Cultural conservatives may still have reservations about Valentine’s Day being celebrated in the country. But do they remember for how long December 31 is being celebrated here as New Year’s Eve?
If the Raj set the tone with lavish parties at Great Eastern Hotel’s Hall of Nations in 1911-12, the babus of Thirties’ Calcutta picked up the tradition well. In three-piece suits and neckties, the brown sahibs would throng a lit-up Park Street in their “hawa gaadis” and rub shoulders with their white counterparts. Hand-rolled cigarettes would be discarded in favour of “gol tins” that packed in 50 cigarettes, specially bought for the occasion.
Not much of the spirit has changed, though Park Street is far noisier now. “As Calcutta was one of the first Indian cities to be colonised, New Year’s Eve has never been looked upon as an alien concept here. The festivities have been assimilated into the city’s ethos,” reasons 77-year-old Hrishikesh Bandopadhyay, a retired government officer.
If so, why should Calcutta, so eager for festivals (it even celebrates Ganapati festival now), hold itself back from celebrating other foreign festivals? To bring true globalisation to the city, we recommend the import of the following festivities from different corners of the world, particularly suited to the city’s essence:
Thanksgiving
It is about good food. It is about family gatherings. And it is about a long, extended weekend. Does the average Calcuttan need any other reason to adopt Thanksgiving Day? An age-old tradition in the US, started when the first European settlers arrived in America, and celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving Day is now an integral part of western culture. It is marked by revelry, and the traditional roast turkey. Turkey is available in Calcutta now. They sell it from Writers’.
Thanksgiving Day marks the inauguration of Yuletide season. That could be a welcome landmark, such as Vishwakarma Puja is for the Puja season.
Besides, the city is not used to thanking much. “We have a lot of festivals, but not one in which we thank God. Thanksgiving Day should definitely find its way into Indian culture,” says software engineer Bikram Sanyal.
What the city has to thank God for can be decided later.
The Rio Carnival
The riot of colours, the drum beats, tambourine tunes, dazzling costumes, elaborate head-gears and samba — the Rio Carnival makes for a spectacular sight. The carnival, perhaps Brazil’s most famous cultural ambassador, roots from the “entrudo”, a “Portuguese pre-Lenten festivity”, where the revellers hurled “mud, water and food” at one another (Lent is the 40 weekdays of abstinence that ends in Easter). Calcuttans are good at hurling — anything.
Masquerade balls and parades followed. Calcutta is good at processions also. And probably only Calcutta can match up to Brazilian frenzy, football or no football. Netaji Indoor Stadium or the Brigade Parade Ground can be done up to host the festivities with Bickram Ghosh slapping away at his cheeks and Moon Moon Sen and daughters doing some sizzling samba. Vijay Mallya can fly over and provide the right spirit.
Mardi Gras
Merrymaking reaches a crescendo with Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”), the last day of pre-Lent carnivals, the day before Ash Wednesday. Its roots can be traced back to the early 18th Century. It is the day of indulgence and overindulgence as revellers “fatten up” before Lent.
Over the years Mardi Gras celebrations have gained an identity of their own. The day-long festivities have metamorphosed into week-long celebrations with doubloons (colourful coins), floats, beads and Kings Cake.
In Calcutta Mardi Gras will be the natural culmination of the Rio Carnival, only the city may run out of celebrities at this rate. “I can almost imagine the people all decked up and thronging the roads, led by Anjan Dutt with his brand of cosmopolitan music,” laughs bank employee Anirban Dutta. But abstinence will be the really difficult part.
Halloween
The lights, the candies, the costumes. The licence to scare. The opportunity to knock on your neighbour’s doors without an excuse. Frankly, we don’t quite know why Calcutta hasn’t adopted it already.
The festival is believed to have its roots in Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival. The Gaels believed that on this day the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the dead would come back to life causing sickness and harming crops. There would be bonfires, into which things symbolising the dead, such as bones of cattle, would be thrown and costumes and masks would be worn to placate the spirits.
Now celebrated on October 31, Halloween comes with its trick or treat, costumes, and jack-o-lanterns that became popular from the 19th Century. Adults and children dress up as underworld creatures —there are so many of them here, bhut, petni, rakshas, daayan and chudail — and light bonfires and set off fireworks. Halloween here could be a prelude to Diwali, in time and in mood. On Halloween, houses are adorned with jack-o-lanterns, turnips carved into scary faces and lights or candles are placed inside the carvings to create an eerie, smiling effect. Calcutta could use pumpkins. “The idea of dressing up in costumes and buying lots of candy seems fun. And carving pumpkins to make Jack-o-lanterns seems like the best use for the vegetable,” grins 23-year-old student Amrita Mukherjee.
Oktoberfest
The 16-day festival celebrated in Munich, Germany, is all about beer, sausages, chicken and sauerkraut. With 14 main tents spread over an area of 42 hectares, the total seating capacity is 100,000 at the fair, known as the largest people’s fair in the world. Six Oktoberfest breweries sold 6.1 million mugs of beer in 2006.
The festival is declared open when the mayor of Munich taps a keg of special Oktoberfest beer and says: “O’zapft is!” Which means “It’s tapped!”. Beer made for Oktoberfest is served in a one-litre tankard, is darker and has a higher alcohol content.
And why should Oktoberfest make its way to Calcutta? Though 14 tents on 42 hectares may be a problem, given that the powers that be cannot even find a proper venue for the Book Fair, there is nothing that can parallel 17 days of food and fun and Calcuttans might just be willing to settle for smaller tents somewhere. Calcutta needs an image makeover too, feels 25-year-old content writer Rituparna Das. “It’s time we stopped glorifying Calcutta as the city of intellectuals. Calcuttans can eat drink and be merry too,” says Rituparna. If sausages, chicken and sauerkraut are not to our taste, we could go for reshmi kebabs, burra kebabs and fine cucumber slices dipped in curd. Ullash!
La Tomatina
Held on Wednesday in end-August in Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain, La Tomatina is one of the most colourful festivals. What sets it apart is that it is a food fight, in good humour. Trucks haul huge quantities of over ripe tomatoes to the centre of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The festival is supposed to start when a man can climb a two-storey high, greased wooden pole that has a piece of ham at the top. A signal is given by firing a water cannon. The tomatoes must be squished before throwing. An hour later, the fight ends when the water cannons are fired again. The town is then hosed down.
Why should Calcutta host La Tomatina? The festival is cooler than Holi as there is an hour’s time limit. Besides tomato is good for the skin. And obviously less harmful than some of the chemical-based colours used in Holi. If that’s too sanitised, we could do it with phuchkas.
The export list
Bhai-Phonta
We could make it gender fair. But imagine Janet Jackson giving phonta to bro Michael.
Diwali
There sure is the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival in Japan and the Malta Fireworks Festival, and the fireworks in Blackpool, in the UK, but none can hold a candle to Diwali.
Holi
If we can borrow La Tomatina they can borrow Holi.
Vishwakarma Puja/ Kite flying festival
We strongly recommend a day spent flying kites.
Karva Chauth
We suggest a modification: husband and wife will fast for each other. Brangelina? But they are not even married.
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