Prasun BHOWMIK, University of Delhi, India
Adda is a distinct Bengali speech genre (Sen 2011, 501) and is the practice of friends getting together for long, informal, and non-rigorous conversations (Chakraborty 2000, 181). The distinct activity has been dominated through literature as a remnant of modernity produced by Bhadarloks (upper caste Bengali men) in the urban spaces of Kolkata, a metro city. This paper aims to reconstruct the meaning of adda spaces as an intrinsically everyday space of social congregation, leisure, fun, and compulsion that is not necessarily linked to Bhadraloks. I argue that adda is both an activity and space simultaneously. At the same time, adda can't be disassociated with the space, be it ephemeral, which gives the (multiple) activities meaning and/or vice versa. However, the youth’s notion of adda has drastically changed, producing spaces of resistance to contend with the intergenerational stigma attached to being young. In the same vein, adda being dominated by men in public pushes women to look for private and invisible spaces to do golpo (chit-chat or long conversations) and other leisure activities. This study, hence, unravels the (re)formulation of young masculine identities in the spaces of sociability in its socio-spatial context. It also highlights the lack of understanding of the masculinities of young people in the margins of West Bengal. Thus, I argue addas are a sociable space of diverse identities and practices not only limited to big cities and/or Bhadraloks. Here, using adda, I also suggest reorienting the argument from 'city' to 'urban' (Roy 2016), i.e., small town in this case, which also calls for de-hierarchy of urban in its totality. The study bases its findings on a qualitative approach while using conversational interviews with a set of the young population from the town of Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India.
Mots clés : Adda|Masculinities|Youth|Bengal|Sociability
A103499PB