Ranjit Chitrakar

Interview
Coronavirus Song
Song

Transcript

Interviewer (AM): Kindly Introduce yourself.
Ranjit Chitrakar: My actual name is Bahar Chitrakar.
My nickname is Ranjit Chitrakar.
I am from the village Naya, Police station: Pingla, District: Paschim Medinipur.

Interviewer (AM): How long have you been residing here?
Are you here since your childhood?
Ranjit Chitrakar: No, my native place was Nandigram, Purba Medinipur.
I shifted to this place post-marriage.
It has been around forty-five to fifty years now that I have settled down here.
Interviewer (AM): How old were you when you came here?
Ranjit Chitrakar: How old was I?
Well… I was around twenty, back then.
Interviewer (AM): Please tell us something about your childhood.
Ranjit Chitrakar: My childhood was fraught with poverty and misery.
Why would someone want to hear that?
Interviewer (AM): When did you begin painting patachitra?
Ranjit Chitrakar: There, look at my grand-daughter.
She has already started working on patachitra from this age.
We learn this art form right from our childhood, just by observing it.
We were ten or twelve perhaps, when we learnt this.
My father had passed away, when I was very young.
I was not even fully trained.
I gradually learnt patachitra from my uncles.
But I had to undergo a lot of suffering in order to learn from them.
They used to teach me only for two hours.
They would make me do other chores, for the remaining hours.
But I knew that I had to somehow learn from them.
Otherwise, what would I do?
How would I feed myself in the future?
I was adamant about learning patachitra and somehow in those two hours, I managed to do that.
Obviously, I couldn’t master the art form but somehow trained myself partially.
After that, I got married.
My father-in-law is a renowned patua.
He has won the Rashtrapati Award.
His name is Pulin Chitrakar.
Interviewer (AM): What was his name?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Pulin Chitrakar.
He is well-known.
I married his daughter.
My wife is also exceptionally talented.
She used to make clay dolls.
And I used to paint patachitras.
My wife is so talented that even the renowned artist,
Chintamoni Kar, who makes clay idols as well, complimented her.
Even an artist of such stature was compelled to appreciate her art.
And I was a patua.
After that, our children were born.
It was a life of abject poverty.
I have five sons and two daughters.
One of my sons will be back home soon.
He is studying in the Art College, Rabindra Bharati. University.
He’ll be here for just one day.
He’ll go back tomorrow.
He has to attend his college.
My other sons are all patuas.
Interviewer (AM): Did you start practicing patachitra right from the days when you were at Nandigram?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, right from my days at Nandigram.
Patachitra has been there in practice in our family, since the last eight generations.
My grandfather, my father, me, my sons, my grandson, my great-grand-son – we all have been practicing this art form.
In this house itself, we have four generations practicing this.
Me, my sons, my grandson and my great-grand-son.. Four generations in total.
There are a few patuas who have shifted from Purba. Medinipur as well.
We didn’t have sub-divisions of Medinipur back then.
There was just one undivided Medinipur.
It was divided much later.
My native place is Nandigram.
It is a division of what is now considered Purba Medinipur.
But there was no division then.
There was just one Medinipur.
Now it comprises of two sub-parts.
Interviewer (AM): Are there patuas in Purba Medinipur as well?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, of course.
Interviewer (AM): Does the patua community here, mainly comprise of patuas from Purba Medinipur?
Or did people from Naya shift to Purba Medinipur?
Ranjit Chitrakar: This settlement at Naya is pretty recent.
The patua community at Purba Medinipur is older.
The patuas here, do not belong to any one particular region.
There are people from Haldia, Panskura, Nandigram.
So people from various places have come together and formed this community here.
But earlier all these people were in various different places.
For instance, we were from Nandigram, but we moved to this place.
So did several others.
But this is a new settlement.
(background). That is why the name is Naya, which means new.
Ranjit Chitrakar: No, that is not the case.
It was named Naya even before the patuas settled down here.
People from various corners have amalgamated to form this community.
But this is the most well-known patua community.
Others are not that famous.
Places like Narajole, Thekuachak, Chaitanyapur, Haldia are not that well-known.
The most noted amongst all is this patua settlement in Naya.
Interviewer (AM): Why is it so?
Ranjit Chitrakar: It is because several people from various corners have brought forth their art forms
and it has become a melting pot.
Patuas from here are invited worldwide.
We have visited places like Japan, Germany, U.S., London,. Paris.
Last year I visited the Dhaka University, Bangladesh.
There are patuas who went to America, Australia as well.
No other patua community has been invited abroad like the patuas from Naya.
Interviewer (AM): So, about how you have come together as a commuity and practice patachitra.
Did you shift to this place only because you wanted to pursue patachitra?
Or did you shift to this place first and then later decide to pursue patachitra?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Everyone who got married eventually settled down at this place.
No one moved out.
I mean people like me, set up their homes here post marriage.
There was no settlement here before that.
Interviewer (AM): How many patua families were here when you first came and settled down?
Ranjit Chitrakar: There were just three patua families.
Apart from my father-in-law, there were two other families residing here.
From those three families, we now have a sprawling population of seventy to eighty-five families.
It multiplied mainly because people got married and hence, the members of the community increased.
Interviewer (AM): You have been practicing patachitra for so many years now.
Have patachitras undergone any change in all these years?
Ranjit Chitrakar: The painting styles have changed.
We used to paint quite disproportionate figures.
The limbs of the figure would often not be of the correct proportion.
It was called traditional art.
But the paintings nowadays are not like that.
For instance, my youngest son studies in an art college.
Like me, he, too, paints patachitra.
But then, he follows certain measurements while painting.
He won’t alter it by an inch.
I have seen students from art colleges paint.
They follow the rules of measurement very rigidly.
If we draw a finger too long, we are not bothered much by it.
Just in case, we paint a slightly disproportionate limb, we can manage.
We don’t mind if postures seem a little distorted.
We are fine with it.
But these students won’t diverge a bit from these strict rules.
So, this has brought forth a drastic change in the art form.
The kind of patachitra that the young generation is practicing is not bad.
But it is pretty different.
One of the major changes has occurred in the realm of pata songs.
Once we pass away, the songs, too, would get erased.
Songs on the king Harishchandra, the yagnas of meaning,. Karna, Krishna Leela – they would all get lost eventually.
The young generation has only learnt the Manasa Mangal, the. Chandi Mangal and the Ramayana.
These songs take around ten minutes.
The songs that we used to sing ran for half an hour.
Where would you find those songs?
After we pass away, would they be able to revive those songs?
Interviewer (AM): Do you compose songs?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, of course.
Interviewer (AM): What are usually the topics of your patachitra?
What types of patas do you like painting?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Listen… I like painting everything.
We have put aside the mythological patas and have embraced the contemporary issues.
We have to feed ourselves.. Without hunger at bay, nothing else would function.
During the former government’s time, we used to promote awareness regarding literacy.
We used to participate in several programmes.
We have to survive, right?
So, now we promote governmental policies like the Kanyashree.
We visit quite a few places and conduct these programmes.
We get paid by the government.
Basically, we need to keep up with the times.
Otherwise, we won’t be able to survive.
Interviewer (AM): So, you paint patas on both mythological and contemporary social issues.
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes.
Interviewer (AM): Which one do you think has a better market value – mythological patas or the ones on contemporary social ones?
Ranjit Chitrakar: The mythological ones would survive the ravages of time.
The contemporary ones might not last that long.
The contemporary ones are constantly being substituted by something else.
If a scientist says something, everyone will suddenly start painting on that.
Again, if that theory changes, it’d cease to be a topic for pata. Something else will be taken up.
But the mythological ones, which have been narrated by our forefathers, are here to stay for a longer time.
The ancient narrations are the authentic ones.
Others are all temporary.
The theories keep changing.
A doctor, unable to diagnose a patient would at one point say that the patient has malaria and dengue at another.
If a doctor cannot diagnose properly, he would guess either dengue or kala-azar. That diagnosis has no meaning.
If a doctor cannot tell us what we are plagued by, what would a common man understand?
Again, the same doctor would change his diagnosis and say that it is dengue.
We are asked to compose songs on these themes and sing them wandering from village to village.
But then, do we have any idea as to what really dengue is?
We don’t understand all these things.
The doctors would change their diagnosis according to science, that it is dengue.
We blindly follow whatever we are told and compose songs accordingly.
Science works in tandem with the governmental ideologies.
We don’t need to understand the real situation.
Interviewer (AM): Which one do you think fetches more remuneration, mythological or social patas?
Ranjit Chitrakar: The mythological ones.
Interviewer (AM): Okay.
What about the price?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Here, in West Bengal or even in the entire country, we don’t get paid enough for our patas.
The resellers are the ones who churn the profit.
Some of the resellers are located at Japan, or perhaps someone’s maternal uncle resides in America,
or maybe someone’s father lives in Germany.
Do you know what these people would say?
They would say that they would be visiting their brother and would like to have a few paintings for him.
We readily accept the proposal.
You see… we have to feed ourselves, right?
These people would offer to pay 800-1000 rupees for paintings which we otherwise sell for 500 rupees.
But the only clause would be that they would pay us only after they come back to India.
They will then resell these paintings in foreign countries for thrice the amount.
When we visit them afterwards, they keep concocting stories politely deferring our payments.
They would give us numerous appointments and would eventually fail to pay us on all the dates.
Selling our paintings, they would earn handsome amounts.
But while giving us our due payments, they would make up stories of how they are low on money and would end up paying us only a fraction of the stipulated amount.
He made profit with just a bare investment.
When it’s time to repay, they’ll give lame excuses.
They’ll pay only a fraction of the stipulated amount.
Our dues get cleared only after visiting them several times.
I’ll have to pay the travel fare to and fro as well.
But I’ll be the one at loss.
So, basically, my paintings would be sold at a higher rate, but I would get just a meagre amount.
This is what the scenario is.
Interviewer (AM): I have heard that the scrolls based on mythological stories are longer.
Is it so?
Ranjit Chitrakar: The length of the scrolls depends on the pata song that accompanies it.
It can run up to sixteen to twenty feet.
But then, it can also be as small as six feet.
We paint according to the songs that have been composed.
Where the song ends, the painting ends too.
Interviewer (AM): What is the length of the longest scroll that you have made?
Ranjit Chitrakar: The longest scroll that I have made runs up to twenty-four feet.
Interviewer (AM): Do you still find customers for such long scrolls?
Ranjit Chitrakar: In foreign countries, they prefer longer scrolls because they seem to be more interested in these.
Such long scrolls are sought after.
They want entire stories to be narrated.
We often compress it within three to four feet.
But there you would not find the entire song.
Longer scrolls are better because there, at least, one can get the entire narration.
But now patas have become wall hangings.
Therefore, the patas are confined within three to five feet.
My son recently sold a scroll that was thirty feet long and was five feet wide.
Look at that painting.
Look at how long that is! It must be twelve feet long.
(background). No, this was perhaps eight feet long and five feet wide.
Interviewer (AM): Please unfold the scroll.
Should I unfold it? Would you like to see?
Interviewer (AM): Sure, sure.
Ranjit Chitrakar: My eldest son paints such long scrolls.
That is based on how the orders arrive.
My eldest son has a different painting style.
Similarly, the other two sons have their individual styles.
Ranjit’s son: There’s another one which has been completed.. This is an incomplete pata.
I started painting the longest scrolls.
No one, during that time, painted such long scrolls.
I was the one to begin the trend.
I started selling off those as well.
Gradually, the other families started following me.
This is a very minutely painted scroll.
Interviewer (AM): How long does it take to paint such long scrolls?
It must have taken quite a long time.
Ranjit Chitrakar’s son: It takes around one and a half years to paint such long scrolls.
I made another painting which was around four to five feet wide.
It revolves around the story of goddess Durga with her 108 incarnations.
That painting got completely ruined because of the heavy downpour.
Nothing is left of that scroll.
I had to throw it away.
I’ll try painting that scroll again.
Actually these take a lot of time.
I’ll start painting on that theme again from. November-January.
I had exhibited one such scroll in Bhopal.
It was bought by the Bhopal art gallery.
I was asked by them to paint yet another long scroll.
But then, as I said, it got damaged beyond repair.
I’ll have to recreate the painting.
But it takes so long! I invested two years painting a pata which got ruined, which would have taken five years in all.
I called them up and informed them about the issue.
They agreed and said that I could submit it once it was done.
Interviewer (AM): So, you have been associated with composing songs and practicing patachitra for many years.
How has patachitra evolved?
Is there any notable difference between the patas now and patas of earlier period?
Ranjit Chitrakar: I mentioned just now, new topics are being painted upon.
Topics like afforestation, domestic violence, literacy, dowry system are making their way into the domain of patachitra.
These are burning issues.
Hence, songs are being composed on these.
Mythological stories like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata obviously exist.
Patachitra is nothing without its mythological stories.
Interviewer (AM): Has there been any revision in the tunes of the songs?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, the tunes have definitely undergone a lot of changes.
Interviewer (AM): Could you kindly explain how?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Earlier, when we sang pata songs, there was a baithaki (?) tune, which was different.
But nowadays, we have to combine several tunes and finally create our own tune.
So, tunes have changed a lot.
Interviewer (AM): Is the new generation interested in patachitra?
Are they pursuing it?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, they are associated with patachitra.
But there’s no point remaining associated with patachitra.
They don’t seem interested in learning the songs that we know.
I doubt if they’ll ever be able to learn them.
When will they learn?
When our generation would pass away, there would be no one to teach them these songs.
Interviewer (AM): So, do you think that these songs are gradually getting obliterated?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Of course they are getting erased.
When my father was alive, we had learnt songs of King. Harishchandra, the benevolent Karna.
We are able to sing these songs only because we had learnt it at some point of time.
But once we pass away, our next generation won’t be able to learn and memorize these lengthy songs.
We had learnt these songs orally.
But children these days are all literate.
They would write down the lyrics on notebooks.
Then you’ll find these notebooks being ruined by termites.
They won’t ever be able to learn the songs.
I have also recorded these songs on a cassette for them.
They keep playing all other cassettes but not the one which has pata songs.
But we had to struggle a lot to learn these songs.
We learnt everything orally.
Neither did we have cassettes back then, nor were we literate.
We could never write down the lyrics and memorize.
We had to learn everything orally.
We would memorize gradually, over a certain period of time.
We all had pretty sharp memories.
We used to begin exactly from where we had left off the previous day.
The young generation would write it down somewhere and forget.
Interviewer (AM): Is the young generation exhibiting any interest for patachitra?
Ranjit Chitrakar: They are capable of painting.
But they don’t have any knowledge about the pata songs.
Interviewer (AM): On an average, how educated are they?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Some have studied till 8th grade, some till ninth grade.
Again, another one has completed his school final.
The son I spoke about is in his second year of college.
Interviewer (AM): Art college?
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, in art college.
He has two more years to complete his Undergraduate Degree.
Interviewer (AM): How would you react if the next generation wants to pursue a different profession?
Ranjit Chitrakar: You see… I can do nothing about it.
Interviewer (AM): If someone feels that s/he wants to pursue some alternative occupation, s/he can do that.
What would you want?
Ranjit Chitrakar: I have already neared the fag end of my life.
It’s not possible for me to opt out of this occupation.
This is my only means of earning.. This is everything to me.
Interviewer (AM): The entire patua community here follows the Islamic faith.
But you are working on Hindu mythologies.
Has anyone ever tried creating a pressure on you regarding that?
Ranjit Chitrakar: No, no.
We don’t do anything which might draw upon such a reaction.
Do you feel that there might be a possibility for such a threat in the near future?
Ranjit Chitrakar: At least for now we don’t have any such threat.
I can’t say what the future holds.
There were people who used to frown upon me.
They have, however, all passed away.
They often asked me how could I work on Hindu mythologies like the Ramayana, having adopted the Islamic faith.
I, then, cited the example of the honorable former. President, Dr. Abdul Kalam.
He, too, was a Muslim.
But he painted and could do several other things.
He was not a Hindu.
How could he paint, then?
I also cited the example of the Principal of the Dhaka University.
I am well acquainted with him.
He, too, is a Muslim.
India is a secular country. We are all equal here.
We can paint, we can study.
We can do whatever we like.
No one can suddenly try to hinder that.
So, people who used to critique us have stopped saying such things, because they have realized
that it is completely up to individual choice as to what occupation s/he wants to pursue.
Interviewer (AM): Were the pata songs, earlier, composed by individuals or by groups?
Ranjit Chitrakar: My grandfather and his generation used to compose songs as a group.
So, he must be from Purba Medinipur.
Ranjit Chitrakar: Yes, from Purba Medinipur.
Nowadays, we do not compose songs as a group.
We work as individuals.
No one asks for help.
We are not sure if the other person would be willing to devote his/her time.
Moreover, our opinions often differ widely.
So, everyone composes songs according to his/her individual choice.
Interviewer (AM): So, earlier songs were composed collectively by the community.
Ranjit Chitrakar: Right.
There are still some people who work as a team.
Interviewer (AM): When patas are sold, who gets the acknowledgement – the entire community or just the individual?
Ranjit Chitrakar: For instance, when I have to sell a pata, my sons would help in that.
Once it gets sold, the money would be equally divided.
Interviewer (AM): But when it concerns a pata from a different family, obviously I wouldn’t be involved.
Would you like to add a few lines more?
It seems like you are scared.
Ranjit Chitrakar: What will I say?
I don’t have anything to add.
Okay, then. In that case, thank you.. It was nice talking to you.
Ranjit Chitrakar: Okay.

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