Stand-up artiste Arun Gemini addresses the crowd as Sailesh Lodha sips tea. Other artistes await their turn on stage at EZCC on Monday

FE Block

This year FE Block made an effort to bring together residents of all communities for a combined spring festival. Sunday began with a prabhat pheri and the Holika dahan in the evening was followed by Rabindrasangeet. On Monday, the Hasya Kavi Sammelan, held at EZCC, had lots of Bengalis joining in the laughter as well.

One of the stand-up comedy artistes, Arun Gemini of Haryana noted the same. “I’ve been coming to Calcutta for shows for many years but this is the first time I have Bengalis in my audience,” he said. Gemini moderated the show that had four more artistes including Shailesh Lodha of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah fame.

Poking fun at politics

In the run-up to the elections there were dime a dozen jokes on politicians, with Aam Aadmi Party (Aap) leader Arvind Kejriwal being Target no. 1. “A cough that lasts for two months must be because of TB. But if it lasts for even longer then it must be for the TV,” said Lodha, referring to Kejriwal’s prolonged cough audible across TV channels.

“The season of Aap, like aam (mango) did not last very long,” began Gemini. “And how could it? Even their symbol, the broom, only lasts two months in our homes.” Sanjay Jhala of Jaipur joked that Kejriwal filed an FIR against his sister-in-law for stealing his shoes during his wedding ceremony.

The Sonias, Lalus and Manmohan Singhs too found mention. “After delivering a two-hour long speech, Sonia Gandhi asked her secretary: ‘I thought the speech would be for half an hour. How did it take so long?’ To which the secretary replied: ‘Madam, the three photocopies of the speech had got stapled to the original. You read them all’,” said Jhala.

“It’s not Rahul Gandhi’s fault that he’s clueless. At an age when he should be speaking to Rani Mukherji, he’s having to speak to Mamata Banerjee,” said Jhala. There was prolonged applause for jokes that had pro-Modi punch lines.

United states of India

There were jokes on stereotypes of people from different states. “My Gujarati friend offered me food in such small bowls I didn’t know whether to eat them or sniff,” began Gemini on the perceived stinginess of Gujaratis. “And the rotis were the size of coins. I thought I would have to eat 30 or 40 of them to fill my stomach but after the fifth roti my friend said: ‘Please have one more roti for my sake, I won’t force you after this one.’”

FE Block residents celebrate Basanta Utsav by walking through their lanes in a prabhat pheri

On the brash Haryanvis, Gemini said a Haryanvi father warned his son that if he returned home having failed his exam, he needn’t call him ‘father’ again. To which the son replied: “Relax papa, it’s a school report, not a DNA report.”

Lodha said he once went for dinner to a friend’s house who had a Tamil wife. “The wife spoke no Hindi but he taught her to say: ‘Aur khaiye, sharmaiye mat.’ When I had polished off a few helpings she smiled at me and said: “Khao khao, sharam toh hai nahin.’

Finally, on Rajasthanis he said: “Like sugar, you came and dissolved in the waters of Bengal.”

The other popular theme was marriage. Mumtaz Naseem of Delhi sang self-composed love songs and Dinesh Diggaj of Ujjain cited an incident when he was walking through the market with his wife, her hand lovingly in his. But when a friend remarked at how the couple were still so romantic after decades of marriage, Diggaj replied: “This is not romance. I’m only holding her hand so she doesn’t run into those sari shops.”

The show was a great success with the hall brimming over with spectators. “This is the first Holi event of such a big scale in our block and we are glad everyone came and enjoyed,” said Rajiv Changoiwala, a member of Salt Lake FE Block Residents’ Association, that put up the show.

Brinda Sarkar

Basanta Utsav at FD Park

Music and dance groups from around the township performed at FD Park for Basanta Utsav on Sunday. The stage was done up with lots of colours and laser lights lit up the evening further. The performances were all on the ground and not on stage.

Students and members of township-based cultural groups like Meghdoot Cultural Centre of CF Block, Kolkata Ucchhas of DB Block, Natmandir of CB Block and Bhavna group presented song and dance items set to Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti.

Children perform at the Basanta Utsav celebrations in FD Park. Picture by Saradindu Chaudhury

The event started with Orey Grihobashi presented by students of kathak dancer Anurekha Ghosh of Natmandir. This was followed by Orey bhai fagun legechhey boney boney and the Nazrulgeeti Phul phaguney elo morshum.

AD Block-based Nazrulgeeti singer Anusuya Mukhopadhyay performed Nayane abir chharale while Ghosh and Mousumi Sen danced as Krishna and Radha respectively. The dance Aji mone mone jage performed by students of Nijoloy, a home for rehabilitated children and conceptualised by Ghosh, added colour to the event. Members of HA Block-based music group Sreenandana also performed, led by founder Jayatee Chakraborty.

The show was concluded with Rabindrasangeet and other songs by Shamik Paul.

As the programme was organised in the open ground there was no dearth of space and people from all corners of the township gathered in the park. Sweets were distributed too.

For the last two years, Bidhannagar Municipality has been organising the Basanta Utsav in FD Park but this year neither did the banners and hoardings mention them nor did any civic representative take the stage. “We did not want to get involved as the elections are coming up,” said civic chief Krishna Chakraborty at whose initiative the festival had been started in 2012. She herself was out of town on the day.

Local MLA Sujit Bose and councillors Minu Chakraborty, Rebecca Sultana and Swati Banerjee attended the show and exchanged pleasantries with residents.

Bharati Kanjilal

AE Block (Part II)

The night before Dol, AE Block (Part II) celebrated nyarapora. The lesser-known ritual, in which old leaves and branches are burnt in a pyre, was mistaken to be Holika dahan by many, but still drew onlookers.

Nyarapora is celebrated the night before Dol, a good 24 hours before Holika dahan. It is also known as Chachor or Burir ghor porano, given the hut-like shape of the pyre. Most of the children at the venue outside AE Market did not know about the ritual but some of the parents recalled a rhyme they had learnt in their childhood: “Aaj amader Nyarapora, kal amader dol, purnima te chand uthechhe, bolo Hari bol.”

Nyarapora outside AE Market. Picture by Saradindu Chaudhury

Women encircled the 15-feet high pyre with incense sticks and poured red abir and flowers around it. Volunteers splashed kerosene and then the fire was lit. Immediately the heat made the crowd step back. “Holi is my favourite festival and I come for nyarapora every year. We shall play the first round of Dol tonight itself,” said Oindrila Roy Barari, in between clicking and uploading pictures of the nyarapora on Facebook. “I’ve even named my daughter Fagun after this favourite season of mine.”

“The logic behind nyarapora is that it gives people an occasion to accumulate and burn the leaves that plants shed in winter. It helps clean the locality and it also kills mosquitoes and wards off chicken pox,” said secretary of AE Block Samaj Kalyan, Tapas Sengupta. “Lots of homes have shojne plants which bear fruit this season. But to pluck them one has to break the branch. We have gathered lots of such shojne and coconut branches not just for nyarapora today but also for Holika dahan tomorrow.”

So on Sunday there was another bonfire. Alongside was a baul performance for that Santiniketan-like Basanta Utsav feel and food stalls where women of the block sold home-made food. Tapati Sengupta’s patishaptas and dahi-phuchkas by Pompa Das and Sutapa Raha were sell-outs.

BC Park & CJ Park

Several blocks and organisations performed Holika dahan on Sunday night. One such was the celebration in BC Park by Salt Lake Sanskritik Sansad. Women in traditional attire and red churnis performed thandi-Holi offering puja with earthen lamps, tikka, grains and prasad before the Holika was burnt.

According to mythology, Holi celebrates the triumph of good over evil, the bonfire signifying the burning of evil into ashes. The Holika effigy is made of wood, dried leaves, twigs, branches, cowdung and other combustible materials. Effigies of both Prahlad and Holika, who tried to burn nephew Prahlad in a pyre but got gutted herself, are placed in the pyre. But the Prahlad effigy is made of fireproof material.

Glimpses of the Holika dahan in BC Park. Pictures by Saradindu Chaudhury

Aanchal Kanodia, a final year student who resides in BC block, was there to witness the celebrations. “I come with my whole family for Holika dahan every year. Alongside participating in the rituals, we get to socialise with neighbours. The excitement of playing Holi the next day makes it all the more exciting,” she smiled.

Another Holika dahan in CJ Park was organised by the block association and residents of all the neighbouring blocks had come to take part. Around 500 people turned up for this event. Thandai and hot pakoris were served by the organisation.

At 7pm everyone gathered around the pyre and the fire was lit with the help of dry grass after a priest performed aarti. Women made cowdung balls and threw them in the fire while men carried sugarcane sticks with gram leaves and stoked the fire with them. This was later eaten as prasad.

The estimated cost for this ceremony was Rs 50,000. “Holi unites people, both in traditional and contemporary ways. It is a colourful way of embracing a new beginning,” said 45-year-old Lalita Agarwal at CJ Park.

Sukriti Agarwal