But who is Dilip Goswami? An interior designer, a model, an artist, a sculptor... who dreams of the day he will change the thoughts and lifestyle of people here (Calcutta)." By some strange quirk of fate, the clerk preparing his birth certificate decided to call him Dalid. And the name has stuck as a kind of appendage, a working name.
Dalid is a much sought-after man in Calcutta these days. He can produce whacky designs to set the mood in upmarket showrooms, trendy snack joints and corporate house interiors. His 'turnkey projects' offer a complete package "" covering everything from the floor to the pin cushion.
I take care of everything in a project "" planning and sketching the interiors, doing the entire layout, employing labourers, supervising them and offering special colour schemes and designs on the walls and ceilings," Goswami says. And if the client wants some paintings and murals for his walls thrown in, no problem.
Dalid always wanted to be an artist". So he enrolled for painting classes at Calcutta's Government College of Art and Crafts during the turbulent '70s, simultaneously working on his Bachelor's degree in Commerce. His idols in those days were the Bengal School purists" "" chief among them Bikash Bhattacharjee and Ganesh Pyne, though they never influenced his own style.
A two-year course in animation films
at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, followed. This led to animation film assignments including a short stint in
TV serials with animator Ram Mohan in Mumbai and work as assistant director to Nitish Roy on the sets of Bharat Ek Khoj.
But all was not well. The flamboyant young man was unhappy in Mumbai. Animation was not quite his scene, he figured. It's an expensive affair and we still lack the proper technology," he says, quickly dismissing discussions on what evidently was an unsavoury period. A dejected Dalid returned to Calcutta to dabble in commercial and industrial photography, modelling, editing short films, art direction... He could always have sought refuge in the family business "" film distribution. But it never inspired him, he says.
It was at about this time that Dalid began working for the Calcutta-based Elque group. The group, headed by Anil Sen, was catering to the UK market, supplying frozen samosas, pickles, marinaded chillies, sea food and other frozen Indian specialities. Dalid lent his touch to packaging the frozen food that regularly found its way to the royal banquets at Windsor Castle, adapting Indian motifs to the designer cardboard boxes. The design changed to suit the target market. Japan, for instance, received her share of the 'Chef's Choice' brand with Japanese motifs. More recently, he launched 'Kaarigar' with Surajit Sen of Elque to sell designer Indian pottery in the West.
Lending the designer touch is Dalid's speciality. I don't believe in grammar and like to mix my media when I am painting or doing graphics," says the voluble Dalid. He reproduced samples of ancient temple sculpture to do up the ceiling at the new Senco jewellery showroom in south Calcutta. Icecapades, an ice-cream parlour run by Kathleen confectioners on Russell Street, demanded a different line; it was 'hi-tech'.
There is nothing Dalid would not try
his hands at. He happily designs and models for a range of products from ISKCON
(International Society for Krishna Consciousness) calendars to skimpy underwear. He
even flirts with Vastushastra "" not that he is familiar with all the nitty gritty; it's a craze these days". But no compromises: he uses Vastu only as far as (his) designs permit it."
He lays down one condition though: he will not work on more than four projects at a time! But his friends would tell you he is a lazy man. If he had the perfect remote control, he would never get off his bed, they say. But when he does work, it is at a feverish pitch. I work without a break "" sometimes even at night "" to finish a project "" but then I might take it easy for the next few weeks," he explains casually.
His rooms serve as a wide canvas to a riot of experiments with colour, form and motif. And all this amidst a litter of rough pencil sketches of home interiors, half-done murals, catalogues of industrial products, bits of designer pottery, ornately designed wedding cards for NRIs, stacks of clothes, tins of emulsion paint...
Anarchy and creativity celebrate life amidst endless cups of tea, spilling ashtrays, roof-top jam sessions and music recitals by Dalid's friends. Adding more colour are trial runs with models for ad campaigns, video camera shootings...
Twenty four hours work and twenty four hours fun." That, in essence, is the credo Dalid lives by. And though he is great pals with anarchy, he is extremely soft on the mistress. In fact he seems to be preparing the ground for creativity to gain a permanent upper hand.
I'm doing this place up slowly," Dalid explains, pointing to the strip of bright red linoleum on the floor and to the low ceiling with a unique colour scheme of smoky black and white smoky waves. The pattern is also reflected on the bedspread and upon the walls in a rainbow of contrasting colours. The overall effect is splendidly set off by curtains in Chinese print.
He loves talking endlessly about his world encapsulated in these three rooms. Central to this world is a sacred spot "" a slightly elevated section done up with designer tiles. The walls here have the same wavy design, in light peach this time. The sanctum sanctorum boasts a painting of Dalid alongside a Buddha sporting bright red ear phones, a tabla set and a tanpura.
Dalid does tend to be, well, narcissistic? He loves lying in bed, playing and replaying back to himself, in slow motion, films that he commissioned, showing him at work. He particularly fancies his early days as a model. With great enthusiasm he pulls out piles of photographs and strews them about the floor. The next moment he is distracted by a question, and he takes no note as someone, in a bid to move across the room, leaves a dirty footprint on fragments of his precious past.
A young student from a local art school potters about, making tea, arranging the studio lights, clearing the ash trays and lighting his cigarette. He is another apprentice-trainee, taking informal practical lessons in designing with the local guru. I don't charge fees for this and simply let them help me on my projects, giving them grades after a few months of training," says Dalid.
It is time for photographs. The excited model wants to get the shot perfect. He poses with a spray in front of his mural. But just as the camera is to click, he calls his apprentice to fill the spray with water for the right sound effect, he says!
