A 100 year old poem inspired Halloween pumpkin
“Kumropotash” from Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol. The photo is from a wonderful Durga Puja story Nabin Palli Durga Puja Committee in Hatibagan, North Kolkata by Maitreyee B Chowdhury (link)
This is my second year carving a pumpkin for the Halloween. This year, my brother wanted me to carve “Kumropotash“, a character from Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol, the collection of magically whimsical verses from 1922, here is a link to 2020 dual-language print on Amazon. While Ray is a common last name from the sub-continent, Sukumar Ray is the father of filmmaker Satyajit Ray. All Bengali children grow up to the tales of Kumropotash and the idea is simply put, perfect. There can’t be a better way of bringing my heritage into my current life.
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