<b>Keya Sarkar:</b> The heritage of <em>Poush mela</em>

I probably have written about the annual event that completely shakes up the otherwise sleepy town of Santiniketan earlier in this column. The Poush mela, or the fair that Tagore started in 1894 to encourage and showcase the craft and folk cultures of villages around Santiniketan, has over the years turned into a monster with stalls that sell consumer products available in malls. Car sellers and bank stalls have pushed the craftsmen to the fringes of the mela ground. And the folk singers and dancers sound grotesque over blaring microphones.

But this is no ordinary village fair. It has the status of a national fair and is administered by none other than Tagore's very own Visva-Bharati University. Little does the poor man know that the visual pollution, the noise pollution, the completely unhygienic food stalls, the mountains of plastic that the stalls generate, the neighbourhood which becomes a virtual toilet because there are no facilities for the millions who descend on Santiniketan over three/four days are all with the blessings of the authorities that run the university.

The big role that the university plays in administering the mela is in the clean-up. After about a fortnight from when the mela starts, the last of the stalls wind up. Although the official mela is only for three days, the stalls continue. Apparently the university is not in a position to ensure that stall owners leave when they are asked to. When they are all gone, the university engages labour (mostly women) to first sweep the fair ground and then make many bonfires with the mountains of plastic. The university has recently set up an integrated science department, the students of which are yet to learn about the wholesome effects of burning plastic in the midst of the university campus. There is also a department of environmental studies which possibly looks the other way.

However, for the school and university alumni of Santiniketan who annually come to Santiniketan for the mela from across the world, there are still things to treasure. Besides meeting with old friends, much Rabindrasangeet singing and much partying, there are certain stalls that are a must-visit. One such, of course, is the university's own stall that showcases its publications, many in limited editions.

The other is the stall of Silpa Sadan, the vocational training institute Tagore set up along with the university because of his strong belief in craft. This vision was ably taken forward by his son Rathindra- nath. The stall showcases the products of its students in its weaving, leather, paper making, pottery and textile divisions.

Old-timers buy from this stall and the pottery is a big draw. The glazes are limited, the cup or bowl is brittle because of firing below required temperatures but they ooze nostalgia. Knowing that their shelf life is limited, there is comfort in the knowledge that one could always come back the next year for more.

So this year too, I was at the Silpa Sadan stall at 10.15 am (after the official inauguration of the mela at 10 am) and went straight to the ceramic section. What greeted my eyes were machine-made mugs with pictures of random campus buildings digitally printed on them. I asked for the traditional ware. "This year we didn't make them," the officials manning the stall said. I looked at their faces to see if they were aware that they were hammering in the last few nails in the mela coffin. They looked innocent. "We have made these souvenirs this year," they said cheerfully. I was afraid to ask, "Of what?".