagan Sarbojanin, too, works on a similar theme. It showcases how we have been ensnared in a web of technology that now has such a strong vice-like grip on our lives, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to emerge from it and reclaim our real lives. “Gone are the days when a family sat at a table and had a hearty conversation over meals. Now, everyone is browsing social media during meals. It is as though there were strangers at the table,” said Saswat Bose of the organising committee.

Two other pujas — Sikdar Bagan and Kashi Bose Lane — are reviving memories of a fast fading architectural legacy with traditional houses being torn down to make way for multi-storyed buildings. At Kashi Bose Lane, the focus is on terraces and balconies that offered a view beyond the confines of four walls. At Sikdar Bagan, louvred windows and doors with knockers paint a similar story.

“Our pandal will offer a peak into what the north Kolkata babu bari used to look like. We hope it will make families that still own homes to take some time out to think about their future and maybe consider their preservation,” said Sikdar Bagan puja committee functionary Bijoy Bose.