City writers (left) Sangeeta Bandopadhyay and Bharati Ray at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where they read from their works Ekaal Shekaal and Jogini. The writers’ participation was part of Calcutta’s bid for the Unesco “City of Literature” title, supported by British Council; (right) Supriya Chowdhury at an event to mark the launch of the Uttam Kumar stamp. (Anindya Shankar Ray)

A woman was foolhardy enough to try to travel to her CR Avenue office when the Left Front was holding a rally at Dharmatala on the golden jubilee of the Food Movement on Monday. This is the story of her voyage through the Red sea.

Long before reaching Red Road, the car was halted by a traffic snarl. Taking a U-turn she could go as far as Rabindra Sadan. She trudged down to the Metro station only to be greeted by a snaking queue. Desperate, she decided to walk.

The Park Street flyover was closed to traffic to ease the movement of the rallyists. Standing puzzled at its foot was Saar Schuueid, an Israeli student. “I want to go to Victoria Memorial. Which way is the trouble?” he wondered. He was caught between two streams of pedestrians headed in opposite directions. One was rally-bound, the other comprised rally deserters in search of the pleasures of the city.

After directing him, she opted for a trek up the flyover, beyond access of pedestrians on normal days. Seeing the camera in her hand, a youngster chirped: “Comrade, bhirer samne amar ekta photo tule deben? (Will you take a picture of me in front of the crowd?)” He had come all the way from Burdwan.

It was one long picnic. People sat in circles munching on steamed corn, peanuts and puffed rice. A child in rags wailed: “Please give me some food.” “Ja bhag (get lost),” one comrade snapped.

SN Banerjee Road was taken up by listeners sitting cross-legged. Somehow, she reached the pavement. As she neared the Esplanade Metro station, the chief minister’s name was announced as the next speaker. A surging sea of heads materialised from the Metro mouth. She got swept back, clutching on to her bag and praying that her wristwatch stayed on the wrist. Trapped, the man in front of her swore: “Hotobhagara meeting korar ar jayga pelo na (Couldn’t these wretched people find some other place to hold the meeting?)” For a tantalising moment, it seemed that the Left cadre would resort to violence. Then a voice of sanity prevailed: “Aaah… Buddhababu bolchhen, tar modhye tomra ki shuru korle? (Buddhababu is speaking… Why can’t you be quiet?”)

The woman broke free from the crowd and checked for her wristwatch. It had taken her an hour and 15 minutes to just cross Esplanade.

Stamp of love

The lights dimmed in the auditorium and a melodious voice resonated: Tumi kyamon kore gaan koro hey guni…. Few had a clue that the recorded voice was of Uttam Kumar.

The occasion was the release of a stamp on Mahanayak’s 84th birthday. Emotion ran high and anecdotes flowed. Besides singing, Uttam trained in many arts. His boxing coach Bob Das would remember him for the punch he delivered after a few lessons, leaving him bloody-nosed. When Uttam came on screen in Rajdrohi, his son Gautam exclaimed: “Guru, guru”. “E ki re, tor baba na (Isn’t he your father) ?” his friends berated him. “Shey to baritey (that’s at home),” came the fan’s admission.

With three Trinamul ministers on stage, politics was in the air too. The audience was reminded how Mamata Banerjee had the first-mover advantage in felicitating Bengal’s matinee idol by naming a Metro station after him. It did not score the Left Front any brownie points that Somnath Chatterjee had initiated the stamp release, as they have long disowned him.

But once Supriya Chowdhury took the microphone, it was Uttam all the way, starting from his change of name from Arun Kumar. “Tor to uttam chhele hoyechhey,” Uttam’s maternal grandfather had complimented his daughter on seeing the six-month-old lying in the sun. She also recalled his brother Tarun Kumar, who was behind the construction of Uttam Mancha, the day’s venue. “Benubala, hatey bala, kaney kala” — he had such funny ways of addressing me, however much I chided him. And if I warned him against eating too much, he would say, thin or fat, he would earn the same Rs 80 per day as actor.”

The programme ended with a sterling appreciation of three of Uttam Kumar’s films by governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, whose dialogue delivery in Bengali brought the house down with applause.

Sudeshna Banerjee