SWARNA_SONG
Swarna Chitrakar sings the song of the Sundarbans - the great mangrove forests of India. As she sings, she unrolls a scroll that shows life in the mangrove delta.
SWARNA SONG1
Tigers pursues a herd of multicolored fleeing deer. Snowy white birds fly over blue waters. A bearded sage sits in meditation at the mouth of the river.
SC1: Aami nijey nijeyi korechi. Jegule dekhechi ogulo bhebeyi korechi.
Chitrakar says she painted the pictures and wrote the song after going down to the Sundarbans with a group of tram enthusiasts.
That’s right. Tram enthusiasts. On her scroll I can see the boxy streetcars running along the top and the bottom. It seems odd. Streetcars don’t run in the mangrove forests and waterways of the Sundarbans. And no Sundari trees grow along the tram lines of Kolkata. But Chitrakar sings of trams stops in Dharmatala and Gariahat and Tollygunge.
SWARNA SONG2
There is a connection says Roberto D’Andrea. The Sundarbans is a natural buffer against cyclones that could devastate Kolkata.
RA1: the Sundarbans is a huge carbon sink. It breathes in so much of that carbon dioxide and gives us oxygen in return, like mangrove roots and tram routes.
And the trams are a green means of transportation.
RA2: in fact, trams and the natural world go hand in hand. Trams help the natural world because they help lower air pollution and carbon emissions.
D’Andrea is a retired tram conductor from Melbourne. Melbourne’s trams date back to 1885. Kolkata’s horse drawn trams started running in 1873. And as trams fight for survival in a car-clogged city, D’Andrea and a group of tram enthusiasts have been fighting for three decades to save them.
TRAM BELLS
This is Sandip Roy in Kolkata.
The Tramjatra festival always has a theme. One year it was cricket. Another year local Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore
This year says filmmaker Mahadeb Shi, cocurator of the festival, they decided to bring the Sundarbans into the conversation. Not to teach anyone how to save Sundarbans or Trams but to create a platform to learn from each other.
MS1: We are not trying to teach how to save sundarbans or how to save Kolkata. We thought we’ll create a platform.
The government wants to get rid of street cars saying there’s not enough road space. They want to expand the metro system and bring in electric buses. Citizens groups have sued in court to stop them. Pradeep Kakkar with the citizens group PUBLIC which is a litigant in that law suit says Kolkata is already bracing for record high temperatures.
PK1: One major contributor to heat in the city is carbon emissions. Trams do extremely well in reducing carbon emissions,
Facts and figures, science and research, law suits and protests are all important. But so is popular culture. The gaily painted tram with pictures of tigers and storks on its side, and sculptures of striped snakes and red crabs is another way to draw more people in. The Tramjatra volunteers perform the sounds of birds and beasts of the Sundarbans for the onlookers.
BIRD SOUNDS
D’Andrea and his team hand out little cards to the passengers. One shows a panting tiger in a desert landscape. Summer Tiger. Another shows a tiger clinging to a branch as water levels rise. Monsoon tiger. Tigers showing the effects of climate change.
RA3: extreme heat in the summer, sea level rise, cyclones that are stronger.
then D’Andrea hands out a card with a happy tiger giving two thumbs up in front of a tram. Poribesh Bondhu or friend of environment he says with a smile in his broken Bengali.
The Tramjatra volunteers are all dressed for the part as well. Their green shirts have a pattern of mangrove leave on their chest. Like lungs says D’Andrea.
RA4: Two mangrove leaves on our lungs and mangrove roots, which let the salt out once the tide's gone down. So we are all things mangrove
And all things tram.
Rajesh Shinde jumps on the streetcar singing songs about trams with gusto.
SHINDE SONG
Then he pulls out a tiger puppet to tell a story about climate change as well as the tram trundles down the street.
SHINDE STORY
He says the best part of the day was when ordinary people just boarded the tram not knowing what was going on.
RS1:a we started a conversation and, uh, they were interested in the stories, and they they tried to understand what's happening to the climate In the end we are creatures of stories. Sundarbans has a treasure trove of them about jungle goddesses and tigers and honey collectors, stories told through poetry, song and high drama.
SUNDARBANS SONG
And the trams are part of Kolkata’s heritage, trundling through so many classic films set in the city.
Over the Sundarbans Tram Jatra these stories came together. Whether they can create a new story together remains to be seen. But hurdles remain on the way. Literally.
As the Sundarbans tram trundled down the street it immediately came to a halt. Someone had left their car parked on the tracks. Finally the driver appeared. Faced with angry protests he said sheepishly he needed to use the bathroom. He didn't think a tram would come.
ARGUMENT
The mortified driver sped off after a good tongue lashing. But for the trams of kolkata and the mangroves of sundarbans other hurdles might be harder to overcome.
This is Sandip Roy in Kolkata for KALW
I LOVE TRAM SONG
To learn more about Tramjatra go to: sundarbantramjatra.net