Para boys have taken up the task of decorating the pandal of Bakultala Sarbojanin Durgotsav, in Dhakuria, this year. This way, apart from slashing the budget, the youngsters also get to see all their creative ideas on the pandal walls. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

As one approaches Kashi Mitra Ghat Street, the signboard of G. Paul & Sons can be seen from a distance. Inside the studio, apart from the scores of statues of eminent people lined up, every object has intriguing tales to tell. Tales about a talented sculptor who has done Bengal proud ? Gopeswar Paul.

With just 10 annas in his pocket, he came to Calcutta in around 1910, all the way from native Krishnagar. For a few years, he dabbled in ?respectable jobs? that earned him enough money to buy a house. But the big break he was looking for came in 1924.

Just after World War I ended, the British Empire arranged an exhibition to display its prowess in the cultural arena. Paul?s extraordinary skill of sculpting the likeness of any person in a matter of minutes drew the attention of Percy Brown, then principal of Government Art College. Subsequently, Paul was selected to represent India at the exhibition in Wembley.

Artists from other colonised countries also took part in the show, visited by George V and other members of the British royalty. Once again, it was Paul who stole the show by making a statue of the Duke of Connaught in a very short time. The royal family was immensely impressed.

Narrating the incident, a report in a reputed daily in July 1924 showered praises on the skilled artisan. He was asked to embark on a tour of continents to exhibit his talent. Instead, Paul chose to go to Italy to hone his skills.

After his return to Calcutta, a deluge of contracts came in and Paul never had to look back again.

In 1932-33, Paul was requested to build a Durga idol for Kumartuli Sarbojonin Puja. ?He had adequate knowledge of working with clay. So he accepted the offer,? said son Sidheswar, who now looks after G. Paul & Sons.

?In those days, the ekchala thakur (Durga and her children in a single frame) was in vogue. Father seized the opportunity to set off the trend of separate idols of the deities,? Sidheswar claimed. For eight consecutive years, Paul made the idols for Kumartuli Sarbojonin Puja.

Paul is the only Indian whose work is installed on the Victoria Memorial premises. A statue of Sri Ramakrishna installed in Belur Math is also his creation.

Over the years, the legacy of Gopeswar Paul has been handed down through the generations. Cousin Moni Paul also rose to fame as a sculptor. A statue of Swami Vivekananda by Sidheswar is now on display in Chicago, where Swamiji had delivered his famous speech at the World Parliament of Religions.

Time has, however, required Paul?s successors to adapt to the latest trends. ?Earlier stone, cement, plaster and other materials were used. Now, most orders are of bronze and fibreglass statues. We have had to change with time,? Sidheswar summed up.

Subhajoy Roy,
Asutosh College

Set stage

Ruth Margraff, renowned US playwright and performer, was briefly in Calcutta under a collaborative initiative of Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, PeaceWorks and American Center. Aged between 16 and 29, we were an eclectic group that took part in a nine-day scriptwriting workshop conducted by her from September 15. Eight participants were from Loreto College, while others were from Calcutta International School, Jadavpur University and St Xavier?s College. A few professionals also joined in.

For a start, Ruth asked us to write about some pictures she handed out to us. A discussion on the basic elements of a script followed.

During the next few days, we were briefed on selection of topics for the script. The theories of a plot were discussed. Ruth taught us to map the personalities of the protagonist and antagonist into a chart, to make them more believable and coherent.

We worked on the ideas over the weekend and on September 19, began writing our final scripts. I tried converting a poem of mine into an abstract commentary on alternative sexuality.

The five-minute plays that we prepared were staged on September 24. Some in the audience found a first-person monologue of Sania Mirza by one of us amusing. Young writers from Kalam: Margins Write then read out We Were Family, a collaborative play with abstract parallel narratives.

The ladies from Swayam, dressed in black and red, concluded the colourful evening with their boisterous performance of the street play A Day at the Park.

Mandy M,
Calcutta International School

Offbeat, in sync

Odyssey ?05, the inter-school festival of Birla High School organised in association with TTIS, was packed with offbeat events this year. September 30 saw tech-savvy youngsters clash in a webpage-designing contest. Later in the day, there was a session of crafts-making with waste, followed by a hairstyling competition. Celeb talk on the next day, in which students tried impersonating celebrities of their choice, was the show-stealer. The participants had to talk on ?India can take independent decisions?. Ashok Hall, Carmel High, Don Bosco Park Circus, La Martiniere for Boys, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Birla High School (girls) and Birla High School (boys) were the participating schools.

The stage came alive with Sachin ?Tendul?, Munna ?bhaiya?, Bappi Lahiri, Mallika ?Sharmili?, Amitabh ?Bachat?, Saif Ali Khan, Navjot Sidhu, Mangal Pandey and Sania ?Mircha? voicing their opinions. Bappi Lahiri and Mallika Sharmili of Don Bosco were the most entertaining. But Navjot Sidhu of the host school impressed the judges with his exemplary histrionics and took the top position. Don Bosco was adjudged the runner-up.

Half-a-minute, western music and the dance programme on October 2 were a treat for the school gangs.

Our city, in a poet’s mind

On September 28, Oxford Bookstore, in association with Kalam: Margins Write, presented The Urban Beat, a poetry session inspired by the Calcutta cityscape, as part of the Fringe Poetry Festival. The evening saw a coalescence of well-crafted verses by young poets Amit, Bina, Sudeshna, Uma, Nargis and Gopal and the ever-charming songs by Calcutta?s very own troubadour Anjan Dutt.

The observant poets from Sanlaap and Diksha captured the often ignored sights and sounds of the city in artistic detail. The images were mature, often surreal.

The poems, in Bengali and Hindi, had aesthetically praiseworthy elements like the ?rasta? or road being the life and death of a traveller, comparing the moonshine to scattered safety-pins and the city being only a ?bhabna? or thought in the poet?s mind.

Anjan Dutt, who was also the moderator for the evening, threw interesting questions at the young poets and the audience joined in, too .

?Will you ever write for money?? met with a unanimous ?No?. Besides, Dutt interspersed the poems with his songs of a pained city and added a dimension to the poems with guitar arpeggios and a soft harmonica in the background.

The audience was also charmed by Bina?s rendition of Gautam Chattopadhyay?s soulful city song Tomay dilam?

Oxford Bookstore and Bishan and Sahar of Kalam deserve praise for putting together the thoughtful event where the youth from the fringes of society found a potent voice through poetry.

Inam Hussain Mullick,
English, JU