Kolkata Nostalgia & ADDA

jyotirmoy

Every city has its traits, trends & a way of life. Kolkata had & I hope it still has the culture of “Adda”(Group discussions & chat). It is so much a part of the city that almost all old houses had a pair of cement benches constructed facing the street/lane across the entrance called “Rok”. These were constructed for the soul purpose of allowing people to sit & partake of their Adda. There was a kind of time slots. Morning & noon you found the jobless youths talking about jobs and interviews, afternoon you had the local students mostly school students of the locality talking about the happenings at the schools, sports & yes school girls in hushed tones, a rumor of an affair between the Hedu(Head Master) & a particular Didimoni(female teacher). As the evening progressed & workingmen returned from work, after they had a bath & “Tiffin” they would occupy the roks. Price rise, politics, cinema will be main focus. These were local affairs but very much a scene at every locality.
Apart from these there were serious Addas where the focus would be some singular topics like Radical politics, Films, Music, Literature, Magic and so on. Some how I was too weak kneed to take part in the Addas of Radical politics but I was fortunate to be a listener at quite a few good Addas focusing on Films & Literature.
There used to be a well-known doctor of Ayurveda in north Kolkata. In the evenings he allowed all writers to come over & chat in his huge drawing room. Ras (muse) & Rasayan (chemistry) happily co-existed. Tea & snacks were provided by the lady of the house whom we had never seen. Sibram Chakroborty’s wit added a refreshing touch when the discussions went too serious.
For Addas discussing films we had three places the New Cathay Bar in Chowringhee, the Ganja park in south & the country liquor bar at the Khalashi tola. A great filmmaker known for his bohemian ways was invariably available at one of these places. The minimum investment you had to make to hear about films from him was a pint of country liquor (in those days this was graded as No.1, 2 &3), a bundle of bidis with red thread. Yes the red thread was very important. The red thread meant that these were roasted more & hence strong. After a few swigs he would declare another great filmmaker to be a total imbecile & go onto explain how a long shot is to be taken. Some evening we found him at the New Cathay bar brooding with a triple shot in his glass. He would brighten up when he saw some admirers for company as well as sponsors of the binge. We would listen enthralled while he talked about Fellini’s films scene by scene, techniques & intricacies. Suddenly he would declare that all this Whiskeys & Rums were useless stuff & move out in search of his elixir of choice. We would hurriedly pay the bill & run after him. The manger of the bar never bothered him for payment; he would just keep the bills. Same treatment was meted out to some writers who went broke quite often. When ever an affluent or well to do actor, film director, writer or even any known admirers visited the bar the manger very discreetly presented the accumulated bills & they would be either completely or partly settled. Things just worked like a well-oiled machine. Once a very famous European director was in Kolkta shooting a film. This bohemian filmmaker told us one evening how he treated the visiting director at his suite at the Grand to a bottle of No1. & how subsequent discussions went.
Another place where we could get an assortment of themes was the Coffee house in the College Street. Writers, filmmakers & student political activists all congregated to this institution on a regular basis. The table where films were discussed used to led by a very tall filmmaker who later became one of the best in the world. Here a bit of a highbrow atmosphere prevailed but catching up on the discussions was possible. Things went well so long as we didn’t speak.
Writers of all hues & colours flocked to the Coffee House wearing more or less the same costume of Khadi Kurta, Pyjama & the mandatory Jhola slung on the shoulder. Established verities turned up in Dhoti Kurta or trousers & shirts. At times violent verbal altercations took place over literary matters & we like flies running towards a fire swarmed to the vicinity of the battlefield. A few of them were also very innovative in conjuring up explicits & we always made a mental note of it for future reference. We had to be a bit careful while entering the writer’s section so as not to run in to a friend who had recently taken up the task of writing poetry lest we had to go through hearing his latest. This inclination generally was a side effect of either falling in love or break up. The poetic theme clearly indicated the situation.
Thus life was a big ADDA then!

sadhuji

yes jyotirmoy - it brings back pleasant memories. please continue the good work.

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mooning over a moon journey

somnath

Now, this is the thing which is UNCHANGED. It is wonder that how it is possible that we are still able to snatch some time for adda.
Adda – zindabad.

Tomi

This is something I'd love to experience. This to me is much more interesting than the conventional tourist spots. Only similar thing I've seen are the regular "meetings" in various town squares in Italy where people discuss politics every day at the same time. You know that if you go to Piazza X, say, at 7 PM there will be a lot of ex-communists discussing the sellout of their party, for instance.

Is it all in Bengali, or is some of it in English?

(Does the expression yadda yadda come from adda? )

jyotirmoy

Somnath I am relieved to know that inspite of hectic life that seems to have emerged in Kolkata you are still having Adda!

Tomi,
Yes a chat with locals do provide inputs that otherwise would have been missed out.
Local affairs are in Bengali but in many literary & film making Addas we heard a mix of Bengali & English. Never mind in general people of Kokata speak good English & if you happen to find yourself in some such Adda the local participants would surely like you to join.