ABSTRACT
Calcutta, now Kolkata, has a tradition of providing homes to different people from different socio-economic backgrounds. A city, established by the British colonialists, welcomed migrants from different parts of undivided Bengal and many other parts of India. Some of them were able to establish good working relations with colonial rulers and became wealthy. The poorer section that came to the city in search for a better livelihood was appointed as hard manual labourers, servants of the palaces and also in the houses of colonial rulers. Apart from manual labourers or servants, some of these poor working class communities started practicing their traditional professions in the city. Sawng, or a kind of street pantomime, was one such form of popular entertainment, often depicting social scandals involving well-known figures in the society. Besides mythological themes, the act of Sawng became most popular, especially within the labouring communities of the city, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. While the songs of Sawng performances were known as critiques of the newly born elite society of the nineteenth century, later, it became a tool for the nationalist elites to organise common people in the movements. The article analysed the transformation process of a cultural protest, through the lyrics used in the Sawng performances and try to locate the nature of the elitist domination over a subaltern entertainment in the name of nationalism and nationalist protest which resulted in a complete decline of a unique cultural tradition.
