Sabitri Kakima stood near the bare threshold of her house and many of the old houses near her house in the 4/ 13 Pratapaditya lane , just a couple prior to the Durga Puja ,during  the early hours of the dawn.  She walked around  her lane and noticed that the Threshhold of every house lay bare or were covered with patches of artificial  stickers . None of the houses displayed  the traditional  ‘ Alpona ‘. 

A year ago , this sixty five year old lady had shifted to Kolkata  after she was detected with breast cancer.  She started living  in this grand two_ storeyed  house in south Kolkata.  Everytime  she went out for her chemotherapy sessions , she would look at the bare threshold and her heart would miss a beat . For it was ideal for drawing  her favourite designs in the form of ‘ Alpona’. She decided to step beyond  her threshold. She woke up around  4.30 am on the following  day to begin this ritual. 

“ Ki holo Kakima aapni eto bhor Bela aei dalan e hotat alpona dite kano boshlen?( “What happened  Aunty ? Why did you wake up so early to sit on this Threshold and paint the Alpona.”)

Jharna  , the young caretaker, who looked after Sabitri Kakima,  asked  her with curious eyes, while entering inside the Threshold. 

“ Jhorna aaj theke Pujo shuru hovar kodin aage obdi bhabhchi je aei diker kota barir dalan e boshe kota aalpona debo. Pujor aag diye Bari gulo shundor kore na sajale moreover bhalo lagena.”( Jhorna ,I am planning to go around  each house  in the neighbourhood and make ‘ Alponas’ on their thresholds a few days prior to the Durga Puja. Sans these decorations,  there will be no festive vibes)

After saying this,  Sabitri Kakima continued making the ‘Alpona ‘ on her threshold  and from that day onwards she stepped  out of her threshold with Jhorna  , a container of paints and brushes. Within a couple of days , she was happy  that she had been successfully  able to create ‘ Alponas ‘ on the stairs and Thresholds of almost  fourteen houses in the Pratapaditya  Road and Kali Krishna Tagore Street. 

Sabitri Kakima's Brother , Narendra  heard about his sister’s  new found  interest  and encouraged her by telling  her that they  should  be able to cover fifty houses in South Kolkata  that year and create Alponas as ‘ Ameteur Artist’ . For it did not give a good feeling  , if people restricted to pasting  stickers on their threshold/ ‘ Dalan’ or leave it bare during  the festivals .

That was just the beginning of Sabitri Kakima’s meaningful  journey beyond  the threshold.  She and her brother,  Narendra  have continued  this passion since that year. They look forward  to the arrival  of Puja. For the next year they wish  to create fifty more’ Alponas‘ covering  the thresholds of the  houses of North Kolkata  too.

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Glossary _ Alpona = A kind of decoration made traditionally with rice flour slurry or in the modern times made with white and red paints to decorate the Threshhold of the houses  displayed in Bengali  homes during  festivals and Puja.

Note _ This story  is based on a true story  of Ratnsbala Ghosh , a retired  school teacher in Kolkata.  She goes around  50 houses in North and South Kolkata  and creates ‘ Alponas ‘ on strangers Thresholds before Diwali .