“What’s in a name?”, this phrase from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet defines the fact that labels cannot affect the true nature. However the definition itself explains everything about the intention of the writer while writing this phrase.

So basically it is just a label which is given by the society in the form of name, and this is true for everything that exists in this world, be it tangible or intangible. However the sake of justifying the label and eventually transforming it to a name, lies on the element who was nowhere responsible for the label. This journey of justifying label and becoming a name, is not an easy one to overcome every time. Then again this is how a primary identification is done for any living or non-living beings in this world.

‘Khamkheyal’ the name was also a label when it was decided upon, and from that very day the journey started to make it a ‘Name’.

We are still in the middle of the journey and it’s a long way to go, but actually there’s a secret which everyone knows but often tries to ignore, which says, this journey is a never-ending one and once it stops it is the end of an era. So as you go on enjoying the ride accompanied by the potholes and hurdles you are alive.

So far our ‘Journey of Label to Name’ was very colourful and mesmerizing for all of us, and now let’s go down the memory lane and dig out some colourful canvases of this journey.

As you like it :-

2020 has just started and we a group of friends were starving in the hunger of doing something out of the box. Probably the loop in which everyone has or will struggle sometime in life. We were then holding only a single exhibition experience which was a success according to us at that point of time. Though it made us realise that there were much more avenues to try out. At that point of time we were aware of many cosy home-based exhibitions and events throughout our city, to mention some inspiring us most were Trouvaille and KheyalKhusi. This is how we started joining the dots around us and developed the idea of KhamKheyal: A tribute to Creative Intelligence. A home-based program which was based in the area later ‘labelled’ as KhamKheyal floor is a space at the 4th floor of a building in the central Kolkata region and inside a narrow lane. After long fights in the name of discussion finally we went on organising the event and we struggled to gain trust in 6 homegrown brands. At the end of the event our photographer friends found real challenge to fit the audience in the group photo.

The weight of closed door:

Cut to year 2022 after removing two years from the calendar we took the initiative of planning something which was beyond our sleeves at that point of time. We booked one of the finest galleries of Kolkata and started our work of approaching people working with their piece of Art. The idea was to bring a collective of artisans working with their art as an alternate way of living and that can be in any form. As a part of our job we started approaching brands we found fitting in our clauses. Most were ignoring us but some were kind enough to show a bit interest. Things took a pause when one of the brands took us real serious and showed ample interest in questioning our audacity and thought process which encouraged us in approaching them in this little or no experience profile. She found the fact very hard to digest that a group which was hardly known by its own members at that time even thought to approach them for collaborating. We apologised to her and moved on for the next brand to approach. Finally the event got a label as Art and Autumn and a good take off for the brand owners as well as us in such a way that a declared program of 3-8PM was actually getting hard to close at even 9.30PM.

Well cut off to August 2023. Planning and execution for Art and Autumn 2023 was on full course and we received a call. It was not an anonymous call it was very much known but the thing was none of us was ready to take the call as each one of us was trying to find out who among us dared to gain the audacity again and approached! Finally the call was received as usual with a greeting but the words from the other side were not at all usual. This time we were approached to have the most experienced and demanding brand which needs audacity to be approached to collaborate with. Sadly at that point of time we were full.

LONGING BELONGING:

Years passed and the passion for KhamKheyal: Tribute to Creative Intelligence increased tremendously. Before one such KhamKheyal I took the initiative of creating a wall for #Change and for that I started researching on different materials. Just to let you know I’m a person far away from art whereas I’m a money man, but in KhamKheyal it can be role reversal anytime. So after many R&D I finally zeroed in on jute sheet for the base of the wall. In Kolkata the best place to get good quality jute products is always Barabazar. So I went there and after a short Q&A with the locals I went to Tripal Patti where I found this shop where an uncle with chandan tilak consisting rice and curd in it welcomed me and asked my requirements. I made him understand my requirements which was a certain metres of jute sheet. He went inside and brought with himself 3 qualities of jute. I getting a bit confused over the products started rethinking. This is when the person started questioning my intentions with the jute. As soon as I answered his first question he jumped to the next and at a point of time I being frustrated answered him in clear words that this will be used as a protest tool against the NRC, CAA movement, against racism, fascism, superstition and all. The man suddenly stopped questioning and went inside, while I started feeling nervous after my rigorous oration, but within a while the man came with a fourth edition of quality and handed me my requirement saying that this would be the best for my requirement and it will cost INR 450. I being pleased over the decision taken by him, happily handed him a note of INR 500 and waited for my 50 rupees change. Surprisingly the man came with two 100 rupees notes and handed it to me, before I could question him he uttered “this is my contribution to the protest”.

Where Ants met Elephants:

Year 2024 our South Kolkata exploration was on and a bit stereotype at times for us. So we decided to broaden our feed and emerged to the proper land of bonedi ana and planned an exhibition at the heart of North Kolkata, Hatibagan. Just like any other program in its birth year this too made us go crazy over convincing brand owners to rely on North Kolkata and fighting among ourselves to get the best possible way of bringing visitors. Slow and steady we overtook every hurdle and the most tiring days arrived. We were just blown away by the engagement of the local people even in the mid of night when we were decorating the event. Every man passing by tried and helped us in the best possible way they could have done. Some helped us in aligning the name plate and gate, whereas some showed us the municipal corporation’s 24hrs chilled drinking water supply. The man who stood by us and helped us most was the man lending us lights, mic and other electronic equipment. He stayed there the whole night when we were trying to figure out our decoration and was acting as a man of golden heart in every situation when we were stuck. We asked him to come there everyday and accompany us. On the last day of our event when I was standing outside the venue and welcoming visitors I suddenly saw a familiar face but unfamiliar look, when I tried to look further I saw it was him, our dada with a bunch of 7-8 more people.

He stood in front of me and said “this is my family I brought them with me, they were shy and awkward but I told them IT IS OUR KHAMKHEYAL you will feel at home”. That was the day I realised KhamKheyal is not just a label anymore it’s a NAME.

BEYOND THE STARS:

Since the starting, KhamKheyal has emerged and evolved a lot. We have entered different avenues and sectors of art. One of them is Photography and we entered it with Muhurto 2022. Muhurto was a photography exhibition exhibiting photographs of aspiring photographers and small photo talks by eminent photographers of our society. This is where I got a second chance to meet and experience Mr. Joydip Mitra whom I prefer to refer as a Storyteller. Second time, because I first heard Mr Mitra at a traveller writer’s forum program at Nandan where he came to show his photo story on Ramnami. Sadly the projector that night betrayed like any of the government after vote, and they needed to drop the idea of showcasing the photographs, but this confident man took the mic and started sharing the stories of the photo story and I still can bet that it was the best photo story I ever experienced. A photo can be described and made imagining by the orator was something I experienced that day.
So Muhurto 2022 Mr. Mitra was one of the storytellers there and I was living my fan boy moment then. As usual the event went on to be a memorably successful one and Mr Mitra became the star of the night.

Five or six months later I and my Didi were walking by one of the popular malls of South Kolkata when we noticed Mr. Joydip Mitra passing by. We both made each other notice him and were moving on when suddenly the man stood in front of us and addressed “hey how are you?” and we both still living in the fan boy fan girl zone instantly uttered “you could recognise us?” and after that the words that he said were “Ohh yes yes you are KhamKheyal I remember very well”.

This was the time I realised that KhamKheyal is a ‘Name’ it is an identity. The name that all of us got printed in our ID cards are basically our labels given by our parents, but the name we created for ourselves, for us, for our family is KHAMKHEYAL, it is not only a brand it’s our family, it’s our identity it’s ………… an emotion.