KOLKATA: Terraces in homes, neglected for years, are being reclaimed as an integral part of the house during the pandemic, which has forced people indoors. The rediscovery of terraces has led to people investing time, energy and money to do up the space to work, pursue hobbies... or just chill.
Nilanjan Chowdhury, a visual artist who works in Delhi but staying in his sister’s house in Bhowanipore since last year’s lockdown, has been bringing the faded walls to life with gorgeous paintings of birds, all of which he either spotted on the adjoining jamun tree or at Rabindra Sarobar.
“The idea of painting the rooftop with birds came to me while I was sketching a crow that lives on a big jamun tree next to our home. It had a damaged claw and was initially extremely hostile to my presence on the rooftop. But, over months, it started tolerating me; I think it sometimes models for me,” Chowdhury recounted.
At nearby Lake Terrace, Rajarshi and Sambrita Basu have given a makeover to the terrace of their home. After the couple came down from Bengaluru with their twins, Turjo and Nyja, to be with his mother and sister during the pandemic, they discovered they had to create a play area for the hyperactive kids. “We laid out artificial turf on the terrace, installed lights and an inflatable pool.
They now have a fun space of their own, which doubles as a safe party zone in the evening when friends come over,” Rajarshi explained.
Across the length of the city, on north Kolkata’s Bhim Ghosh Lane near Hedua Square, government school teacher Biresh Majumder has transformed his terrace into an open-air classroom, where he coaches children in science subjects free of cost. He ensures there is social distance maintained among the kids, including his son Aranyak, a Class VII pupil. “Schooling has been badly affected during the pandemic. I wanted the children to continue with traditional forms of learning, and so choose the terrace. Though coaching has become irregular in the rain, I try to arrange for classes at least once a week,” he told TOI.
Across the river near Nabanna in Howrah’s Sibpur, retired engineer Utpal Das has converted his sprawling terrace into a mini-farm, where he pursues his latest hobby: growing organic vegetables. An avid travel writer and documentary filmmaker, Das came up with the idea in June last year, when his movement was restricted. “Since I am a vegetarian, I used to shop for vegetables at the local market. But when timings were restricted during the lockdown and it became crowded, I felt uncomfortable. Now I grow leafy vegetables, brinjal, tomato, pointed gourd, ladiesfinger, cauliflower, cabbage, bitter gourd and ridged gourd on the 1,000 sqft terrace,” he said.
Mainak Bhattacharyya, a second-year media science student and passionate photographer, has turned his roof into a studio and clicked more than 2,000 photographs with his camera from the terrace of the three-storied house in Behala’s Parnasree. He had bought the camera in 2017 to pursue street photography, but after the pandemic changed the way people lead life outside their homes, he decided to explore terrace photography.
In the beginning, it was cloudscape and nature. Among his prized shots are a rainbow and lightning, taken last month. “I used to spend time on the terrace with my dad. It was our favourite hangout zone. But after he passed away in 2014, when I was 14, I stopped going there. I returned to studies and had completely lost touch with the terrace until I rediscovered it during the lockdown. It is now my favourite haunt,” Mainak said.
Even apartment-dwellers have realised the importance of balconies. In upcoming projects, architects are going back to the drawing board to carve out larger balconies in flats. “What was a place to hang clothes has now become an integral part of the living area,” said Credai Bengal chairman Nandu Belani.
Jadavpur University sociology professor Ruby Sain says terraces have actually helped people rediscover nature, social relationships and freedom. “The pandemic brought family members together. Confinement within four walls also made people yearn for freedom that the terrace offered,” she explained.
