MANDI HOUSE KI BHATAKTI AATMA (MBA)

COME TO MY CIRCUS, pen & ink on paper, artist : Soumen Bhowmick

"MANDI HOUSE KI BHATAKTI AATMA (MBA)" 

Or 

"THE WANDERING SOULS OF MANDI HOUSE"

I pick myself as the first example for this piece of writing. Well I am a qualified and self proclaimed “Mandi House Ki Bhatakti Aatma”, that means I am an MBA. What a qualified soul I am!

You need to be an all year round wanderer around the Mandi House area. A place for all troubled creative souls in Delhi. It’s the place to be in for creative nirvana. I am not the first or the last of this breed. There were many more before me, like M.F.Husain, Jatin Das, Shahrukh Khan, Paresh Maity and many more known and unknown faces of Indian art and culture. Well you just need to be a qualified, troubled, thinking asshole these days to earn this coveted title; ‘MBA’. Troubled, yes we all artists, actors and writers are suffering that disease now more often. MBAs used to be rare at one point of time.

Surprisingly the place is a breeding ground for MBAs. With the presence of Shriram Centre for Arts, National School of Drama, Lalit Kala Akademi, Triveni Kala Sangam, Kamani Auditorium, LTG Auditorium, FICCI, Shriram Bharti Kathak Kendra and the College of Art. So now days there is an over supply of MBAs. So much of talented people are floating around, the souls are frantically looking for some foothold some where on the rough Delhi grounds. I hear their voices daily, some are complaining, some are praising and some just mute.

These Bhatakti Aatmas have one purpose only to soak in the strange and secret aroma of survival of the place called MANDI HOUSE. The place is intoxicating, it reminds you of the lost values of humanness, struggle, honesty, dedication and focus to one’s goal. Sometimes I feel disgusting to keep floating around as an MBA, what’s the purpose of this soul? Is he a loser or simply lost all hope in goodness. What really troubles me and many other MBAs, I hope, is the absence of care and sympathy for these Bhatakti Aatmas. Have anyone pondered, why are these souls wandering around. Sitting alone in one corner of Mandi House or in groups. I’m not trying to be sarcastic or emotional or want you to cry, just give it a thought. Some of the MBAs have died recently and some have left the city for good, to put an end to their question of survival.

Our famed policy makers in Delhi should take out some time and make it a point to visit this holy place of MBAs. Be there dudes, for it will open your dumb, nut-shell brain (if you have any). Try to sit there at least for an hour and make policy decisions there it self. You will see breed of all kinds there…the entire nation is passing through that place. You will get hundreds of ideas and can make critical decisions look so amusing to make. The place is sinking now. The economic down fall in the world has sipped into its air. The MBAs are getting tensed by the day. Now they don’t ask for cups of tea or samosas. They just keep watching the sky or the birdies and some times the two legged beauty passing by. They keep a very quiet presence. They hope, some one will ask them for tea or have “Ek bata Do” screamed to the chaiwallah. Alas it happens rarely. No fags are shared these days. The cost of cigarettes have crippled our mind. The holy smoke is missing from the air of Mandi House. For how long we the qualified MBAs be suffering in silence. Time has come to make our presence felt. No hand is strong enough to crush our dreams…the Bhatakti Aatma will settle down some day (we all prey for that).

The MBAs demand that Mandi House be declared as the most important centre of Indian cultural journey. Lets build a coffee house at the place and give us some better option to wander around. The Bhatakti Aatmas will be praising the Delhi Govt. for a long, long time to come. The tea stalls have made our life unbearable with the price of one cup of tea being Rs.7/-. It’s not hygienic at all. The place is getting filthy with garbage all around and smell of open toilets. Man we need to do something seriously to save the MBAs. Otherwise they will perish or will seek protection from the Govt. as endangered species. Come on you human beings save us. The MBAs need your support and care. Visit the place ones in a week and make it a point to talk to some of the MBA’s and you will see the real India around you.

People of Delhi, don’t be scared of us. We might look troubled, lost or even menacing, sometimes, but we don’t bite. Painters, stage actors, dramatists, dancers, activists, students, play writers, singers, photographers are the qualified regular MBAs. Mandi House has embraced them all with equal space and warmth. They all feel secure and loved here. Mandi House give us respect and the feeling of belongingness.
And thanks to Delhi Metro (DMRC) we now have the metro station to arrive on time and comfort to do our job of wandering around.

Say cheers to the ever lasting spirit of Mandi House Ki Bhatakti Aatmas (MBA) and their zeal to face all odds in life and the world.

By:
Soumen Bhowmick
July, 2013.