Gari baranda::গাড়ি বারান্দা (2)

A few weeks back I had posted the first in the Gari baranda series. Over the course of the documentation I hope to find certain patterns in the kinds of activities that go on underneath their shades: the ones around the Hazra Road crossing, as the photographs attest, are dominated by lottery-ticket sellers, padlock and hair-comb traders, cobblers, badaam-bhaja men, so on. Little did I know then that I would have occasion to include in this blog certain incidents that I am much more personally involved with, under a similar heading. With this post I will break hoped-for rigour of the Gari baranda series, and make an exception.

On 11 March 1922 the foundation stone was laid and the building was completed in 1924. Aurobindo Bhavan, which serves today as the administrative building of Jadavpur University, has had an interesting history, let's say. The gari baranda is not quite what I am looking for, but as I said, I'll make an exception.

About a month back a group of peaceful protestors demanding a just investigation into an unfortunate case of sexual and physical violence on campus were beaten up by the police and some unrecognised not-so-happy-looking men. Since then the student protest has taken on a different dimension and has seen significant support from colleges and universities around the globe and from the general body of citizens. The assault on the students took place under the Gari baranda. A number of videos that are circulating on the internet can be found quite easily. I wasn't in Kolkata then and returned only about a week later. The protests continued even after the Pujas, and day before yesterday (16-17 October) we took to the same Gari baranda to commemorate the incidents of the previous month. There was art, there was music, there was laughter, as there had been on the interrupted night. There was a 24-hour hunger strike. I believe that the students did successfully manage to 'take back' the space.

"In the functional sense of the word, the Antigones of the world will always admit defeat in the hands of the Creons", as Sri Gautam Bhadra puts it. But I share with him the hope that the cries have penetrated some walls at least and stirred a few indifferent minds. Small victories, yes, but to me, the administrative building Gari baranda has never looked this beautiful.

Photo from the October 16/17th night courtesy:
"International Student Movement - Asia (ISM-Asia)" on Facebook

P.S. Thanks, Anushka, for suggesting that this could be part of the Gari baranda series.

Balwant Singh's Dhaba

I am not a big fan of their doodh-Cola, although I understand why it would be on any list of things to eat/drink in Kolkata. Their tea, however, is a favourite of mine. A couple of days back my cousin sister drove us around town after midnight for a cup of tea at Balwant Singh's Dhaba. I am not sure what it is they do that makes the tea different, but I really, really like it. Their aloo-paratha is also very good. Here are a few photographs I clicked at and around the Dhaba.

And while we are on the subject of road-side tea, let me also share a couple of photographs taken at Shyamol's tea-stall, that is just outside Gate 4, Jadavpur University. My good friend, Lav Kanoi, was leaving town in a few days' time, and while I don't usually carry my camera to the University regularly, on this occasion it just happened to be there somehow. I took the photograph from his "platform". I asked him for permission. He looked baffled and said "এটা তো তোমাদের সবাইকার দোকান" ("This shop is for all of you."). It is true that occasionally we pour tea for ourselves, even though the making of things is always his department. Once when he had run out of Maggi, and I was feeling particularly desperate, I offered to get the raw material for him, and he happily cooked it for me.

Shyamol's tea stall has become something of a permanent fixture in our lives. He couldn't have set his shop up that long ago. It's been a couple of years may be. But in the short time he has won many hearts. He never counts the number of cups or ভাঁড় of tea that we drink, or the money we hand over. On festive occasions one can find his shop lit up with disco-lights, and his playlist never ceases to amaze. Apart from tea, he has a number of other things on his menu-card. There is a real menu-card, by the way, one which he got printed on the same day as these photographs were taken. The aforementioned Maggi at Shyamol is truly special, but he does a great variety of things with eggs. The peculiar thing about Shyamol is that he is very unpredictable. On a perfectly good day, he may choose not to open simply because he doesn't feel like it. This is accepted gracefully on the whole, even if with momentary and immediate disgrunt.