[Reader-list] Fifth Posting, Mithun Narayan Bose, I-Fellow

[bangali_ mnb]

FIFTH POSTING: Mithun Narayan Bose, I. Fellow, Sarai
   
  As I have stated in my previous postings, the religious and filmi pictures are the main two genres of the Kolkata rickshaw-pictures but there are some other types that can be traced on the rear side of the rickshaws.
   
  One of them is the depiction of the “Birohini (Departed or Isolated Wife)” which is much popular among the rickshaw-pullers, mainly among the migrated rickshaw-pullers dwelling in this city. Most of the rickshaw-pullers come from the surrounding districts, namely from South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Minapore and from various states as Bihar, Jharkhand, Orisha and even as far as U.P and Uttaranchal. The picture depicts the agony and pain the men suffer in order to earn his bread in exchange of his marital and family life. The picture also shows the inevitable and historical truth about the people of being uprooted from his own space and the painful migration towards the cities. But what is most interesting is the indomitable optimism of the people that is shown on the picture. In this picture generally the sorrowful wife sits on the bank of a river and the landscape behind her portrays that she is waiting in the village, while on the other side of the river
 is the Urban space with multiple sky-scrappers where her beloved is dwelling now and the two world is separated by the river, though connected by a train line and this symbolic use of train line is the proof of the die hard optimism that some day the dark time will be faded away and the lovers will surely meet each other any given day. I think the loyalty of his wife is also another point that bothers my subjects and they just want to fulfill their wish with this kind of depiction. It shows the men have not changed much since the days of Kalidasa and the Departed lovers are always had been same.
   
  Another important and rather popular type is the picture of a giant bird (generally an Eagle or a Hawk) with the earth in its paw and as it is flying henceforth the earth is moving in its axis. I do not know what the root of this particular folk-belief is and no one could help me to answer this question but in many rickshaws as well as in many other means of transport one can see this picture. It may be the mythological Rock Bird of Arabian Nights but it is nothing but a mere inference. This remains a mystery to me and suggestions are always welcome to unfold the mystery of such beliefs.
   
  Taj Mahal is another popular subject which is depicted in many of my subjects’ rickshaw, mainly among the Muslim rickshaw pullers. No wonder that it has been voted first in the new seven wonder-list, and if each of my subjects had had cell phones it could do better to beat other contestants. Which is more interesting is the intermingling of the picture of Taj Mahal with Lotus signs which is commonly regarded as a Hindu motif and with burning candles which is associated with both Muslim and Christian ceremonies. This spirit of communal harmony is not projected or super-imposed as it is true for many of our “enlightened” and “learned” friends but the spontaneity and naturalness is the hidden treasure that the masses have and thus we can understand how they could make such God like Satyanarayan, the incarnation of both Satyapir, a Muslim saint and Narayana, the Hindu God, and that is why I still believe that the masses have no problem among themselves regarding their caste
 or community or creed even after the incident of demolishing the Babri Masjid or the gruesome killing of Muslims in Gujrat in the last riot that we had faced. I am grateful to my subjects; they give me the confidence to retain my belief in mankind
.

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