The Hindu Business Line : Rosogollas and road-rokos

Amartya Sen in his book, The Argumentative Indian, recalls an incisive remark made by his economics professor, Joan Robinson, about us: "Whatever has been said about India is true; equally the opposite is also true". This of course sounds like a sweeping generalisation but I can think of one place in India, which has enough contradictions to endorse Robinson's observation. And that is Kolkata!

Everyone knows how much the local folk love their language and culture (almost to the point of distraction) and yet Kolkata, it may be noted, paid homage to Shakespeare on his 400th birth anniversary in an absolutely unforgettable manner. A bust of the Bard was installed at the entrance to the busy Theatre Road in central Kolkata. Not only that, Theatre Road was fittingly renamed in honour of the great dramatist as Shakespeare Sarani.

The city enjoys (from the days of Nehru) the dubious reputation as the `city of processions'. Though `work stoppage' as a form of protest has evolved into an art form over the years and `forced detention' (gherao) as a negotiating tactic has moved far afield from industry to academia (recently an examination official at Santiniketan's Viswa Bharati University faced this inconvenience), the Kolkata citizen remains decided on which issues to demonstrate against. The slightest affront to human rights anywhere in the world can excite him sufficiently to join a protest march and spend a good part of the day walking the streets. The sincerity and depth of emotion cannot be missed but this spontaneous support for worthwhile causes should be contrasted with the complete indifference to human suffering seen on the streets — of course, no different from other cities.

The artistic heritage of Kolkata is phenomenal whether it is music, painting, cinema or literature. The second bridge on the Hooghly is a standing tribute to such a heritage; and yet when we look around, a good part of the cityscape is host to buildings that look drab and unkempt as though a coat of paint or whitewash has not been attempted since Independence!

Spongy delight: The rosogolla has all it takes to woo the global sweet-tooth. - A. ROY CHOWDHURY

Every city has its heroes, more so in sports and Kolkata is no exception. Sourav Ganguly is just one example. The contradiction lies in football. This is a game more popular than any other in Kolkata and the appreciation of the finer aspects of the game is truly an esoteric exercise. It can occupy several hours of animated conversation amongst office-goers (especially the day after an important match), substantially affecting white-collar productivity. What is important to note is that the clubs of Kolkata have attracted talent from all over the country since the 1940s. Kittu, Venkatesh, Jarnail Singh, Ahmed, to name a few — all outsiders — played for leading clubs in the 1950s. I have seen Kolkata crowds root for them no less; they were heroes in their own right.

Perhaps the weightiest contradiction is a political one. The people here continue to believe that keeping to the Left is the right choice. One does not see any trace of casteism in elections; the Left Front has done a `class' act in more sense than one, holding sway now for more than three decades. And yet, today the government is headed by someone who is clearly to the right of China in his Left philosophy, whereas all his comrades in the party appear to be to the left of Mao and Castro!

Logically, with these contradictions how is it a `City of Joy'? Where is the enduring sweetness, if any? In my view there are two key sources of sweetness. One, clearly, is the language, which flows with the languid grace of Rabindra Sangeet.

Along with Urdu and Telugu, Bengali, I believe, forms three of the sweetest languages in the world. The second source is the edible legacy bequeathed more than 150 years ago — the `sponge rossogolla'. It is not widely known that K.C. Das pioneered the `sponge rossogolla'; they are still around with a few outlets in Kolkata almost unchanged over the years; the Bangalore offshoot of the family is better recognised.

My lament is that on the whole, K.C. Das as a house name for sweets has existed in relative obscurity; it deserves a global audience. Perhaps it's time that corporate giants with Kolkata roots think of adopting a heritage brand like K.C. Das and help spread this indigenous sweetness at a global level.

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