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Hangman hobbies: tunes and blooms |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Monday, 09 August 2004 |
BY DEBASISH CHATTOPADHYAY AND SAMARPAN DUTTA
Nata Mullick: Notations, nosegays and nooses
He is a master-designer of floral wreaths and an accomplished singer too. But Alopiya Mullick earns his livelihood as a hangman.
The name doesn’t ring a bell? It will when you are told his more popular name: Nata. Yes, he’s the man who’ll execute rapist-killer Dhananjoy Chatterjee any day now.
Even Nata’s younger son, Mahadeb, came to know of his father’s formal name a few days ago.
“My grandmother used to call him ‘Nata’ because of he was short and the name stuck. Some time ago, he told me his father had christened him ‘Alopiya’. That was how I came to know of my father’s formal name,†Mahadeb said.
As a hangman, Nata has mastered the art of suppressing his emotions and carrying out executions in a matter-of-fact way. But the one hanging that still haunts him was that of Osman, his friend and companion at soirees.
“I once regularly visited a spot near the railway tracks at Park Circus. After enjoying a drink or two with friends, I would walk to the burial ground and start a majlis. People used to throng the place to hear me sing,†Nata said.
“It was at this burial ground that I first met Osman. He started accompanying me on the dafli (small drum), and we soon became good friends. Little did I realise what a tragic end was destined to our friendship,†Nata recalled.
Osman was later convicted in a rape-and-murder case. Stepping on to the scaffold, he came to know that the hangman was none else than his friend.
“Nata bhaiya, mujhe bacha lo,†Osman had screamed on seeing him. “Zaroor,†the hangman replied, before covering Osman’s face with the hood and pulling the lever.
“Osman comes back in my sleep. His last words haunt me,†Nata said.
The hangman then went on to narrate another episode of his life — his brush with bouquet designing.
“Early in my life, I prepared garlands for pujas. I loved the soft touch of the flowers. One day, seeing me at work, someone asked me to decorate the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. I was very nervous the day I went to the club, fearing how people would react to my decorations and designs,†Nata recounted.
Proving his apprehensions wrong, he was soon flooded with offers. “They liked my work. I subsequently had several opportunities to create designs with flowers. But now, I am too old and cannot work. The last time I decorated my house was on my granddaughter’s marriage,†Nata recalled.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040809/asp/calcutta/story_3599758.asp |
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