One of the many things that lend Kolkata a unique identity happens to be its long brewing love for handcrafted sweets. Anybody who steps in Kolkata can’t help but notice the spectacular number of sweet shops that throng the nooks and gullies of the city and the ever-evolving love it holds for this taste palate. Sweets have found its way not only into our daily gastronomic adventures but made its place known in Bengali music, cinema and literature as well. Taking a cue from this, the city of joy is now all set to host the world’s very first Literature Festival on Mishti December 9 onwards. The event will be titled Jugal’s Literature Festival.
The festival is all set to witness a galaxy of global stars such as Hollywood chef Asma Said Khan, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, anthropologist and writer Dr. Colin Taylor Sen and Historian Pushpesh pant to come together for this one-of-a-kind celebration, to name a few.
Brainchild of Lahana Ghosh, the festival will be spread across ten venues and will bring together some of Kolkata’s iconic addresses such as traditional Bengali homes, art galleries and modern institutions. Each venue will also be complemented with huge spreads of Mishti arranged on a table that will include at least sixty varieties each.
"I believe the literary festival will not only be the first specifically themed around sweetmeats, but one of the firsts in the world to be themed around a food product. The festival was conceived with the idea that food is the only thing that does not discrimate, instead it unites people beyond social barriers,” shares Lahana whose grandfather established Kolkata’s much revered sweet shop Jugal’s about a hundred years back.
Hailing from one of Kolkata’s revered sweet shop dynasties, Lahana Ghosh headed back to her roots after giving up on a cushy job in Vancouver to take forward the legacy her grandfather had established. Jugal is all prepped to hit a century next year and the literary festival is being planned to celebrate this feat. Lahana is also planning to break glass ceilings by creating the first ever all women kitchen of sweetmeat makers.
Explore the diversity Mishti alone holds in itself, and how history has not just evolved with sweetmeats but how each piece of sweet holds within a testimony of time. Trace its timeline, how certain sweetmeats are a result of cultural exchange at some point in history and of course iconic mentions of certain products in the Bengali popular-culture.