“1500…yeah, okay...umm..well, what about the watercolor painting in frames?..” – It was another ordinary afternoon in March and ideally, I should have been at my workstation glancing through some training material stuff which deals with something as uninspiring and insipid as a client business sub-process scope. But, I was not. I was not in office at that time of that mid-March afternoon, with my face cupped between my palms, elbows on desk, and eyes at the monitor. Instead, I was zipping through stores and stalls at a city mall.
image courtesy - getty images
It was just another of my numerous one-man missions undertaken at regular (my critics say, these are somewhat, very, very frequent – but, I beg to differ) intervals at chosen locations. The goal is to zero in on some nice stuff, small something, like a silk scarf, a pair of danglers, a stack of bangles, or a cute little 5-inch Ganesha – for myself, for friends, (oh yes, when it comes to shopping/buying, the ‘I’ comes much before than the ‘o’ for ‘others’ in my alphabets and NO, I absolutely DO NOT run the risk of losing a number of friends over such a seemingly outrageous statement that comes with a whiff of a wee bit block-headed narcissism – I LOVE MY FRIENDS and my friends love me, and they are far too forgiving than what is normally expected of friends, and yes, they will remain so even after reading this!) for an empty corner at home, or as a future provision for any upcoming event (read, friends’ birthdays) or just to, you know, look at the shop windows and check out if, at all, they have got anything on the shelves worth looking at, to take in the smells and sights of the freshly displayed merchandise – I like to call them pleasure trips – at times, I come across things which later act as great conversation pieces among fellow connoisseurs, interesting, inspiring, and appealing all the way to the aesthecist in me. They supply the i-can’t-do-without dose of mystery substance which restores and revives my weary soul.
image courtesy - getty images
So, there I was, looking for a suitable something, fitting enough to carry as a gift for a first time visit to a neighborhood family. After a couple of failed endeavors at a few stops, I found myself admiring a Durga in her full regalia, curved on a sandstone-colored block of wood. It was indeed an exquisite piece of art! Top class craftsmanship from Bengal, a classic, a real collectors’ item! “Hi! Can I help you?” and there appeared a man in his late thirties/early forties from some corner. I found myself in front of a kiosk, stacked with art pieces, usual dokra artifacts, Madhubani paintings, sketches, and queer looking other stuffs. With his jeans, white tee, and glasses, the only thing that perhaps set the looks of this man apart from the others visible at that particular place at that particular moment, was a completely clean shaven head (or, wait a minute, was he just bald with tufts of little hair around the edges?). A ready smile, at-your-service attitude, fluent in all three languages (the Essential three, without a considerable amount of command over which, no salesman can ever dream of charting his career graph in a city like Kolkata), and a casual approach (not persuasive – that’s a huge turn-off for shoppers like me) – Ratan Khanna would have been the best-in-the-business shop person, surprising me with his depth of knowledge as he was describing the pieces, paintings, and telling about their places, and the artists. The love and care with which he was showing the stuffs, and narrating their stories, were remarkable – the spirit was unmistakable. But, that was not all - there was more surprise in store for me!
There were a variety of ektaras there. He showed me the ektaras, and the dotaras too, detailing on the strings, the way of holding it, strumming it, and yes, breaking into a song right there! Skilled voice! The whole setting just changed in a moment! What was just another a-seller-and-a-prospective-buyer, solely and strictly, a business situation a few minutes ago, instantly turned into a performer-and-audience atmosphere. A couple of passers-by made halts. Ratan Khanna went on, now enthusiastically showing the variety of drums he had in his store – drums, dhaak, dugi, kurkuri, khol, madol, mridongo. And, they double up as great show pieces for home décor as well. He even played the rhythms on the small dhaak with drum sticks. What was equally amazing was his knowledge on the musical instruments, their usage, and their history too!
image courtesy - getty images
A piece which looked like those predictable Chinese feng-shui frogs, he enlightened me, is actually a musical instrument, very interestingly called bang-badyo - ‘bang’ meaning frog in Bengali and ‘badyo’ meaning musical instrument. He demonstrated how to play it and how to produce different kinds of sounds like a frog’s croak, or a horse’s gallop with it! Wonder and amazement were in my eyes, for this was no music workshop – this whole wonderful experience was at a city mall shop selling gift items! This is definitely what you don’t come across very often while you are out for some casual shopping!“Google me, and I’m on youtube too..”, quipped he. He took out a card, wrote down his e-mail ids, and handed it to me. ‘Ektarawala’ read the name of the shop.
Red haired lass recommends ‘Ektarawala’ if you are looking for a fine piece of art, be it a sculpture, painting, or a musical instrument item. Visit the store, see it, and experience it! It’s not a mere a shop, it’s a wonder corner where the man makes music, and if in the mood, would sell it too – but, you better not put a price :-). Admire and appreciate.
