Coffee and Kalagora with Siddhartha Bose
Siddhartha Bose, writer and sole performer of Kalagora, chats to Iman Qureshi about globalisation, multiculturalism and terror, and how these all factor in to the themes and schemes of his show
“It’s obsessed with the megacity,” Siddhartha Bose says, leaning over his coffee to tell me about his show, Kalagora. “For the first time in human history we have more people living in urban centres than in rural centres – this is the first time that’s happening.
“I’m very interested in chronicling the experiences of living in large megacities, and the problems and complexities that come with it – those associated with globalisation, with terror, power, control.”
Siddhartha’s voice is startlingly deep and resonant, and gives his words a notable gravity on this lethargic, rainy Monday morning.
“We live in a world right now were citizens of one particular city aren’t really isolated from citizens of another,” he explains. “Kalagora explores that fluidity of self-invention and identity that can happen when one is lucky enough to be a global traveller.
The show sees Bose play roughly 20 characters during the course of an hour, but focuses on one central figure – Kalagora (the name is a mash-up of ‘blackman/whiteman’ in hindi) – who travels from Mumbai, through New York, and finally to London.
“Mumbai strikes the character – and us – as an overwhelming juxtaposition of grotesque opposites. It’s a city that’s home to some of the richest people in the world and home to some of the poorest people in the world – and it’s all jammed together. And although Kalagora’s inspired by the space, it’s also a space that suffocates him, so he leaves and goes of to New York.
“So then he’s in Manhattan, just before the events of September 11th, trying to live the classic self-invention story of hedonism and self-discovery, but of course filtered through a very particular Indian or South Asian perspective.”
So then what happens, I ask, not having seen the play yet, but already utterly fish-hooked by Siddhartha’s synopsis.
“Then something quite shocking happens,” he replies coyly, perhaps reluctant to give away his secrets so soon, “which then ultimately propels him to London.
“London is a very interesting urban space right now, because I think it is probably the most complete global city in many ways.”
Complete perhaps, but not perfect surely?
“It’s interesting,” he continues, “because I find London to be a city of subcultures which don’t necessarily intersect, but coexist. And it’s a very strange place because that creates an essential loneliness, but also allows you to be a part of these cultures, and navigate yourself through them.”
Then how do you mean complete, I press?
“In terms of just sheer numbers of people from different parts of the world – it seems to be even more plural and diverse that New York.”
Siddhartha is careful to avoid the much in vogue term, “multiculturalism” – a term he says “does disservice to the plurality that is inherent to cities like London.” He offers a comparison to illustrate his point – “In Bombay, for example, you have pretty much ever religion known to humankind represented on the streets; people of multiple faiths and languages co-existing – I think multiculturalism is a very politically convenient and politically correct term.” The subtext gleaned from Siddhartha’s comparison is that the problems associated with “multiculturalism” are very much context specific, and not an innate problem with multiculturalism itself – essentially, Britain are simply not dealing with issues of immigration and plurality as well as they should.
The play, which has its roots in a poetry book and is therefore a “splicing of theatre and poetry”, certainly dramatises these themes for the audience, making it a pertinent product and reflection on this globalised contemporary society.
Comprised of theatre, poetry, video installations, and music, Siddhartha explains that the plays aesthetic hybridity reflects the themes of cultural hybridity in the play’s narrative.
“And,” Siddhartha adds rather shyly, “I guess I should also say, like in any story that’s important, there’s also a search for love and belonging – and all that nonsense…”
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