Gods from the Baazaar
At a work thing, recently, I was asked to name two precious things. One of the two things I named was the twin kitsch Radha-Krishnas that inhabit my house, bought at a roadside kitsch stall in Barsana, a town which is known as the traditional abode of Radha. They cost 20 rupees each in 2020. So there are two of these, and they are identical. The two make a composite entity - I maintain. They travel with me whenever I am away from my house for long stretches of time. They are made of some kind of bronze type metal. One of the cows in one of them has a broken foot.
This kitschy toy type entity has walked into my house and turned into real divinity, with aura and ritual power and associated glory. They sometimes wear flower garlands. The kitschmaker probably did not intend this afterlife from his stall. Kitsch is made all over the Braj in shapes and forms of the divine union of Radha and Krishna. Kitsch attaches to social forms as impressions on walls, on the back-doors of e-rickshaws, on shop signboards, on bodies, faces, and as ‘material culture’. Gods turn into currency that carry legitimacy, attach to all social forms, and lend their stardust. Some would call it a kind of aura. The auratic does not remain contained in the pedestals of the divine inside temples. It flows out of garbha grihas and walks through streets and ghats, finally coagulating into material and attaching to bags, shop windows, and human bodies. We carry a bit of that divine stardust with us wherever we go. The twin RKs in my house are not reminder/replica of some other grand god. They are gods themselves.
Wong Kar Wai’s iconic film In the Mood for Love was screened at the BIC auditorium recently. I had never seen it on a large screen before. The large screen displayed the sheer reality of Hong Kong rains, stone Buddhas of Cambodia, uncomfortable brushing of shoulders, nails digging into skin as one writhes in pain, lingering conversation, dreamworlds and claustrophobia. And I thought of Vrindavan all the while. The narrow alleys that breathe very tightly become beautiful pictures when seen on the computer. All reality is perhaps breathtakingly beautiful. My dust-gathering kitsch gods equally ethereal. We rarely care to look at the wonders that make the mundane until Wong Kar Wai lends us his eyes.
[Gods from the Baazaar. Copyright: Atreyee Majumder, 2025.]
[Parking lot gods. Copyright: Atreyee Mjaumder, 2025.]