Geir Heierstad - Caste, Entrepreneurship and the Illusions of Tradition: Branding the Potters of Kolkata

Caste, Entrepreneurship and
the Illusions of Tradition

DIVERSITY AND PLURALITY IN SOUTH ASIA

The Diversity and Plurality in South Asia series, wide in scope, will bring together publications in anthropology and sociology, alongside politics and international relations, exploring themes of both contemporary and historical relevance. This diverse line in the social sciences and humanities will investigate the plurality of social groups, identities and ideologies, including within its remit not only interrogations of issues surrounding gender, caste, religion and region, but also political variations, and a variety of cultural ideas and expressions within South Asia.

Series Editor

Nandini Gooptu University of Oxford, UK

Editorial Board

Christophe Jaffrelot CERI/CNRS, France

Niraja G. Jayal Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Raka Ray University of California, Berkeley, USA

Yunas Samad University of Bradford, UK

John Zavos University of Manchester, UK

Caste, Entrepreneurship and
the Illusions of Tradition

Branding the Potters of Kolkata

Geir Heierstad

The King and the merchant settled on a riverbank and engaged in spiritual practice, chanting the supreme hymn to the Goddess.

When they had fashioned an earthen image of her on the riverbank, the two of them worshiped the Goddess with flowers, incense, fire and libations of water.

Devi Mahatmya 13.910

CONTENTS

This monograph is about Kolkatas Kumartuli and its inhabitants. It is their histories, life and work I try to relate. Thus, it is to them I must express my gratitude first and foremost. Outside Kumartuli a number of people have been important to my work. Afraid of missing someone out, I will restrict my thanks to Arild Engelsen Ruud, Lars Tore Flten, Kenneth Bo Nielsen, Swastika Dhar, Anne Waldrop, Pamela G. Price and Rudraprasad Sengupta. Beyond my work other people have been equally important, and I wish to express my thanks to Bjrg, Embla and Nokkve: Cholo, lets go skiing.

Bengali words are written in italics on first use and subsequently given in roman font. Words are not spelled with the inherent vowel a when it is not pronounced. Diacritical signs are not used as they disturb the reading.

Kumar This denotes both potter and the potter caste. However, in present-day Bengal in general, and in Kumartuli in particular, the Kumars do not make very many pots they make murtis or images in the form of unbaked clay statues. And while the dictionaries present potter as one of the meanings of Kumar, this is not necessarily what Bengali-speaking people associate with the term. To them, the word generally refers to makers of unbaked clay statues of gods and goddesses. Consequently, I will mainly use the word Kumar and not the regular translation potter. Kumar will thus denote a maker of clay images.

Kumbhakar: While Kumar denotes a maker of images, it also denotes a caste. However, there are Kumars, as people who make images, who not belong to this caste. As a consequence I will use the more formal term Kumbhakar to refer to the caste. The word Kumbhakar can be translated as maker of (kar) rounded vessels (kumbha).

Malik: The Kumars of Kumartuli can be divided roughly into two groups, labourers and Maliks. The latter is a term used in Kumartuli to denote owners of workshops. Most of the informants given voice in this book are Maliks and they will frequently be referred to as such, especially when it is necessary to distinguish between the image-makers in general and the workshop-owners.

which more directly refers to a representation of a god.

Jati: for an elaborate discussion on this topic.

[kumor] n. a potter, a claymodeller (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 242).

[kumbhakar] n. a potter; a person who makes clay pots by hand (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 242).

[malik] n. a proprietor (fem. a proprietress, a proprietrix), an owner; a master (fem. mistress), a lord (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 863).

[murti] n. a body; an incarnation; an embodiment; an image; a form, a shape, a figure, an appearance (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 876).

[pratima] n. an icon; an image; an idol (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 678).

[jati] n. multiple meanings like birth, origin, sort, class, race, genus, caste, nation, people, tribe (Samsad BengaliEnglish Dictionary 2000: 396).

Cars, trams, buses, autos, rickshaws, taxis, trucks and bicycles are all pushed aside, immobilized by the sheer number of people in the streets and alleys of Kolkata. Roads are closed, pavements get broadened and fenced off, and the traffic police work overtime. It seems like no one stays at home, that everyone is outside in public; aeroplanes and trains arrive in the city crammed with people and depart empty. It is Durga Puja time: a time for all to visit the makeshift temples that sprout everywhere and offer prayers to the goddess. It is about new clothes, spending time with family and friends and devouring plate after plate of hot and sweet delicacies. It is the annual joyous state of emergency that seizes all Bengali Hindus and lasts for five days.

The autumnal celebration is known as both Durgutsab, the Festival of Durga, and Durgapuja, the worship of Durga. In the centre of attention is Ma Durga, the mother goddess.

Ma Durga the victorious killer of the atrocious deity Mahishasur. Ma Durga flanked by her four children. Ma Durga with her unparalleled beauty, her all-conquering strength.

Uniquely linked to this occasion are provisional tent-like structures called pandals that are built to house the goddess. Members of the iron worker caste have become drummers, dhakis, beating the dhak (drum). Loud music crackles from countless speakers. Decorative religious placards and commercial advertisements fashioned from numerous multicoloured light bulbs adorn streets and buildings. Never-ending streams of smiling people flow gently from pandal to pandal, or visit the royal houses, rajbaris, which have opened up their thakur dalan, or in-house temple, to the public, providing a glimpse of bygone days. Stalls sell fast food, slow food, toys, soft drinks, ice cream, clothes and fruit. Theme-based pujas abound, with pandals that resemble a pyramid, a house of cards, a fishing village, a volcano or a tsunami memorial. Ma Durga appears in various guises within them as a pharaonic queen, as the Queen of Spades, as tribal art that glows like shining metal. Cultural events take place on makeshift stages on every second street corner: recitation of known and unknown poems, dance performances, bands playing old and new songs, a woman singing songs of Rabindranath Tagore, known as