Celebrations mark the new year in Kolkata’s China Town, but the community is in less festive spirits about its future.
The dingy bylanes of China Town at the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass are lit up with traditional lamps. It is time to usher in the Chinese New Year. The Chinese calendar commences on February 3. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, which recurs every twelfth year of the Chinese calendar.
The colourful celebration begins with the beating of drums and metal bells, followed by the lion dancers — men wearing a mask of vibrant colours moving in a zigzag manner. “The movement of the lion is very important,” says James Liao, choreographer of the Lion Dance, who owns a tannery business. “It is meant to confuse the evil spirit.”
People, too, dance around the lion and feed it cabbage leaves. Sometimes the lion climbs a human pyramid to eat leaves tied to a rope on a two-storey building.
“This is a mythological animal, resembling a lion, which is said to be carrying the blessings of god. It protect its people from the evil spirit,” Liao explains. The noise of the drums and metal bells is meant to scare the evil forces away. After the dance, the lion visits each house of the community to bless and wish its residents. The lion dance is said to have originated in southern China.
The celebrations begins at midnight and continue till late afternoon on the following day. This is when the Chinese population of the city descends on China Town. “Our ancestors migrated from Canton, Hakka and other districts of China during the days of the Raj, but today, we are all Indian citizens,” says Liao. Many Chinese Indians of the younger generation do not have any contact with their counterparts in China. But they want to preserve the traditions which their ancestors followed.
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“Right from childhood, we are encouraged to learn the lion dance and to play the drums in rhythm. This is how we intend to preserve our tradition,” says Liao, who studied at Pei Moi School in Tangra that once taught a traditional Chinese curriculum. Over time students found it difficult to cope with traditional education, and “parents preferred to enroll their children in an English medium school”, says Liao. “Slowly the Pei Moi School was shut down.” Today, Chinese families prefer to impart Chinese education at home rather than in school.
Kolkata is home to the largest Chinese population in South Asia. Most of the Chinese Indians in this community are entrepreneurs. They own tanneries, sauce-making factories and restaurants, or they run beauty parlours. China Town is known for its range of Chinese restaurants which make traditional delicacies, while keeping the Bengali palate in mind.
The local Chinese also have a Chinese Kali Mandir. Despite such signs of belonging, Liao says, “We do feel alienated here. Even though we are Indian passport holders, people tend to consider us outsiders.”
For a community that is trying to preserve its dwindling population and culture, marrying outside the community is discouraged.
Perhaps this alienation has led to the emigration of a large number of Chinese Indians to Canada. “I am planning to wrap up my business and move to Canada,” says Stephen Hou, a China Town resident.
There are problems, no doubt. But this is not the time to worry about them. It is New Year and China Town is determined to make it memorable, as always.