amader chotto Bus e, akadhik Video Ache, Dekhe Jaan Nijer Choke, Hanuman Kamon Naache’ ( Translated: Our small bus has many videos, come see it with your own eyes how does the monkey dance?) Lyrically sung on the loudspeaker one cannot miss out on these couplets even in a crowded public space. This ‘bus’ is part of the DAG’s City As a Museum edition. This heritage festival which just turned five has brought interesting sessions for the people. Starting with a precursor in Santiniketan it moves on focussing on the heritage and history of Calcutta from their point of origin, making the city itself a museum of living, breathing memories.
The iconic Kolkata blue-yellow public bus is an identity of the city. Like one cannot do without taking the tram, hand-pulled rickshaw, underground metro or even the slow oared boats, one cannot come to Kolkata and not hop on for a ride in the bus. Interestingly, buses have been turned into mobile museums before, but definitely not a public bus.
What makes this bus stand out are the paintings, sketches and graffitis done by Kolkata-based artists, Pavel Paul and Sumantra Mukherjee and their team. From a distance, the striking flouroscent greens and oranges are unmissable and as one comes nearer one gets to see the letters – Dekho Magar Pyaar Se, four words which sum up the entire concept. The artworks on the body range from mediums to types. While there are pencil sketches, you also have pen on paper sketches of Kali worship, another drawing shows the famous Pocket Porota and so on.
But step inside and you will be astonished how a regular bus has been transformed into a sensory museum. Guides will take you through the video installations on screens and make you think why Girish Bhavan exists where it does today? Or about the ‘weeping stone’ or hand roll the decree for the workers of Fort William. Each screen has a story behind it and a tale to tell about Kolkata's history, socio-cultral identity, politics of demographics, gender and caste privileges and more.
Wait, it gets interesting. Parked at different places till the end of this 10-day festival, the stories change every day. Catch the bus at its designated place each day and spend some time discovering the city’s glorious past, that undoubtedly shaped its present.
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