An ode to summers: Kommune Kolkata celebrates spirit of the season with poems and anecdotes

Poets and storytellers from across Kolkata shared their summer stories — from bedtime tales to anecdotes — at Summerscape, an open-mic event held at Ultadanga’s Blob Studio on May 18 to celebrate the season.  

Organised by Kommune Kolkata, the event brought as many as 18 storytellers under one roof. 

The afternoon kicked off with a simple question by host Aishwarya Roy: Why summer of all seasons? Summer is not the kind of a season that poets rave about. It doesn’t bring the melancholy of monsoons, the romance of autumn and the silence of winters, she said. While we grew up to hate summers, the season once brought with itself freedom — “bare feet on hot ground, kacha aam with a pinch of salt, kalboishakhi r jhor that left us all drenched and laughing.”

Author-creative editor Aishwarya opened the afternoon with her poem In Another Universe, a powerful reflection on what we’ve lost and what we might still reclaim. Paying homage to the soldiers in the wake of the recent India-Pak conflict, her poem reimagined summer as lost innocence, drawing parallels between the harsh realities of today with a gentler, alternate world. Brimming with nostalgia and quiet resistance, she envisioned a world where “your laughter is louder, and the land beneath your feet is for everyone to live in, not to die for”. 

With the support of Ankit Dey, a senior content writer and artist, Aishwarya started Kommune’s branch in Kolkata in 2023. Ankit’s Bengali poem Grissher Gaan revolved around a simple idea: the forgotten joys of summer. He took the stage to reminisce about the sunlight filled with summer’s touch that he once enjoyed and images that became blurry with the passage of time. 

Adeel Siddiqui’s urdu poem blurred the lines between nostalgia and cultural dislocation. Meditating on memory, loss and resilience, Adeel’s verses were an ode to remembrance and the magic of the mundane.  

Grissher chotobela, bokabaaksho chhara, written and performed by author-professor Sarbojit Chowdhury, was an ode to belonging in a disjointed world. Highlighting the simplicity we have lost to technology, Sarbojit’s piece took the audience on a journey through his childhood, travelling by bullock carts and relishing the ‘2 taka r pepsi’ that we have all enjoyed while growing up. Ami bari jete chai — his words evoked a deep longing for warmth, innocence and stories that were created for memories, not for Instagram reels and views. 

Sekhar and Kumkum Roy transported the audience to a time when summers meant notun bochor, Rabindrasangeet, long vacations and the rhythm of local trains. 

For Mohit Sah, summers in Kolkata are always reminiscent of the good old days of summer vacations, which were more than just holidays for him. In his poem titled Chupan Chupai, Mohit, who goes by the pen name of Syahi, painted a picture of open doors, playing hide-and-seek, and longing for the summer break with unabated excitement. Cut to the present, he reflects on how things have changed, as he neither has the “age” to hide, nor the “hope” to seek anymore. 

Amid all the nostalgia and memories of the past, Richika Ghosh’s poem, You and I, flirted with summer like a teasing lover — sometimes soft and minty, other times scorching and stubborn. She played with the myriad moods of summer, embracing both the sweat-soaked afternoons and lazy days spent at her mamabari. For Richika, summer is selfless and full of love, often reminding her of phulko luchi and shada aloo, and starting the day with Cartoon Network.

As children, we loved summers, didn’t we? The season came with a month-long vacation, ice cream treats and mango delights. But the joy was soon veiled by the curtain of adulthood, strict deadlines and sweaty commute, barring us from enjoying the season anymore.

Snigdha Debnath, a market researcher by day and poet by night, reimagined summer as a capricious first love of childhood. Through vivid metaphors — power cuts, lanterns and fireflies — she explored a young boy’s love for summer. As he grows up, summer quietly retreats to the back of his mind, cherishing the memories like mango slices in jars.

Another metaphor-filled piece was performed by Debasree Maity, who used the image of a sunflower to show how even after someone leaves, we can still bloom. Through a poignant story of a flower shop where she assumes the role of a flower seller, she narrated a tale of self-discovery and emotional healing, ultimately realising that strength and light come from within.

Kumar Gourav, an engineer who moonlights as a writer, shared a love letter to summers and parents. Cycling through the warm climes, ludo playing sessions and watching Doordarshan were some of the memories that he basked in during the two-hour-long event. 

For Tanushree Das, a shelter home teacher, the event was her first open-mic experience. Dedicating her poem to her therapist, she enthralled the audience with her experience of teaching at a shelter home and how it changed her life. “I love everything that summer teaches me about vulnerability and strength,” Tanushree said, advocating for self-love and therapy.

Over the course of the evening, other voices — including Sarfaraz Ali, Anubrata Bandyopadhyay, Ajay Mundhra, Kishor Kahaniwala, Irina Dutta, Maitri Lal, Mohammad Shahrukh and Danish Salim — interpreted summer through their own lens, from radiant sunflowers to tributes to Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. 

The evening came to a close with Sekhar and Kumkum Roy handing over the performer of the day award to Richika Ghosh after the audience cast their votes on a WhatsApp poll.