When the smell of the Sheuli flowers soothes your senses, a queue of yellow taxis fills the streets, and a massive crowd of people rush to the Sreeleathers and Gariahat, know that it’s that time of the year again. The city awaits the arrival of her dearest goddess. Yes, I am talking about Durga puja in Kolkata. The festival that makes every individual of this city dance in joy. The festival is not just for four days, it’s six months long.
The preparation starts in June and the celebration continues till Kali Puja. The preparation here includes the immense hard work of two groups- artisans who build the puja mandap (pandal) and the ones who make the idols of goddess Durga.
Every year, people from every corner of the country flock down to Kolkata to visit these massive pandals and beautiful, almost life-like idols. The queues are usually 4-8 km long and people stand for hours just to have a glimpse of this magnificence. The above information is known and experienced by many. What I want to narrate here is not obvious.
I want to take my dear readers to the lanes of Kumartoli, the place where thousands of these idols are made. I was fortunate enough to visit this historic place that was built during the British Raj and experience the grandeur just before the Durga puja celebrations. The narrow lanes call out to every individual who loves and appreciates art.
Now, let us imagine the place. As you enter the lane, flocks of young bloggers rush in and out trying to capture every angle of the lane. Amidst the tripods and young couples getting ready for their pre-wedding pictures, you see a range of shops selling polystyrene crafts, bright white designs with beaded threads and glitter paper decorations, what are called ‘chand-mala’ and ‘sholar saaj’ in Bengali. These are usually the accessories of the goddess and Kumartoli flaunts its expertise in it.
As you move ahead, there are small and big workshops where the actual work goes on. As I entered one of the workshops, I saw a lady sitting in a red kurta and high power specs, dedicatedly painting the eyes of goddess Kali.
Out of curiosity, I asked her why is she already making a Kali idol when it is a month to go. She gave a quiet smile and said: “Order er chaap sambhlano jaaye na ei shomoye (can’t handle the pressure of back-to-back orders during this time).” In order to manage the pace of festivities and orders, the artisans make the Durga idols quite early, so that the upcoming demand for Lokhi (Lakshmi) and Kali puja idols could be met.
Hearing this, I was quite confused. The condition of the workshops and the demand for idols were quite contradictory. The artisans were working in dim-lit workshops, with asbestos or even hay roofs.
None of these places was permanent, well-equipped workshops. Mostly, the artisans had rented the basement of age-old houses and were working there for years. I asked one of the artisans, Mohanlal Pal, who has been making idols for 32 years.
The condition was shocking. These artisans who work for months making the idols, hardly get a few thousand for their hard work. Most of the money they earn is spent on buying the material for the upcoming idols. The competition and expectations are so high that these artisans succumb to it. Every client wants a brocade saree, a heavy crown, polished face, but bargains the price to the lowest.
The fear of losing customers to the raging competition makes these artisans agree to a lower price. Shanti Kar has been making idols for three ancestral houses (Rajbaaris) in Kolkata over twenty years, but almost at the same rate. “Na bolte parina ma er pujo. Kintu ora taka baraena (I cannot deny the work because it’s maa Durga’s idol but they do not increase my money).”
What’s amazing is the dedication and concentration that each artisan shows. Even though so many bloggers, customers and photographers flocked around them, they did not stop working or get distracted. For them, their work was art and that is worship. More than the idol, it’s their dedicated effort that is worth applauding.
While leaving the place, a question lingered on with me, we are worshipping the goddess and making these artisans starve. We stand in long queues to see these idols but bargain the moment we buy their craft. Their idols can get us thousands of likes on Instagram but cannot fill their plates during festivities. Is this faith all about?
Is it a celebration if all are not content? This is an open question to all religions, faiths, and communities, are you looking out for those who are working to make your festivals happy?