Kolkata: Former school teacher bridges north-south divide with alpana

KOLKATA: Residents of houses in north Kolkata, some of them over a century old, were in for a surprise on Saturday morning when they opened their doors to find beautiful alpana on their verandahs and outside their houses.
The artist, a former school teacher from south Kolkata, now 70, ventured out at dawn on Saturday and visited a cluster of homes in two localities - Shyambazar Street and Amherst Street - to present the unique gift ahead of Kali Puja and Diwali.
Among Ratnaboli Ghosh's stops was a 141-year-old house on Shyambazar Street near Shyampukur PS. The families of two brothers currently reside in the house. "Old houses like these are gradually disappearing. So when a new person visits, particularly from south Kolkata where houses are comparatively new other than some localities like Bhowanipore, it feels good. By doing the alpana, the visitor embellished the house," said Satinath Bose, one of the co-owners who has a construction and interior decor business.
Another home where she crafted an intricate alpana was next to Lady Dufferin Hospital on Amherst Street. The 112-year-old house is impeccably maintained with painting done before Durga Puja.
Ghosh, who learnt alpana from her mother who was a teacher as well and a student of Nandalal Bose from the Bengal School of Art, said the drawings helped not just to bridge the divide between north and south Kolkata but also draw attention to the heritage doors and architecture of houses in north Kolkata neigbourhoods.
Mudar Patherya, who connected the artist with the homes, said they will visit south Kolkata homes on Sunday to do the same.