A Bengal village whose walls are free of political slogans

In Lalbazar, located on the western fringes of West Bengal, about 4 km from Jhargram, the walls of all the homes are adorned with paintings, something that makes the settlement a tourist spot

Election time is when the phrase ‘writing on the wall’ also assumes a literal meaning in West Bengal, with artists and wordsmiths joining hands to paint catchy slogans. But there is one village in the State where, in spite of the forthcoming panchayat elections, walls are completely free of political graffiti.

In Lalbazar, located on the western fringes of the State, about 4 km from Jhargram, the walls of all the homes are adorned with paintings, something that makes the settlement a tourist spot. This was not the case until 2018, when the village, like most others, saw its share of political messages on the walls.

That was when Mrinal Mandal, a Kolkata-based artist in search of folk art of Bengal, was so captivated by the charm of this tiny village of about 100 people that he decided to make it his second home. With the support of Chalchitra Academy in Kolkata, he began arranging workshops in the settlement to teach art to its inhabitants, most of them farm labourers or owners of small farms.

Learning art not only supplemented their income but also made Lalbazar a tourist attraction in the region. An admirer of the project named it Khwaabgram, or village of dreams. “When I came here in 2018, I remember walls being painted with slogans like, `Vote for this party, Vote for that party’. But once the residents themselves took to art, there was no space for political messages,” Mr. Mandal told The Hindu.

The academy started off by training children in drawing, men in katum-katum (handicraft made from twigs and roots), and women in kantha stitching. This not only supplemented their income but also saw the village undergoing a transformation. Each house began to decorate its walls with paintings.

“I have seen three elections from the time I began to live here and never did I notice any political graffiti. It’s not that political people don’t come, but either they themselves stay away from the walls or are told by the villagers to not disturb the look of the place,” Mr. Mandal said.

Nanda Ahir, 60, a resident of Lalbazar, said, “Ever since this place became Khwaabgram, the practice of wall writing has stopped completely. The wall of each house has such beautiful paintings — people from across India and abroad come to have a look. So even if members of any political party come to paint slogans, either they themselves give up the idea after looking at the beauty of the walls or are told by us to keep away.”