Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
You’d likely find the rather interjectory title above preposterous, absurd or even a bit offensive. And you’d probably be very right too; for you might be intensely aware of the joys of kulhad tea in the northern states of the country like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among others or bharer cha of West Bengal among other eastern states—both of which varieties mean steaming milk tea served in earthen or clay cups. You might also angrily retort by saying ‘come winter and you show me the way without the steaming hot milk tea for company’! I heartily second your opinion and your taste buds, because I too am all for the cups of milk tea—be it on the street corners or at home. However, I still have my concerns and fears that are based on my experience in the last few years. But of course, I don’t have empirical data to justify my fears which ultimately may be termed as totally subjective. Whatever it is, I must elaborate my point. I’d first concentrate on my home state Assam , though...