An artisan at work on the railway sleepers for the Dum Dum puja pandal. Picture by Sudeshna Banerjee

For years, these blocks of wood have had trains rushing over them, as they lay supporting the tracks. Now, they will stand up and be counted for Durga puja duty.

Railway sleepers are what are making the walls of the pandal at Dum Dum Tarun Sangha. ?The Indian Railway is replacing wooden sleepers with concrete ones. Our theme-maker, Gopal Poddar, saw sleepers left in a pile on his way to Mumbai. He brought us this suggestion of using them creatively,? says Prithwis Ray, an organiser.

Once the concept was accepted, the next task was acquisition. ?Discarded sleepers are stocked at the yard in Liluah. Once the go-ahead comes from the headquarters, they are put up for auction,? Ray explains.

The Tarun Sangha boys started doing the rounds of the Liluah yard from January. ?Only enlisted contractors are allowed to bid at the auction. After much cajoling, the officials made an exception for us.? The required volume of 20 tonnes was procured after competing in two-three auctions.

Since then, in a building under construction near the puja site, Akshay Bhaskar and his team have been busy carving figures on individual pieces. ?These sleepers are so weather-beaten that they have acquired a century-old look. The holes for the bolts have added a rugged feel. This is helping in creating the atmosphere I want,? says Poddar, supervising the hammer-and-chisel work.

Help has come from Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, as well. ?Ten members of the Rajwar tribe are producing mud relief work. Another six from Ganjar village, in Maharashtra, are doing Worli painting on canvas.? The pandal has 8,000 sq ft of wall space and in some areas, the sleepers will serve as unadorned pillars supporting the roof. The artworks will be put to decorative use on the wall there.

?The market rate of 20 tonnes of teakwood is at least Rs 1.5 lakh. We got the sleepers for Rs 30,000 approximately. The craftsmen are slicing off two inches and the wood inside is doing fine,? explains club president Biman Bose.

So, sleepers are holding up for art?s sake. ?Imagine, all of this would have been burnt off as fuel ,? Poddar exclaims.