When Crackpot Cafe and Bistro turned one recently, they did not celebrate by throwing an extravagant party. Instead, they hosted teenagers from a shelter home, introduced them to the hospitality sector and opened avenues for a viable career option for them.
The teens — 15 girls and one boy — were very excited. “I know how to cook. I can even make fried rice and chilli chicken, but I was amazed to see today how complicated coffee-making can be. The artwork atop the latte — heart, teddy or swan — needs hard work,” said a Class IX girl who wants to get into hotel management later.
Due to child protection policies, the names of children, their home, and their pictures cannot be made public.
The teens were also taught to make a mocktail, sandwich and burger, a task they were following intently till someone barged into the kitchen to announce: “They are playing
Saiyaara songs outside!” Instantly the girls’ eyebrows raised and they tried to rush outside.
“Not so fast!” said Atreyi Mukherjee, who runs the cafe in DD Block behind New Town School. “We’ll play Saiyaara songs in a loop when you’re having lunch. Now watch the burgers are made.”
The teens had not seen industrial-sized fridges, ovens and grills before. “Lettuce? I thought the leaf they put in burgers is cabbage leaf,” confessed a girl innocently. Another girl couldn’t believe the kitchen would be that hot even in winter. A third learnt about hygiene and how it was imperative to wear cap and gloves when cooking.
A staff member of the shelter home said many of their former inmates had gone into hospitality, some even out of India. “The more exposure we can provide them, the broader their horizons get. Today, the kids who had been adjudged “best children” this quarter were brought down to the cafe for this opportunity, and they are very happy,” he said.
Mukherjee said she started this cafe to create a meeting point for people and provide a platform for exchange of ideas. “We wanted to help the children silently, and it will create a lasting impression if we make it fun,” said the lady, who also used the occasion to launch an initiative for residents to donate old items. “We have tied up with Twirl Store, a Behala-based group that takes in discarded items, upcycles and sells them. These products, such as tote bags made of old denims and clutch bags of coconut shells will now be available at Crackpot.”
We have drop points across the city, including one in Sector V’s Techno India campus. We get over 200kg of clothes a month from all over, but it is all about convenience. Even if people want to donate, no one will drive down from New Town to Behala for it. With a drop point at Crackpot, New Town residents can now chip in,” said Twirl Store founder Sujata Chatterjee.
Spreading Out
Britya Bandhu, a township-based group of performing arts lovers, put up a show at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan with something for everyone.
The show began with classical dance, Rabindrasangeet by AD Block resident Sarbani Kar, and Hawaiian guitar recital, also by AD Block resident Shyamaly Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya performed popular Bengali songs like Ei sundor shonali sandha as well as the evergreen Bollywood number Yeh dosti. “This was my tribute to the recently-deceased Dharmendra. To me, he was an even bigger star than Amitabh Bachchan,” said Shyamaly. “Every stage does not allow artistes to perform Hindi songs but since this one did, I could take audience back in time to the golden era.”
Members of Britya present an audio drama at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan
Shyamaly’s husband Srikumar Bhattacharya performed a mono act, and Debashis Dutta sang songs that have been featured in theatre. “I am a researcher of ragas and raginis in Rabindrasangeet, but today’s event allowed us to explore another interesting aspect of the stage,” said the Kankurgachhi resident. The script for this section was narrated by Bijan Ghosh, one of the lead organisers of the event.
Together, they presented songs like Hari mon mojaye lukale kothay, famously sung back in the day by Noti Binodini in Chaitanya Lila, as well as Jwal jwal chita dvigun dvigun from Jyotirindranath Tagore’s play Sarojini. “The latter happens to be the first song composed by Jyotirindranath’s younger brother Rabindranath. The 14-year-old Rabi’s song was highly appreciated, even by the likes of Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, when it was staged,” said Dutta.
Members also presented audio dramas. The first was Manoj Mitra’s Radha Ranir Kolkata Darshan, where the protagonist, played by Uma Bose, visits the big city with her daughter (Kumkum Mondal) in search of her husband, who had gone missing after attending a procession.
Next was Tagore’s poignant tale Debotar Grash, that Ghosh had adapted as audio drama. Here, during a pilgrimage boat ride, in a moment of irritation, a mother scolds her son, saying she will throw him into the sea. Later, when a storm threatens to capsize the boat, superstitious passengers take her words literally and demand the boy be sacrificed to appease the gods.
“Our mother body is Britya, but during the pandemic we had formed a WhatsApp group called Britya Bandhu, also admitting non-members who wanted to be constructively engaged. That association has continued and today we could provide a platform for them all to perform,” said Ghosh.