‘Storm in a cup’- a much-used phrase to describe an exciting discussion. But what is the epicentre of this metaphorical ‘storm’ and why is it in a cup? The galactic depth of this cup of tea is immeasurable and the cups are not to be counted if it is indeed an adda,’ especially a ‘Dhakaiya Adda’ (gossip in Dhaka). The ‘Dhakaiya Adda’ has been lived and re-lived by the urban Dhakaiya, young or old, alike, but the authenticity of those ‘traditional’ addas, being the memory of sheer romanticism, is a matter of interest to the present generation of Dhakaiya youths.
Dhaka, the noisy capital, might be scarce in fresh air to breathe, but still is the house of traditions and vibrant cultural mix-n-match. But in this relatively new cultural blend, some traditional Dhakaiya traits have prevailed, and are not anywhere near to be replaced. Unbeatable Dhakaiya specialities like the Old Dhaka special ‘Beauty Lassi,’ freshly baked ‘Bakarkhani’ with fuming hot ‘Malai Cha,’ ‘Mostakim’s Chap,’ etc. have another link to be attached with- a Dhakaiya Adda. Those gossips are not anything near formal, but still offer enormous possibilities of creating effective social connections.
Addas are timeless, universal. There can be no specific or particular place to have a gathering of known people, friends, neighbours, that can hold the hearts. But the city of Dhaka does have some popular spots where one could go for an adda. From the legendary addas of ‘Beauty Boarding’ to TSC’s Shwapon Mama’s tea stalls, addas are everywhere; the culture, however, might have shifted.
After taking a walk down the memory aisle with some older Dhaka residents and present-day youth enthusiasts researching the vintage lifestyle, a modest picture can be painted of the ’80s to the present day. The famous Beauty Boarding situated in Old Dhaka would be the first name to pop up in anyone’s mind if places, where intellectuals met, were mentioned. This two-storied building was one of the most popular places for an adda back in the middle of the last century.
Renowned poets, novelists, intellectuals, journalists, singers, actors, politicians, painters would go to Beauty Boarding for adda. The insane number of ideas and thoughts shared over cups of teas is only a memory now; the walls of the boarding and the chairs at the canteen have witnessed some of the greatest Bengalis of the last century.
Poets like Nirmalendu Goon, Shahid Kadri, Shamsur Rahman, Al Mahmud; journalists Samudra Gupta, Fazl Shahabuddin, Fayez Ahmed and other famous personalities like Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, Fazle Lohani, sculptor Nitun Kundu, Painter Qayyum Chowdhury chose the Beauty Boarding to be their Adda capital in the city. The screenplay of the first Bengali language feature film ‘Mukh O Mukhosh’ was written in this very Beauty Boarding by Director Abdul Jabbar Khan, or so it is said.
The centuries-old traders’ addas by the Buriganga river has not been over till this date, reminding the cultural significance of the Old Dhaka and its people. The alleys of Old Dhaka are still hotspots for one of the most vibrant addas in Dhaka. The ‘Goli Culture (Culture of an alley/neighbourhood)’ is so prominent here that simple tea stalls become the point of the meeting for people of all ages from the neighbourhood. The narrow streets of Old Dhaka house uncountable tea-stalls playing host to uncountable addas.
The ’80s and early ’90s had a boost in local publishers, and so Aziz Super Market and Banglabazar became a new intellectual adda place for both readers and writers
Md Mizanur Rahaman, a businessman owning Interior Designing Firm, was a fine arts student at Chattogram University in the late ’80s. But his frequent visits to Dhaka would mostly circulate around the addas at Banglabazar and Aziz Super Market. He reminisces joining those addas and meeting writers and readers at those interactive sessions happening both formally and informally at the same time. Not all the time did someone famous join the addas there. Ordinary people, university students, bookworms or 9-to-5 office workers were also part of the addas.
“As students, I and my friend would frequently visit Dhaka to join our mentors and friends at those addas. Those were beautiful times, not fully formal, we would talk about literature and art and meet different people. It would be like meeting and debating on trending topics over cups of black tea and Samosas.”
A former student of journalism at Dhaka University, who graduated a few years back, Eusha Rahman has spent most of his life in Azimpur, and thus his thirst to know about its urban history led him to dig deep. He shares the stories he heard from his elders of the old Azimpur, its people and its culture.
Eusha was not disappointed, and Azimpur indeed was the heart of residents in Dhaka once. The roads were hardly quiet, with three- to four-storey buildings and playing fields, the roads were a lot less entangled. Addas were not specified to stalls, they could be held anywhere like at someone’s lawn, in the parks or at the corner of the field.
“It's hard to go back to the old Azimpur, but the memories can be visualised when you look at those places. When I was a kid, the load-shedding would be the golden time for untimely addas from the terraces to the streets.”
“The emergence of television in Bangladesh in the ’80s and ’90s added a new and always trending topic to the addas. The small stores with TV in them would be trendy places for gatherings till the early 2000s. The scarcity of raw entertainment sources and changes in lifestyle has almost omitted this small adda culture from almost all of Dhaka. The generation change is huge, and so it reflects on the pattern of these addas in Dhaka,” explains Mr Eusha.
Businessman Rouser Ali has been living in Dhaka since the ’70s, witnessing the city dramatically unfold its cultural vibrancy and has lived the vintage Dhakaiya life, being a part of those addas. His stories portray the bits of general addas in the city.
“The topics were not constant, rather whatever were then trendy and worth spending over a cup of tea would be the topics of the addas. The Abahani-Mohammedan football matches and contemporary cinemas influenced a lot of our addas.”
The TSC (Teacher-Student Centre) at Dhaka University (DU) has been the timeless adda capital of the city. There is barely a day without you spotting groups of youths, or even people of any age here. Addas here are adorned with fuming tea-glasses, mild guitar-strokes, little flower-sellers with red-and-yellow baskets, or a group chorusing on songs by strangers nearby. TSC has witnessed addas and gatherings of all genres, be it of the valiant stories of ’71 or the latest classroom gossips students and ex-students.
“The nostalgia of TSC addas always hits me differently. It’s one of the best memories of campus life I have, and I always share it with my daughters,” Reya Haider, an ex-pat and former DU student living in Canada, said.
The present-day youngsters have their own kinds of adda, almost entirely devoid of those linking them to the kind that older Dhaka had. But those addas are not extinct; in fact, they can be spotted every now and then in the rusty alleys of Old Dhaka. The old photographs shared in the social-media groups are reminiscing of that nostalgia that the present generation might not feel today. But the place it’s earned in people’s heart and the depth of the experience they share is more than enough to prove it more than just nostalgic stories. With the change of lifestyle and transmission of culture, the pattern might just be metamorphosised, but Dhakaiya addas are eternal.
Tahseen Nower is a second-year student of mass communication and journalism at Dhaka University. E-mail: [email protected]
