Durga Puja and cultural programs

Durga Puja today is celebrated on a grand scale in Kolkata and anyone remotely connected with the celebrations invariably enjoy the fruits of labor in the form of fringe benefits. It happens irrespective of the size. I remember in our township where it was on a scale much smaller than that in Kolkata but large by local standards.
The venue was fixed – it used to be in an open space that the organizers covered up to ensure sitting spaces for those who would come to enjoy the entertainment programs in the evening.
I am talking of the period of the 1970s when TV was an object of desire that was available in only a few selected houses. The TV set was B&W and the programs were only from Doordarshan.

Anyway, in those days, the organizers of the Pujas in township would make arrangements to have one entertainment program every evening for all the four days. Due to the proximity with Mumbai, volunteers would go there and contact orchestra groups and reputed drama groups. The intention was to have programs that would appeal to different sections of society. The entertainment would be Bollywood based with artistes who would sing, dance, and perform mimicry. The drama would be Marathi. And, then, there would be a local program where local talent would go on stage.
Obviously, all these involved finance and, since the number of Bengalis was limited, the organizers had to reach out to others. Volunteers would fan out beyond township and collect donations. Everyone who donated would be given passes to attend the entertainment programs in the evenings and arrangements would be made to request the MSRTC buses for special trips at the end of the show.
However, all good things do not last for long and, in this case also, the social scenario gradually underwent a sea change – the reason was the arrival of color TV and a variety of entertainment channels. The days of ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ on Doordarshan was over, it was replaced by serials like Hum Log and Buniyaad. (to be continued …)
Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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