Diwali is just round the corner, and people decorate their households with colourful rangoli designs, but in the hubbub of festivities we often forget to look around the crowded lanes at the actual hard work that goes into creating each design. Beyond this, if not for festivals, we also tend to forget that some traditions we grew up around are slowly fading from everyday life, simply because nobody has time to keep them going.But a retired teacher from Kolkata, Ratnaboli Ghosh, keeps one such tradition alive by painting alpanas outside the homes of strangers.
Meet Ratnaboli Ghosh, the Alpana artist who paints strangers’ doorsteps
Ratnaboli Ghosh is a 74-year-old retired school teacher from Deshapriya Park in South Kolkata. According to reports, she leaves home around 6:30 in the morning and travels deep into North Kolkata, which has some of the city’s oldest houses. There she paints alpanas, the traditional floor art, in courtyards and porticos of strangers, and often leaves before the residents even notice. The story spread widely after sports writer Mudar Patherya shared a post about her.
The idea began almost by chance
Ghosh said previously in 2022,“This project was initiated by Mudar who is always working to make this city a better place to live in. Last year on Lakshmi Puja, I drew an alpana at my in-laws’ residence and they happen to be Mudar’s neighbours. He then requested me to draw an alpana right outside his own flat and I obliged as I love to draw, especially traditional alpana. He was the one who suggested Why not draw alpana in people’s houses, but without telling them about it. I found it interesting. We’ve been doing this since last year.”
The tradition of Alpana making is itself becoming rarer, but people’s reactions keep her going
Drawing alpona is now mostly limited to Lakshmi Puja or special occasions in West Bengal, though it was still popular a generation ago. But the reactions of people around and passersby have touched her.“People who saw me doing it found it incredible. Today, as I was drawing an alpana in someone’s house, I saw a girl pass by. She stopped and said the alpana is making the house look more beautiful. So many newspaper vendors stopped to praise it. I am overwhelmed! I have knee problems, but strangely when I’m doing this, I don’t struggle with my knees at all. God willing, next year too I’ll be able to carry out this project and make Kolkata a little more beautiful,” she explained.When asked how many places she has covered, she said it was roughly 20 houses. Each one takes at most 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the space and the intricacy of the design.
Her love for creating art is deep-rooted in her childhood
Her skill goes back to when she was a child. Ghosh taught for 40 years, first in educa at Loreto College and then at Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan. Her mother studied under the modern Indian painter Nandalal Bose in Santiniketan, and that influence helped Ghosh develop her love of art. According to CT, she has been drawing alpanas since she was a child.tion
