The Shoptomi Post

Shoptomi was already half over when I crept out of bed. I was supposed to meet friends at Tollygunj Metro at 4:30 and I was already running late. To top it I also had to prepare 50 Quiz questions which quiz master-Harry would try his neighbors with the next day. It was not before 5:30 that I reached Tolly and saw our usual thek occupied. Though the numbers were mere microscopic as compared to any other day still the chaa-er nesha sorbonasha had attracted quite a handful. My plan to go pandal hopping in Central Kolkata was promptly pulled down almost unanimously. No one wants to end up at the wrong end of a stampede, I guess.


As an alternative Khiddirpore was given serious consideration before it was decided to first visit Maddox - that abiding emblem of the enterprising youth, that annual edifice of 'continual search', that vibrant epicenter of bizarre bedlams. Maddox Square holds a special place in each and every body's memory who has ever lived in Kolkata during the Pujo. In all the 7 years that I have religiously visited this ''shrine of tempting illusions" I have noticed many consistent traits that identify the place. The culture-cauldron where mere 'birdwatching' meets Martian dress-sense, long lost loves find new found likings, old foes meet and hug like friends - it defines in essence what pujo with all its attendant revelries really mean to the Bangaali youth. I have also noticed the gradual change in the crowd composition which with every year becomes more telling. The necklines plunge and the hemlines rise, the outre amaze and the bold inspire awe(and sighs). No wonder the boys are left all excited and edgy, especially the singles who like captive Gauls looking at an elaborate banquet can only drool and curse their luck but never taste the 'boar'. The intellectual adda that once defined Maddox Square has long gone fishing for better suitors and quieter provinces and sadly, it hasn't reported back till date. Instead banners and hoardings advertising mustard oil and vodka crowd the place while the attention-starved Goddess stares in mock surprise (from her centrally 'cornered' scaffold) at her altar, the entry to which has slowly been reduced to an initiation rite into adulthood for the urban youth.

For me it was mostly meeting old friends who always seem to get pulled out of hats on a regular basis when I am at Maddox Square. School, college, tuition. Sometimes, I might find it embarrassing that even after an hour of conversation which merely struggles past the beats of the dhak by a millionth of a decibel you cannot put a name to the face. Now that many of our classmates/batchmates have flown out in search of greener pastures Maddox holds little if any charms for us.


Coming back to Shoptomi, half an hour inside Maddox and a few familiar faces afterwards it was time for a snack. When 10 people ask for kochuri followed by kaalakand and paatisaptaa you don't expect the unexpected. But before we were through the moiraa and all his assistants looked more than hassled. That is what we do to eateries and sweet-shops.We get under their skins.




We then got into two taxis and headed for Khiddirpore. 25 Pally and 74 Pally are the traditional crowd-pullers over there. Guest Passes made for an easy passage into the former. We weren't so lucky on the other front. I reckon 74 Pally has never seen such a long drawn queue in years and we were half tempted to join in but, at the very last moment decided against it. The Soshti pangs were still fresh with us and any excess stress tonight would mean missing Oshtomi Anjali the next morning which no one wanted. The group then got divided into two before dinner. Most opted for Biriyani ( Khidirpore being the heartland of that delicacy) while the three of us went for South Indian fare - Dosa and Uthapams. Amidst vague frameworks for the Oshtomi night-out surfacing among us we boarded taxis and headed home.

Today again promises to be a hectic affair. I have cajoled, hoodwinked, threatened people to go Central-wards tonight. How can pandal hopping be complete without visiting Md. Ali Park and College Square? Also, I have a curious premonition that I might have to give the Behala pujos a miss this year. What a shame!

Why can't the pujos stay for a few days more ?

Damn!