Walk This Way

Communications consultant and heritage enthusiast Mudar Patherya got eight pavements in the Lake Market area in Kolkata painted and transformed the neighbourhood 

By Shevlin Sebastian 

A few weeks ago, as Mudar Patherya woke up one morning at his home in Kolkata and stared at the ceiling, an idea popped into his head: why not paint pavements? 

For the past two years, the communications consultant and heritage enthusiast, along with two friends, Ratnabali Ghosh, a retired teacher at the Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan and Prasanta Sain, a professional artist had got alpanas — traditional motifs, patterns and symbols — painted anonymously in random houses, five-star hotels, and pavements in different parts of the city. 

“The idea of painting became embedded in my mind,” says Mudar.   

Mudar then came up with an idea of doing a ‘Walk of Fame’, similar to the Hollywood version. “Initially, the plan was to put the names at the centre of the pavements,” says Mudar. “But people told me that if somebody walks over a name like Rabindranath Tagore, it will create a huge controversy.”   

So Mudar decided to put the names on the side of the pavement, near the buildings. The names included, apart from Tagore, contemporary musicians like Suchitra Mitra, Debabrata Biswas, Shreya Ghoshal, Shyamal Mitra, Anjan Dutt, Rupam Islam, Susmit Bose, and Usha Uthup. 

As for the pavement design, Mudar says, “It is like a mosaic. Very fluid. But it looks visually elegant. We wanted to create a sense of wonder.” 

Mudar also got the hand pumps painted in a distinctive yellow. And the Calcutta Electric Supply and the MTNL transformer boxes were painted in the same colours of the pavements. “These two structures stood out,” says Mudar. “Some people told me that this is magically possible, not just in Kolkata but in urban India, as well.” 

Mudar had to get permission from Manisha Bose-Shaw (Trinamool Congress), the municipal councillor of ward 87. 

When Manisha listened to what Mudar had to say, she smiled. “No one has tried anything like this before,” she says. “I also had a teeny bit of apprehension. Would it work? But in the end, I extended my support to Mudar.” 

Two things worked in Mudar’s favour. Manisha had already heard about Mudar. 

“We are Facebook friends,” she says. “So, through his posts, I could see the work he had done in various places. I realised he was an out-of-the-box thinker.”  

Around eight pavements on Dr Sarat Banerjee Road, and Maharaja Nandakumar Road, in the Lake Market area, have been painted. 

After the work was complete, Manisha says, there was a sense of wonder among the residents. “People had never seen a painted pavement before,” she says. “They felt it was beautiful and crazy at the same time.” 

Manisha organised a music festival, with the support of local cafes like Art Cafe, Spoonful, Bakeandstean, Narumeg and Eva Brew, to celebrate the event. 

The cafe owners were ecstatic. The owner of Eva Brew Siddhant Singhania said, “Yes, it has made a big difference to the sales.” 

Asked whether he had got any sponsors for this, Mudar said there were eleven. And one of the sponsors was Miraj Shah, the Vice Chairman of the Bhawanipur Education Society College. “I have been sponsoring Mudar’s projects for the past eight years,” says Miraj. “The aim is to beautify the city. Mudar is our spearhead for this.”  

Asked why he chose this particular area, Mudar says, “This neighbourhood was gradually developing a cafe culture. So I hope that with these colourful pavements, more cafes and boutiques will come up. Residents who may think of selling their Art Deco two or three-storey houses to builders might think twice, since now, they would get a decent income from rents. The character of the neighbourhood will be protected. Essentially, this was a heritage preservation exercise.” 

Some of the other initiatives of Mudar include cleaning up the Santragachi Jheel (lake). He set up an NGO called Kolkata Gives, which mobilised nearly Rs 100 million in cash and kind during the pandemic. He cleaned up the Rabindra Sarobar, a lake/garden/park in South Kolkata, replanted 149 trees, set up water sprinklers, opened an open-air gallery and organised a ‘Live in Lakes’ musical event. Mudar also did the clean-up of Vivekananda Park and Lily Pool. 

Asked why he is one of the few educated Indians to have a social sensibility, Mudar says that the middle class has an inside-outside paradox. “That means, they spend lakhs, even crores of rupees to ensure that the inside of their homes look beautiful,” says Mudar. “But if you ask these people to give a Rs 100 donation to clean up the pavements, they will say no.” 

So who should we blame for this mindset? 

Mudar says the education, social and family structures are playing their roles. “The middle class has a me, my and mine attitude,” he says. “You have to redefine me and mine. You should have a personal and financial ownership of the city. Your definition of home has to change. It should include the city. You should not blame anybody for civic woes. Solve it yourself. You live in the city and the city should live inside you. Only then will society be transformed.”

(Published in The Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)