My trips to Beckbagan Market are usually for one of two things — meat or bird seed. Today, it was the latter. My ever-growing aviary, it seems, has an ever-growing appetite!
So, there I was, picking up some bird seed, when I happened to notice the shop opposite. I had seen it many times before, but had never really paid much attention. It sold earthen pots, and frankly, pots aren't exactly the sort of thing that normally catches my eye.
But today was different.
What caught my attention wasn't the pots themselves, but the person sitting inside the shop, quietly painting them. What looked like ordinary earthen pots were being transformed, one brushstroke at a time, into colourful little pieces that could easily double up as flower vases.
I stood there for a while, watching.
It was one of those wonderfully ordinary Kolkata moments that you can so easily miss if you're in a hurry. No grand studio, no fancy signboard, no elaborate setup. Just a shop tucked away inside a municipal market, a few earthen pots and someone patiently giving each of them a little bit of character.
It also reminded me why I enjoy walking (or driving) around Kolkata with a camera. The city has this wonderful habit of hiding little visual stories in plain sight.
You just need to keep your eyes open.
And sometimes, a routine trip for bird seed can end up giving you something far more interesting to take home — a photograph and a little story.
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