Dithi Mukherjee: lost and found...

Rain soaked roads
force the traffic
to jam
in
a cacophony
of horns and scorns.

Destination- Kalighat.
Purpose- to see the Goddess.

Unprepared,
I hear footsteps
and muffled Bangla
floating down the green staircase
as I ascend to see
Dithi
in red and purple
kohl and silver.

her eyes-
mesmerise.

Tea?
yes, please.
Tulsi?
Hmm..., would love it.

The kettle whooshes the water
to undo the leaves
at the bottom of the glass
to become one
concoction.

We settle down
on high stools
next to a window
at the printing table.

Do I look into those eyes
or do I listen to her speak?

Do I focus on her art
or click her?

Do I sip my tulsi tea
or snap the studio?

I do it all
in a daze.

'I was lost in Geneva
and tried to fit in.
I even stopped wearing my kohl!'
she says.

Geneva's loss!

The talk turns to temples-
Dakhineshwar is her favourite.

'I don't like temples.' I confess.
'The pundits behave like the mafia-
it beats the purpose.'

'If you can detach yourself from the pundits-
not care
and enjoy the temple-'
muses Dithi.
'Try it. They don't bother me.'

But you're you.
Your eyes mesmerise.

Conversation orbits around life,
husbands,
countries and continents.

'I wouldn't be here
if I hadn't married my husband
or gone to Geneva
and got lost.'

'Going away
gave me
new eyes
to look.'

she says,
standing in the doorway
kohl and silver
red and purple
curves,
and
eyes
that mesmerise.

Stepping out in the rain-
I am lost.
I am found.
I feel the ground-
wet, sensuous, messy and muddy
pure
and
divine.

It's a funny thing- this facebook. You know what a person looks like from their pictures and you think you know what they are like from their posts, but meeting a person in person after being in touch via facebook doesn't prepare you one bit.

I wasn't prepared to be so awestruck.

Dithi and I had exchanged mails and messages, spoken on the phone and I'd bought a print of hers online in March. But spending that rainy afternoon with her in her teacher's studio felt like standing on a sandy seashore - the waves washing away the sand from under my feet- you know you might fall, but you like it- this play of holding on and letting go. It's hard to put into words.

I didn't buy anything. I didn't need to.

'It's not about that.' she said.

It was time to leave. I had planned to buy shakha paula (the red and white bangles worn by married women in Bengal) from Kalighat. I used to wear them as a newly wed bride living in Calcutta all those years ago. The sound they make when you are going about your daily chores while wearing them can conjure up Calcutta in a blink- no matter where you live. Dithi recommended a shop.

The green stairwell beckoned.

'Do you have a brolly?' she asked.

'I've come from a desert.'

We grinned and said goodbye.

Barefoot and drenched, my husband, sister-in-law and I bought pedas (sweets) and garlands of hibiscus to offer to Goddess Kali. She was on her lunch break- taking bhog. So, we made the offerings to the closed door. The mafia pundit's demand for more money didn't bother me.

I had met the goddess twice that day and even hugged her once. I was happy to get wet in the rain and eat pedas and step into my sis-in-law's car with muddy feet.

Moments as ordinary as these-
when you see the light in the brush strokes of Kalpana's scrolls
or
in the depths of  Dithi's kohl rimmed eyes-
make a pilgrim out of me.

Saraswati, Kaali and Durga
reside in you
and
in me.

This, I'm beginning to see.
***

Here are a few pictures I did manage to click despite the daze of being dazzled by Dithi:)

the tulsi tea ceremony...

ta...daa...ready!

Dithi tells me that these hearts are her teacher's work in progress...

Shakha Paula from Kalighat and cotton saree from Bellur Math- a girl has to shop, right?

Kolkata traffic made sure I enjoyed the rain- every raindrop of it:) green, green and more green...

I have been reading Paradise in Plain Sight by Karen Maezen Miller and as I read, I underline. Here's a quote from this awesome book:

"Once you admit you are lost,everything you see is a sign pointing home."

Kolkata connections- old and new : heart and art.

A week or so ago, the family started gathering in Kolkata. My husband has two siblings and ever since we all dispersed (almost twenty years ago) in different directions, the clan hasn't had a chance to eat a meal together at the same table.  Somehow, without too much forward planning, it all worked out and I found myself on board a plane escaping the relentless heat of Doha.

Who would've thought that this impromptu reunion would bring me face to face with a dear old friend who is organising an event to raise funds for her beloved Nepal.

The fund raising event is called Kolkata to Kathmandu and the details are here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1604870963117605/

Nisha Bhatia and her daughter, Anaina are the hearts behind this event.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150628/jsp/calcutta/story_28280.jsp#.VZGOqfmqqkp

Meeting Nisha after 23 years felt like meeting Nisha after 23 days- thanks to the internet and our 'likes' for each other's facebook status:)

Some of her Buddha must've rubbed on to me when we hugged because the next day turned out to be magical, almost surreal.

It started early.

My sister- in -law had arranged for Kalpana Chitrakaar (Chitrakaar means maker of pictures or artist) and her husband Khokan to come over to her house. She had met them at a local exhibition, liked their work and mentioned them to me. I was curious to see if I could meet them as well. A few phone calls were made and received. They arrived early next morning carrying their art.

Maa Saraswati- Goddess of knowledge- Khokan's work:

Tribal scenes- Kalpana's work:

This is Kalpana's award winning work. They unfurled it and I fell for it- hook, line and sinker.

The award is called Adivasi Jeevan Kahani Purushkaar. 

She got first place in her district.

Her art was chosen out of 40 districts to reach the state finals.

She managed first place in West Bengal.

If it had been me, I would've shouted  to the whole world - texted, updated my status and done everything in my power to advertise my achievement.

And there she was- a demure smile played across her face when we complimented her. 

Humility, grace and so much talent- maa Saraswati incarnate.

A lot of undoing needs to be done on me, for me and by me to sample the stillness humility brings with it. That's why I love these moments when humble souls like Kalpana throw a few learning tips my way.
 I grab at them greedily and hug her.

Drum roll please....
Khokan's voice rang out into song, taking us all by surprise. Desperately, we gestured to him with our fingers on our lips to sing a bit soflty as none of us were ready to face the wrath of a house full of teenagers being woken up that early!

So he sang slightly softly.
He sang tales from the Ramayana.
He sang about Ram and Sita and Lokhman.
His voice - clear and confident.

You may like to scroll down the pictures while listening to his song. I was too spellbound to even think of taking a video. My sis-in-law recorded his song on her phone. 

She also became my translator. Khokan conversed in Bangla.
I took turns to gape-
first at him, then at my sister-in-law; taking in the tennis of translation.
 Bangla volleyed into English.
I took notes.

'Traditionally, we earned our living from singing. We would gather around- one of us would start with a verse, then the next person would take over and so on. We painted for ourselves. All of us- my baba, my ma. Now my sister and both my sons paint with us.'

I don't know about you, but doesn't it all sound surreal, almost Utopian?
Sing for a living and paint for pleasure- wow!

It was time to wrap up. As the scrolls were being folded, Khokan's visiting card came into sight.

I read his name and commented, 'so you are Muslim and Kalpana is Hindu, how did you meet?'

This comment shows my perception of India- i.e. inter-religious marriages may be fine in the metros but surely Kalpana and Khokan had to fight a few battles in the depths of West Bengal to break the norm.

His reply left me speechless.

'Religion is religion. Art is everything.' he said.

Divine energy was present in my sister-in-law's living room that morning in Kolkata- it needed no name to bind it or describe it. It had flowed from the tip of Kalpana's brush on to a piece of silk cloth. It shone through the pigments picked by Khokan and his son to fill out the folds of a red curtain.

A sabih and bibi portrait painted jointly by Khokan and his 16 year old son:

The colours used by them come from natural sources, such as:
kohl or kajal, burnt clay, red brick powder, the clay sourced from the bottom of ponds, beetle leaf, raw turmeric, aparajita (butterfly pea)  and hibiscus. He mentioned a few other names, too, which I'm not familiar with- local names of flowers, I think. They use the pulp of bhel fruit (also knows as wood apple or Bengal quince) to mix the colours. 

It all sounds fascinating to me. They invited us to visit their village and I think I'll do just that next time I am in West Bengal. Almost all the sources of colours they mentioned (including the mixing medium of bhel) are used as offerings to gods and goddesses in Hindu rituals.

I would've loved to research  more about  Patachitra artists to share with you but I'm keen to publish this post before the fundraiser kicks off on July 2nd, 2015. I guess I'll have to travel back soon to carry out the research:)

The magic of art and artists continued to fill me with awe that day because a couple of hours after I had hugged Kalpana, I was sitting across Dithi Mukherjee-being mesmerised by her eyes. A couple of hugs would follow and the rest my dear ones will be revealed in my next post- she is a goddess: beautiful, enchanting and oh so unforgettable.