Sharodiya Anjali 2005 - Pujari

__________________________________________________________________Durga Puja 2005
ADDA IN THE CITY OF JOY
Amitabha Datta
It takes a pinch of gossip and a dash of truth to get our creative juices flowing… Barry O’Brien, (The Telegraph, Kolkata).
“Adda" is a Bengali term for extended and informal intellectual conversation.
T he great singer Manna Dey
immortalized the song ‘Coffeehouse-er
shei adda-ta aaj aar
nei’. Truly said, those days of
aimless chat with a cuppa
coffee in your hand are almost
over. Unfortunately, for the
adda-lover Bengalis,
multistoried buildings have
replaced roadside verandahs.
Parks and footpaths are giving
shape to housing societies and
shopping malls. The growing
interests in net surfing,
computer classes and extracurricular
activities are the
predominant factors of the
withering adda culture in
Kolkata. Gone are the days
when people used to spend
long hours over cha and
telebhaja. Cha was the symbol
of adda, a symbol of being a
Bengali at heart.
From the flavour of Flurry’s to
the aroma of Coffee House —
the old mustiness is fading and
a refreshing change is taking
over the city's favorite adda
joints…. Adda is the life-blood
of the Bengali community. It is
a quintessential aspect of
Bengali culture. Bengalis are
known for their uncanny
propensity of spending endless
hours in adda sessions.
College-goers, office-goers,
intellectuals, traders - persons
belonging to a wide spectrum of
society, visit Coffee House for adda.
Unalloyed adda with bouts of coffee
and pakora are still the favorite of
many. Many a productive and regular
adda has inspired the words to flow
from the pens of many a genius
wordsmith. In days gone by, every
regular publication had an adda —
informal sessions through the day to
discuss what the magazine could
include in its content. The closest
English word that can describe the
essence of adda is chat. However it’s
NOT the e-version, but the real one –
face to face with physical presence.
It's a friendly, casual conversation at
an informal gathering of like-minded
people, who want to talk their hearts
out as a means of relaxation during
leisure hours.
Adda manifests itself everywhere in
embryonic form. From the Egyptians
to Americans- chilling out with a cup
of coffee or guzzling bear in a pub –
everybody is found relaxed, relieved
and deeply engrossed in a typical
'adda' mood. The addas in Calcutta
are substantially cultural or
intellectual. Several outstanding
writers in those days viz.,
Tarashankar Banerjee, Nazrul Islam,
Premendra Mitra, and Sailajananda
Mukherjee used to throng the 'Kallol'
adda. ' Sabuj Patra' by Prasanta
Chowdhury was another adda
which drew a lot of enthusiastic
people. A counter-adda was soon
set up by a team of conservatives
at 'Shanibarer Chithi'.
Today, the organization like the
Calcutta Club has become active
to resuscitating and keeping this
tradition alive and kicking.
Sutanuti Parishad has been a
pioneer in this field, organizing a
formal adda as part of its
celebrations of Calcutta's 300th
birthday.
The latest happening in
Calcutta's adda-circuit is CIMA
(Center of International Modern
Art) Gallery’s adda club, which
meets every Sunday. Club
membership is restricted to a few
and members have the
opportunity to interact with
Celebes like author Taslima
Nasreen and painter Bikash
Bhattacharya. Earlier this year,
an adda organized by Aikataan
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Sharodiya Anjali 2005 39 n¡lc£u¡ A”m£ 1412