Mishti melodies

ZOYA KHAN LOOKS AT THE LOVE, PASSION AND MUSIC THAT CONNECTED A MARATHI MULGI, ASHA BHOSLE, TO THE CULTURE-LOVING DIASPORA OF KOLKATA AND WEST BENGAL

- 

The March heat had struck Kolkata brutally once again. Yet nothing affected the sales of Bhaarer Chaa (tea in clay cups) at the corner shop of College Street or Boi Para (book neighbourhood). And me a 12th standard examinee then, had walked out of my tuition classes disappointed because I couldn’t solve some physics equation. I decided to head to the nearest Chop er dokaan (street side cutlet stall) to satiate my hunger instead. Just then I heard it. A mellifluous voice singing Ektu bosho chole jeo na. In between traffic jams, blaring horns and hawkers’ calls selling their wares, the voice was distinctive. Mesmerised, I walked straight to the stall where the song played. The shop owner lip synced to the song while packing a piping hot fish chop with sliced onions and kasundi (mustard sauce) in a thonga (paper bag) for me. It was a sensory overload as I enjoyed my fish chops and the song, nearly forgetting my failure at physics. The voice worked like a chilled glass of Aam Pora Shorbot (a Bengali raw mango cooler) on a hot summer afternoon.