16 December Kolkata
I had picked up a sore throat from yesterday’s
wanderings, so took it easy today. In the evening I returned to the ICCR
auditorium for the annual cultural program of Samyukta Dance Academy. Performers
ranged from little girls, still very much in the learning stages, to confident
young women. Three young men also appeared in martial arts demonstrations. I
finished off the day with a big dinner of vegetable pakora, palak paneer, and
rice at Blue Sky Café.
17 December Kolkata
In the morning I did
journal writing, then headed to Blue Sky Café for an omelet, butter toast,
porridge, and papaya lassi breakfast. I then strolled through the New Market
area, snapping photos of shops and the busy streets.
Sir Stuart Saunders
Hogg (1833-1921) served as the Chairman of the
Calcutta Municipal
Corporation, and this market that he founded in 1903 was named in his honor.
Lots of stuff
to purchase in and around New Market!
Tasty fruit near
New Market
The Academy of Fine Arts opened a new set of shows this Sunday, again with three group and two solo exhibitions. Some of the galleries had opening ceremonies with lighting of oil lamps and brief talks by the artists, though none in English. As two days ago, I swung by the restaurant Haldiram for a spicy shahi thali.
A doubtful looking
bride appears in a small exhibition of wedding paintings.
Now the confident
bride is fully adorned, thanks to her friends.
Village Life
(1978). (A Retrospective of Pradip Pradhan)
Fairy by
Minati Nath
(40th Annual Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures,
presented by The Group, an Association of Women Artists)
Lady with the
Moon by Sudeshna Das
(40th Annual Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures,
presented by The Group, an Association of Women Artists)
Steps Together
II by by Banasri Khan
(40th Annual Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures,
presented by The Group, an Association of Women Artists)
18 December
Kolkata
In late afternoon and with difficulty, I got a taxi southeast to
Birla Mandir, a late-20th-century Hindu temple. Unfortunately I had brought my
camera and couldn’t enter, though I have seen the interior on a previous visit
to Kolkata. My main goal was just to the north: CIMA (Centre of International
Modern Art), a private gallery that puts on high-quality shows. The 12 Masters
show had just gone up with works of 12 artists arranged in a Phase One with
elements of fantasy, Phase Two that introduces tenets of existential crises and
real life, then Phase Three with sculptures, graphics, and temperas by four
Bengali artists. Back at Blue Sky Café I went for a flavorful mixed vegetable
dish with rice.
19 December Kolkata
After breakfast at the New Sky
Café I went shopping in the warren of streets near New Market and recognized a
little shopping center from a previous visit. Most of the shops had glittering
women’s clothing and jewelry, but one place sells men’s clothing and I picked up
a pair of trousers and a set of handkerchiefs. I was due for a new belt, and had
to go to a shop that specialized in leather goods.
After a light lunch
of a veggie burger and sweet lassi at the Blue Sky Café, I got a taxi south to
Ahuja Museum for Arts. It’s a small private space that displays wonderful
paintings and sculptures of a large collection that rotates every two months.
Tiny mobiles hung from the ceiling. Another taxi ride took me north to ISKCON
Kolkata Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple, established in 1971 as the first ISKCON
(Hare Krishna) temple in India. I arrived in the evening just before an
elaborate devotional service began. A priest in the center of a room stood near
a small potted plant and waved a candle, flowers, and other offerings while
another priest chanted to the beat of a drum. A crowd of devotees—women on one
side and men on the other—formed around him, then later circumambulated around
the priest and plant. More devotional chanting followed, then carved wooden
doors opened to reveal a red curtain. Next, with the sound of a blown conch and
a cloud of incense, the curtain pulled away to reveal the main shrine with a
garlanded Krishna (holding a flute and wearing an elaborate robe and turban)
flanked by two consorts on one side, and on the other Jagannatha (Lord of the
Universe, an abstract representation of Krishna or Vishnu) along with his
brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. In the center between the two groups of
statues stands a small potted plant. Two priests waved lamps, flowers, and other
offerings while ringing bells. Another priest and the devotees made devotional
chants to Krishna. After the ceremony most of the devotees sat down on the floor
to listen to chanting accompanied by a harmonium, drum, and bells. I wandered
downstairs to visit the gift shop, where the row of special soaps caught my eye,
as did the list of ingredients that includes milk, urine, and manure from the
holy cow. Sadly I wasn’t brave enough to buy a bar. Instead I got a little book
about meditation. The temple offers three meals daily of prasad (blessed food)
and dinner was about to begin in the prasad hall. I climbed the stairs to it and
found men with big pots of food, where I got a plate of rice, yellow dal, mixed
vegetables, and roti for the bargain sum of $0.60. Most diners sat on floor
mats, but I took advantage of a couple tables. The food was very tasty, perhaps
enhanced by eating it with my hand as no utensils are provided here. Lastly I
stepped into a room filled with sweets, and chose a rasmalai (balls of Indian
cheese soaked in a syrup of sugar, nuts, saffron, cardamoms, and rose flavor). A
taxi negotiated the traffic-soaked lanes back to near my hotel.