JOIN USGlimpses of Kolkata to find place in Rome
The blue-trimmed white saree has been the world standard for selfless service for more than five decades. The grandeur of the white, offset by the starkness of the blue, has drawn volunteers from across the globe to Kolkata for decades, too. On September 4, a different kind of volunteers will dot the streets of Rome to spread the word about the city, whose poor and the needy, as much as its gutters, helped add the ‘Saint’ to Teresa.
Dubbed the Sainthood Project, a bunch of volunteers from Kolkata, led by a young photographer, will hold up images from Mother Teresa’s hometown of nearly 70 years to tell the world, “She was great! Our city is no less.” And they are calling themselves the “Nobodies” because the service comes before all else. Ask Astha Modi, Sakhi Singhi, Opal Joseph and they will tell you how they are looking at crowdfunding to buy air tickets to Rome and back.
Kounteya Sinha, a Kolkata-born photographer who is making a name for himself around the world, said that while he and his group of Nobodies have already done a trial run outside Mother’s House in Kolkata — headquarters of Missionaries of Charity, the order Mother Teresa founded in 1950 to take care of the poor and the needy in Kolkata; it also houses her mausoleum — for the Sainthood Project, the real test will be to do it on the busy streets at a time when Roman Catholics from across the globe will converge on Rome to attend the canonisation ceremony of Teresa.
Common feature
The project involves displaying around 50 photographs highlighting different features of Kolkata and hanging them with specially made cardboard clips on lengths of string, resembling a clothesline, a common feature in Mother Teresa’s hometown. Although she was born in Macedonia in 1910 to Albanian parents, Kolkata has got intricately associated with her life since she arrived sometime in the late-1940s as a nun and set up her Order. Sinha, who spent months shooting all over Kolkata, will unveil “The Sainthood Project” on August 24 outside the Vatican.
For 12 days, Kounteya and his team of Nobodies will stand on the streets of Rome and showcase photographs of Kolkata, holding up the clotheslines for all to see. They have picked 11 major spots — Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Palantine Hill, Vatican Museum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica, Galleria Borghese and in front of the Roman Forum — which will turn into an open-air gallery for them.
Towards sainthood
From trams, old houses, rickshaw-pullers, stray dogs, pedestrians with umbrellas, water-logged streets, street urchins and swanky high-rises, everything that represents Kolkata will find a place in the exhibition, taking glimpses of Kolkata to the world and showcasing the city that made Teresa the ‘Mother’ for one and all and paved her path towards sainthood.
Incidentally, hers is one of the fastest canonisation processes in the history of the Christian world, since erstwhile Pope John Paul II cleared the path in 2003, six years after her death.
Expressing his sentiments and that of his team, Sinha quotes Mother Teresa: “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love”.
“This is our way of doing something for the city we love so much. For me, Kolkata is not just about the Victoria Memorial, the Howrah Bridge or such famous structures. The city’s real soul lies in its by-lanes and meandering streets, where the energy of this bustling metropolis is palpable. Kolkata’s magnanimity comes from its people, unknown faces we intend to reveal through our project,” he says.
“I just want the world to know the city that made her a household name globally. It was Kolkata that gave Mother Teresa her identity. She did incredible things for the poor and the needy here and this city in return welcomed and embraced her with open arms. It’s therefore a love story I want to narrate in Rome,” says Sinha. Talking about funding for the project, he says that it was launched via some of the top crowdfunding websites. “We appeal to the people to donate whatever little they can and allow us to showcase Kolkata’s real soul in Rome,” he says.
Sure to get help
The Sainthood Project has set up its own bank account and all willing can donate money so that the volunteers can make the trip to and from Rome. “Every penny that comes in will be accounted for at the end of the two weeks in Rome. Kolkatans are generous by nature. We’re sure they will come forward for this project,” Sinha adds. He points out that his team of volunteers, the Nobodies, are all Kolkatans aged between 25 and 35. Even though some of them live in other parts of the world for purposes of profession and education, they have all come together for their love for Kolkata.
“Our team has musicians and story-tellers, film makers and photographers, who will all stand on the roads of Rome, telling people what Kolkata is all about. We want the world to come to Kolkata and see it, feel its pulse, embrace its warmth, communicate with its people, eat its finger-licking food, walk its streets, and above all walk the same roads that Mother Teresa once did,” Sinha says. “Anybody is free to join the sainthood project and come with us to Rome. This is a civilian project. Everyone coming on board is purely doing so for the love of Kolkata,” he adds.
Astha, a PR professional, wants to go because “everyone knows Mother Teresa’s great. They should know Kolkata’s great too”. Sakhi, who studies in the US, will make a stop in Rome on her way back home to be a part of the project. “We want to tell Rome why we love Kolkata and why Mother Teresa loved it too,” she says.
Opal, a mother of two, constantly juggling between home and work, has volunteered for
the same purpose. For Srijita Roy Barman, who along with Rajashree Bose, is doing much of behind-the-scene grunt work in the backrooms, says, “I’d love to go to Rome but I can’t for wants of funds.”
All the Nobodies will be living off pizza from roadside stalls for the fortnight they will stay in Rome, “nothing more”, she says.