Election Reflections

Today was election day, and Kolkata practically shut down. Partly because it was a Sunday, and partly because Kolkata takes politics VERY seriously. So seriously that we were warned to stay indoors due to threats of election-related violence. But the neighborhood around our apartment was remarkably quiet, and we ventured out to a nearby park. Kids were swimming in the lake and playing cricket, while adults lounged in the shade of tall, old trees. It was hard to believe we were in Calcutta, one of the world’s largest (and most maligned) cities.

Most of us got similar reactions when we told family and friends about our trip: “you’re going WHERE?” We reflected on how the city is misunderstood by the rest of the world, even in India. Kolkata has a long and rich history, being for years both the colonial capital and the cultural capital of India. Home to centuries of artists, poets and revolutionaries, Bengalis are understandably full of pride for Kolkata, which is known as the “City of Joy.” Yet, the rest of India looks down on Kolkata as dirty, backward, and poverty-ridden. I noted that Kolkata was a lot like Philly.

At our first class last week, TJ explained that Kolkata is a highly literate society. People know their history, literature and politics here, even if they can’t read or write very well. TJ described the importance of adda, or “shooting the shit” over cups of tea. I thought of our growing collection of small clay pots back at the apartment, each one a reminder of an encounter, a conversation, a ritual pause in the rhythm of the day.

Kolkata’s streets are filled with signs and flags for a staggering number of political parties. My favorite party flag is green and red, with a picture of a bicycle on it. I don’t know what it stands for, but I liked the design so I swiped one off the street to take home (I got a lot of stares on the Metro that day). During the days leading up to the municipal elections, there were lots of political demonstrations, rallies, and slogans chanted through bullhorns at all hours of the day and night. At today’s elections, the reigning liberal Congress Party faced off with the influential leftist Trinamul Party, while Communist sentiments remained strong, and anarchist Maoist rebels grabbed the media spotlight for allegedly sabotaging a local commuter train. I thought about how much more dynamic the political process is here – for better and for worse – compared to the two-party system in the U.S.

Women are a powerful force in Indian politics, which is surprising given their relative absence from the public sphere of urban life. One of my first impressions of Kolkata was that men seemed to be everywhere – on the streets, on public transportation, in shops, restaurants and markets, even in the kinds of service jobs typically held by women in the United States. TJ explained that women’s work is often “hidden,” particularly as many men migrate to work in the cities, leaving women and children behind. Men are also more likely to have access to higher education, meaning that most of the people we’ve met who speak English happen to be men. This creates an interesting tension for our group as Western, female social workers working with a predominantly women-membership organization (more on that later). On a personal level, it’s been hard to adjust from my community back home, consisting mostly of educated, progressive women, to a very different social and gendered environment in India – all of which is also, of course, loaded with issues of race and class.

Next up: an introduction to our work at Durbar, weather mishaps, and fun times in the city!