Jane’s Walk Adda Report… the way forward.

Calcutta Walks would help all to take the stride towards making of a brighter Kolkata.

Here in Kolkata, people always hang out with friends and have this one common essential session called adda. It’s a word that has two meanings – a. a regular place where you often meet, sit and talk and b. the activity itself. And boy, don’t Bengalis love their adda! Keeping that in mind, on 31st June, Calcutta Walks team held a full on adda session at the Portico Room, at the Taj Bengal, Calcutta’s premier 5 star hotel. The purpose of this get-together was to honor the wonderful achievements of Jane’s Walk and think about future agenda that could be undertaken for the improving life in our beloved city. A room full of Calcuttans can never be mute and so not was this – Iftekhar, the chief of Calcutta Walks, remarked the success of Jane’s Walk and expressed his gratitude towards everybody who became a part of this great measure. Many of the walk leaders were present along with many participants, well-wishers, businessmen and city-planners. Denise Pinto from Jane’s Walk, Toronto, Canada joined us via Skype and enlightened us all on the works and efforts of Jane Jacobs, the great American urbanist. For those who do not know, Jane had no formal training in the field of town planning and yet stood up to architects and builders merely by virtue of her ideas which were laced in common sense. She was instrumental in preventing a lot of wonderful neighborhoods and localities from being bulldozed. She emphasized on active citizenry or the direct involvement of the citizen of a city in shaping it. The whole idea of Jane’s Walk Calcutta (named after her) was to gather as many Calcuttans as possible and make them appreciate and feel involved in the different interesting neighbourhoods of the city. An inspiring short video was also presented that spoke of the life of Jane Jacobs and her trials behind her success. Walk-leaders such as Shuktara Lal who led the Theatre  Walk, Prof Akhil Sarkar of the Sovabazar Walk and Bonani Kakkar who showed us the East Calcutta Wetlands shared their bit of experience and how they felt the scarcity and need of such endeavors. Mrs Kakkar who is also the director of PUBLIC, an NGO supporting the betterment of Kolkata, elaborated the significance of the Wetlands and the ecological importance of such areas, “another problem with the citizen like us is that we don’t know how to mend a problem in our area. We don’t know who to call, what to say or where to lodge a complaint in a corporation.” she added, “my organization has made some booklets where you will find all the information regarding such troubles.”

The crowd was exuding enthusiasm as they started discussing some alarming issues that bug the roads of the city. Pollution, rubbish, narrowed footpaths and etc are some of them. Everyone put forth their opinion and tried to arrive at a solution. “A small step can mean a greater leap” – proved to be the key-mantra. Ifte addressed everyone to stretch their helping hands in their own way to help eradicate such nuisance. If one person spreads the word in their circle or neighborhood, it can yield greater results. A simple act of responsibility can evoke a sense of active citizenship among others. Planting trees, cleaning rubbish are some basic ways but more such resolving ideas should be thought of and executed. We can gather people of our own localities and inform them about the ideas and chalk out a plan of action. However, we need to keep in mind the offshoot of such agenda and hence, work wisely. Help from the local municipal corporation can be sought and environmentalists or experienced people must be consulted before any implementation.

Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation is to be approached for help or they must be informed about any problem or any agenda of its eradication.

An evening of Adda transcended to be a greater occasion where the face of a cleaner Kolkata was being planned by her very own citizens. Amid chit-chats and light amusements, a noble feat had been accomplished. A crowd where both Kolkata’s veteran and young populace was at hand, the Portico Room of Taj Bengal became a canvas where a bright landscape of Kolkata was being tinted. At the end, it proved to be a delightful congregation, more importantly a promising one. Here’s Ifte’s version of the story: