In Santipur: weaving plays, one at a time

“In the play, Ichchhey Kusum, I had the role of a weaver… just like I am in real life,” says Asit Pramanik, holding in his hands the script of an old play. Rummaging through a discoloured iron almirah in his home, he has dug out copies of carefully preserved scripts of a number of plays.

Asit da is one of those numerous weavers from Santipur handloom clusters in Nadia district acclaimed for its unique Santipuri tangail and jamdani handloom sarees. This seasoned weaver’s labour at the loom runs parallel to his labour of love for the theatre. The constant warp and weft between the tant-ghar (room with the loom) and ranga-mancha (stage) have created the dense fabric of this worker-artist’s life of six decades.

Talking about his first-ever big stage performance, Asit da’s face lights up with unbridled joy. “The play was staged somewhere around Sealdah station. While I was acting [in the role of] a judge, the truth is, I was trembling in fear,” he says laughing heartily, as he goes on to share with us his experience of facing the audience for the first time, that too for a big drama club in a public space.

With equal enthusiasm Asit da tells us about his initiation into the world of weaving: “I studied up to Class five. From young children to the men and women of the house, everyone in a weaver’s family is involved in various tasks related to loom work.” Chores such as spinning the yarn, dyeing it, winding the yarn into a tube using a spinning wheel, then rolling it from that tube into a drum and then finally setting it onto the loom, are done by family members of different ages. “And like any other tanti [weaver] family, in our home too, we had to engage in this work from a very young age,” he adds.

In his youth as an amateur actor, it was The Long Route troupe based close to his home in Sahapara locality of Santipur that worked as a catalyst for his entry into the world of theatre. It’s where he met Palan Kundu, a well known personality in Santipur's theatre circuit who was instrumental in his subsequent journey with the town’s famous group, Santipur Sanskritik.

The senior worker-artist, active in the theatre for more than three decades, believes theatre has given him a distinct identity. He says, "I have been part of this club since 1988. If I hadn't done theatre, I wouldn't have been able to go places, I wouldn't have known the world.”

He takes us for a tour through the rehearsal and storage rooms of Santipur Sanskritik on K. B. Pramanik Street to show where the props for the plays have been kept. “Tadanta Cholche, Ghorar Dimer Gappo, Phire Dekha, Ichchhey Kusum, Achalayatan, Nishi Dak, Rather Roshi, Gandhajale, Brishti Brishti, Rakta Upakhyan, Shada Ghora… so many plays I have done,” he says reeling off the names.

“These days I can’t work [act] in plays anymore because of the pain in my legs,” he tells us. He fractured his leg twice in his childhood and feels the impact now as he is aging. But he adds that even when not acting, he is still involved: “I work to organise various props for the play, set the stage, and bring all items back in order after the show is over. This is also theatre work,” asserts Asit da. Almost all the actors at Santipur Sanskritik share the various chores related to theatre duties besides acting. Asit da largely manages the arrangements and stage set-up.

To be able to continue with his passion for theatre, Asit da chose to work at the loom over other responsibilities related to weaving. "There is some liberty in handling loom work. You can weave on your own time. You can go wherever and whenever you want." Moreover, "the rehearsals and most of the work for the play take place at night. So, I get the whole day to work at the loom. And on the day when a play is to be staged, I don’t mind missing out from weaving," says Asit da without a trace of regret.

But one can easily feel his despair and sadness as he talks about the plight of handloom weavers in Santipur: “Even after back breaking work through day and night, the economic condition of the weavers remains dire. My parents were very good people. But my baba [father] could not manage to bring pace to his loom, and so our family remained in poverty.” He keeps the conversation going while simultaneously weaving at the loom in his home, “On the one hand, in the past few years due to the growth of power looms, there has been a rapid fall in the cost of sarees. And on the other hand, the quality of raw materials like yarn and dyes has gone down.” Due to all these factors, he continues, “The demand in the market has also fallen putting Santipur's weaving industry in great danger.”

Asit da fears that in just a decade or two, the traditional handloom industry will no longer exist. “The craft of weaving is passed down from one generation to the other. Now all our boys are leaving the locality in search of work outside. Why would the children of the weavers’ households stay here? And how will it [handloom] go on then?”

Completely dependent on the orders from the mahajans (contractors), Asit da barely manages to get work for about 20 days a month. After deducting all expenses, he earns up to Rs. 150 a day. Even at the face of all these hurdles, weavers like Asit Pramanik have kept the handloom industry of Santipur alive.

Further, amidst all the deprivations and distress of a weaver's life, he has found joy, freedom and recognition in the world of theatre. Asit Pramanik's family of his brother, sister and nephew have also embraced his passion. “It is only in the last eight to ten years that there has been some earning from stage shows. But, even if I had not made any money out of it, I would have continued...”

He considers being associated with theatre is the most precious earning of his life. In recognition of his contribution to the world of theatre, Belgharia Abhimukh – a Kolkata based cultural organisation awarded him with the Asit Mukherjee Memorial Award in 2022, and he proudly shows PARI the award plaque.

Asit da reminisces about his days travelling for shows, often hitchhiking to get to places. “In old days, travelling for the stage shows used to be a tough thing. With no carriages available, we would take trains or buses. It would get late when the show ended. How to return? No worries! We would stop a lorry loaded with khowa [brick chips] in the middle of the road and hop into it. The huge weight of the bricks would not let the lorry shake much. Once settled, we would nibble the tiffin [light snacks] provided by the show organisers. As the lorry reached Santipur, we would get off. That’s how we used to do theatre.”

With the increasing pain in his leg, he doubts if he will be able to continue with his passion for long: “I wish to carry on as an actor and a weaver as long as I can.”

The story was originally reported in Bangla.