Didi is on a drive to re-paint the city. A wobbly alliance with the Congress,and the Left Front governments legacy of debt is not why West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wants Kolkata to wear the colours of the Argentina football team. Blue,Banerjees chosen colour,which has begun to coat everything in the city road dividers,tree trunks,bridges and public urinals is not supposed to mirror the mood of the fledgling Trinamool Congress-led government in the state. Rather,it is a part of its branding itinerary,in line with renaming West Bengal Poshchim Bongo,playing Rabindrasangeet at crossings and dedicating metro stations to Bengali heroes. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee,one of Banerjees confidants,said at a press meet last month,If Jaipur is called the Pink City,Kolkata can also be known as the Blue City. Following the directions of Mamata Banerjee,we are using a uniform colour to paint Kolkata over. While the city centre,including the Writers Building and the Lalbazar Police Headquarters,continues to be brick-red,snatches of blue are raising their heads elsewhere. Trees lining the Maidan,grilles alongside pavements,and sheds at bus stops,for example,have been coated with different shades of blue navy,royal,sky,etc. Kolkatans may have voted for a political change,but many seem to be unhappy with the change of colour in the city. To a filmmaker,Kolkata is a collage of colours the muddy grey of the Ganges,the dusty green of the Maidan,the brick reds of Dalhousie buildings and the yellow of taxis. Right now,its difficult to place this new shade,force-painted everywhere,in the picture we have of the city, says Mumbai-based filmmaker Nirmalya Majumdar,originally from Kolkata. Banerjee seems intent to bring back the blues to the city.
