Most
modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity. Tell anybody
who
lives in Bombay
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 Bombay
But, the
only way to understand what Calcutta
that the
city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you
saying
that. Rather, he is proud of the fact. Calcutta
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
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.
That's why Calcutta
green; stick to Delhi
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
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
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
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
When 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
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
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
some of
it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In
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 ex-pression and yes, the cult of the goddess.
It may
be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In
which
other part of India
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
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?
To understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta
Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here,
till you let
soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta
a bit of Calcutta
And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal . It's a feeling
That’ll never go away.
