S K Pande (Peoples Democracy)
It was indeed a
May Day evening with a
difference. At a remote corner in west Delhi,
what was opened was the country’s first May
Day Bookstore and Café amidst a
cosmopolitan gathering where the
intellectuals rubbed shoulder with the
workers,
students, activists and the general public.
At one corner, a
wide amalgam of leftist books ready for the
take- at bargain prices, at another corner
an innovative calendar listing , in
brief, some important labour struggles from
colonisation to globalisation, giving
statistics and some historic facts like the
fact that India had officially 478 million
workforce that contributed to its economic
growth which in itself was a curious
mixture of illiterate workers unfamiliar
with machines and tools and a sizable
pool of experts in the fields of medicine,
science, technology and computers.
Add to all this May Day badges, cups, tee
shirts, jute bags and paperweights.
Centre stage in
another room , it was
music, poetry, songs and narration–all on
the theme of May Day with a cup or
two of coffee and a historic booklet by Prof
Vijay Prashad giving a brief on
May Day through the years. For over three
hours , with the limited space jam
packed, there were songs of freedom ,
struggle, spirit of inquiry ranging from
Kabir , Faiz, Tagore to Bob Dylan sprinkled
with folk and rock flavour. The performers
included the Laal Band from Pakistan,
Sumangala Damodaran, Rahul Ram,
Harpreet Singh, Purushottm, Shriparna Nandi,
Mohsin Ali Khan, and some students
from Delhi University.
Sustaining the May
day activities at
various corners was coffee and more coffee
with homemade biscuits and cakes.
The coffee corner was managed by the theatre
activist (JANAM) Sudhanva Deshpande
and historian Mukul Manglik. The coffee
House spirit was revived in the manner
of the co-operative coffee house movement of
the late sixties and seventies.
Significantly, the
meeting remembered P
Sundaryya , the veteran Marxist leader whose
birth centenary is being celebrated
throughout the country. Small
wonder too that reminding us of the
revolutionary leader from Andhra Pradesh
was a Telugu song sung by Sumangala on the
theme of the Telangana Movement.
In the gathering
there was a constant flow
of people from different walks of life. They
included CPI(M) leaders Prakash
Karat, Brinda Karat, PushpinderGrewal,
economists Prabhat Patnaik, Utsa Patnaik,
historian Aijaz Ahmed, writers M M P Singh,
Javed Malik and activists of Jana
Natya Manch, Parcham and some mass
organisations. In the age of increasing
commercialisation and Bollywoodisation of
culture, a place like the May Day
Bookstore and Café is a real whiff of fresh
air in reviving the spirit of
struggle, inquiry and constant discussion -
all over a cup of coffee.
Postscript: In
overview- what was visible before us
were some really good performances
by Laal Band (from Pakistan), Rahul Ram
(from Indian Ocean Band), Sumangala
Damodaran, Misha and Surdhani, Young singers
like Harpreet Singh in
contemporary Punjabi, and
touches of Kabir and Nazrul! Add
to it Rabinder Sangeet and more than
three songs of Faiz. All this in the
backdrop of Studio Safdar, and flashes of
the Janam experiment, through photos in
black and white. In a befitting ending,
it was Internationale preceded by
Janam songs. Of course, a clear message
too. As the organisers put it, space is
being created “where the committed can
hang out, read, discuss culture and
politics, and have great coffee, of course!
Attached to it is Jana Natya Manch's new
space, Studio Safdar. The theatre
space and the bookstore will have a series
of events every month, performances,
readings, discussions, film screenings. ”
Studio Safdar and May Day Bookstore and Café
2254/2A Shadi Khampur, New Ranjit Nagar, New Delhi 110008
For directions, mail cafemayday@gmail.com or studiosafdar@gmail.com,
or call (only on event days) 011 2570 9456.
No comments:
Post a Comment