Durga Diplomacy

Arindam Sarkar

When formal talks fail, exchange of art and culture thaw the ice. With Delhi faltering in talks with Pakistan over infringement in Line of Control, terror strikes in J&K and border stability, Kolkata is riding Durga to usher in bilateral-peace and harmony with the neighbours in the eastern and the western fronts.

During Durgotsav 2013, the country saw for the first time the gorgeous truck art of Pakistan in the Nabin Pally Durga Puja pandal at Hatibagan in North Kolkata. The truck-shaped pandal on an innocuous small lane with its vibrant and bold colours, designs and decorations is set to captivate the eyes of the pandal-hoppers.

“Kolkata is open to ideas. It is the true culture capital of India. Given the relations between India and Pakistan, we thought soft power diplomacy would work. Bringing Pakistani truck artists here is a small step towards that,” said Regional Director of Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Rajashree Behera.

Hatibagan Nabin Pally tied up with Art Illuminates Mankind (AIM) that promotes arts and crafts and the ICCR to get the Karachi-based truck artists Haider Ali, Mumtaz Ahmed and Mohammed Iqbal Mahar to show the famous “Moving Art” or the “Jingle Art” of Pakistan. “Truck artists are participating for the first time in such a mega-event,” said AIM’s Sonali Chakraborty.

Artist Gopal Poddar, who conceived the theme of the Pakistani truck-shaped Durga Puja pandal, said he was so impressed by the gorgeous trucks plying in Pakistan that he wanted artists from Karachi or Rawalpindi to execute them here. “Pakistanis are so passionate of truck art that a truck owner spends about Rs 12 lakh on external decoration over and above the truck cost,” said Gopal Poddar, who is making the Ekchala Devi out of copper, iron and metal scraps of trucks and is casting the face in the traditional way.

The Nabin Pally pandal, which is 100 feet long and 16 feet wide, is made of tin, wood, iron rods and steel. Like in trucks, the tops are left open. Amitava Roy of Nabin Pally explained that walking inside the pandal would be like seeing two trucks standing on either side of the pathway and the third truck facing the people on whose cockpit is placed the Devi. Apart from the heavily decorated sides, every truck with its frontal top raised is designed exuberantly.

Truck artist Haider Ali, who exhibited his expertise in 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2012 London Olympics and held workshops in Kolkata, Ankara, Toronto, Instanbul and New York, said he is happy to display the truck art of Pakistan during Durga Puja. Haider and two team members worked 12 hours everyday for 16 days in September to complete the three trucks that would be on display.

“The decorative materials such as peacocks, reflector tapes, glitters, glass plates, ship, roses, horses, eagles and jingles are being imported from Karachi. We will attach it at the last moment,” said Haider Ali, 33, who began truck-art from the age of seven.

The truck-art of Pakistan began since the Raj days in the 1920s. The truck companies hired artists to embellish their trucks in the hope that these would bring more business. Over the years, truck-art has become culturally deep-rooted and an ethnic identity of the various regions of Pakistan.

Artists use elements of daily and national life and convey religious messages as truck-art motifs. Images of birds, animals, flowers, mountains, lakes, roads, trees, actors, cricketers, politicians, helicopters, aircrafts, etc. are found on the truck bodies. The truck artists also depict the existing times. During the Afghanistan War, images of war scenes, AK-47 and F-16s were very common as truck art motifs. Also, murals and decorative pieces adorn the truck bodies.

“Moharis of Punjab love Taj Mahal, Lahore prefers Minar-e-Pakistan, Quetta likes dates and camels, nature and roses are very popular in Karachi. Religious calligraphy, messages of love from Heer-Ranjha and Sher-Shayari are also painted on the truck bodies,” explained Haider Ali.

Interestingly, every region has its distinctive style of truck art. For instance, Karachi trucks have lot of reflective tapes, Sindh artists love to use camel bone decorations, Peshawar and Quetta trucks have lot of wood trimmings and those from Rawalpindi and Islamabad use lots of plastic decorations. Pashtun truck drivers prefer to paint the pictures of pheasants and eagles, leaders like Ayub Khan and cricketers like Imran Khan. Talismans, trinkets and clothing are also heavily used to deck up the trucks.

“The trucks are painted in fluorescent colours of pink, red, orange, yellow and green. We also use enamel paints like white, black, yellow, golden yellow, crimson maroon and a mixed blue, green and red,” said truck-artist Mumtaz Ahmed, 35.

Nabin Pally puja organizers are impressed by the speed and accuracy in which the truck-artists have executed the pandal. General secretary of Nabin Pally Durga Puja Committee Souvik Bhar said their puja would highlight peace and communal harmony between India and Pakistan and Hindus and Muslims. The organisers lamented despite hitting upon such a wonderful theme and in spite of a paltry budget of Rs 22 lakh, there has been a death of sponsors to spread peace.

“Both Hydar and Mumtaz are spontaneous artists. They finish a canvas with dazzling colours and designs at a rapid pace without looking into any design book,” said Souvik Bhar. Haider wanted to paint a Kolkata tram as a gift of Pakistani truck-art to the city, but there has been no response from the State Government.

With Pakistani artists leaving the city this week, Haider said Durgtsav is a festival that brings joy to both the Hindus and the Muslims. “This is our gift of love to India. Being a Hindu or a Muslim is not an issue. We have same culture and tradition. Let there be peace,” said Mumtaz Ahmed.

Iqbal, 27, an apprentice, said he hopes to return and do a solo truck art someday in this city of culture.