Durga Puja and senior citizens of Kolkata

In the fast-paced world of today, most of the senior citizens belong to a neglected lot. Their families do not want to recognize their presence and they might even discover themselves in old age homes. It could have been forced upon them due to circumstances beyond their control. Or - they might have opted for such an existence in order to survive. During a major festival like the Durga Puja, old timers in this category deserve a better deal. It is not possible for them to negotiate crowded streets, serpentine queues at pandals and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ultimately, many of them have no other alternative but to stay at home. This has led to the creation of groups who arrange to take them around and bring some cheer into their lives. Hand in hand with senior citizens for pandal-hopping. Many of these organizations arrange special packages for the elderly on special days. They offer visit to prestigious venues of the Pujas and these are not cheap.

Those who plan such outings have to keep in mind the safety and comfort of the senior citizens. Usually, they travel in air-conditioned buses with packed breakfast along with bottled water and beverages. The organizers keep ready nursing assistants, wheelchairs, medical kits etcetera and adhere to all COVID precautions. The itinerary avoids crowded and congested roads. There are also charity organizations that take around senior citizens and especially abled persons. Enthusiastic professionals from various occupations usually conduct activities of this nature. They arrange to distribute new clothes to the needy and try to bring some cheer in their dull lives.

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Pomp and glamour in Durga Puja in Bengal

Durga Puja holds a pride of place in Bengal. It is an occasion when the whole of Bengal comes together to enjoy a few days of unbridled fun. There are hundreds of Pujas and organizers spend hours to come up with new and innovative ideas to capture the imagination of the public and increase footfalls. There have been decorations where the bulk of material used defy imagination. In the past, some have gone in for bamboos, others relied on sea shells, others on coconut while others selected discarded parts of motor vehicles. The design of the pandals relied on well-known buildings including temples, churches, castles and other such unique structures. It seems the brains behind the pujas begin work much in advance. In fact, the planning stage takes off soon after immersion of the idols. Incidentally, the scale of the festivities expanded about a decade earlier. It coincided with a new government taking over. Youngsters are usually the prime movers who breathe life into festivals. In this case, also, they emerged on the scene to change the concept of celebrations. They had the support of people who matter. Thus, the new age Durga Puja came into existence where there was no dearth of funds and the imagination of the organizers could take wings. This festival earned the UN Cultural Heritage status in 2021.

The organizers rightly deserve this recognition because it is a combined effort of not only Bengalis but also all those who contribute. They come from all walks of life and work towards a common goal – success of the programs. These begin from carrying the idols from Kumartuli to the lorries for moving to the pandals till the immersion of the idols in the Hoogly River. Then there are the dance programs mostly of housing societies. The participants include Bengalis and non-Bengalis. When the time comes for community lunch, a common feature, everyone sits together – irrespective of religious faith.

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Preparations for Durga Puja 2022

Durga Puja is the greatest festival of Bengal and Bengalis all over the world. It has become a mega event for Kolkata and there are hundreds of Pujas held at various locations in the city and its suburbs. Normally, the organizers begin the preparations much in advance – some of them have a lead-time of several months. In order to attract the people, they identify themes for the design of pandals, arrangement of lights and decorations. Huge sums of money are involved and the source is usually through sponsors. Few of them are prominent names and they make their presence felt through banners. These display their products. Already it is August and this year, the dates for the festival are in the first week of October. Obviously, work is on in full swing in Kumartuli where artisans create the idols. They make use of moulds for the faces and most of the material used are environment friendly like bamboo, straw, clay. Many of the idols go overseas where Bengalis want to retain the tradition even though they might be thousands of miles away. Durga Puja 2022: Goddess Durga idols ready for export; artists from Kolkata’s Kumartuli hopeful for more orders this year

Durga Puja is a festival when people buy new clothes, ornaments, jewelry and footwear. With very little time left, shops have begun to work overtime and stock up their inventory. Many of them dispose their old unsold stocks at reduced prices and there are buyers. This is a craze among a section of Bengalis. They usually cannot afford to spend too much money. Most shops of this category occupy space on footpaths. As a result, traveling on foot becomes a nightmare. These shops are at Gariahat in South Kolkata and Hatibagan in North Kolkata. Alongside them, there are the fast food vendors who are assured of a steady stream of customers during the festive season. After all, in order to strike a bargain, the customer has to check out different shops and move from one to another. Therefore, once they have purchased what they need, they search for a food outlet and relax with egg roll or mughlai paratha or samosa or kachuri or chicken chow or momo. Alongside eatables, there are tea, lassi, ice cream and a huge variety of sweets from rosogollas to sandesh. The choice is huge provided one has the means

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Lord Shiva and Durga discuss opportunities for hand fans (satire)

Durga had returned to her abode in Mount Kailash and was settling down to another dreary routine life when Lord Shiva called her.
‘Did you hear anything about this new fad of immersion carnivals?’ he asked.
‘Immersion carnival?’ Durga was surprised.
She came over to Shiva and looked at the TV screen – it was a live demonstration of immersion processions presided over by the grand lady of Bengal. It is rumored that not a single leaf dares to turn or a bird dares to sing or a dog dares to bark without her permission.
‘Seems to be an interesting affair,’ Durga said as she sat down beside Shiva.
‘People are comparing it to the Rio Carnival,’ Shiva remarked.
‘That is noisier, livelier and more colorful,’ Durga said.

‘But, can this Sharad carnival draw audience from abroad?’
‘Time only can tell that,’ Durga replied.
‘I hear she had the idea during her recent visit to Europe,’ Shiva said. ‘She has already installed a Big Ben in the city and will have a giant Eye soon on the Hoogly. Probably she feels that foreigners will be impressed if they can get all such landmarks compressed into one city. A street carnival will add some weight.’
‘She certainly has outlandish ideas,’ Durga added. ‘There are rumors that next year onwards, the festival will be a 10-day affair.’
‘That means your annual trip will be a 10-day one?’
‘Yes. And – you’ll have to fend for yourself for ten whole days.’
‘Don’t worry about me. I’ll manage,’ Shiva assured. Inwardly he was happy, he would enjoy still more ganja. ‘You worry about yourself. You will have to remain cooped up in the pandals for ten days. It will be a terrible experience in the hot, humid surroundings.’
Durga laughed.
‘The organizers will install air conditioners and air blowers,’ she said. ‘They will replace the agarbatti manufacturers and become the main sponsors.’
‘Why not hand fans?’ Shiva asked. ‘It could give a boost to the hand fan manufacturing industry. If properly marketed, it could earn recognition among the foreign tourists who would be to watch the gala immersion parade on Red Road.’
Durga did not have any ready answer. (to be continued …)


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Three cheers for Didi – the Jill of all trades (satire)

Didi is a unique leader and has no parallel – she is a wonderful orator, she can paint rosy pictures sitting on the dais, she can swing votes in her favor, she can sing songs for almost any occasion – she is, in short, the Jill of all trades.
Suddenly her smartphone rang – it was Moo Cool, her trusted lieutenant.
‘Yes,’ her voice sounded tired. She had just returned to her office after inaugurating one dozen Durga pujas that evening.
‘I know you are famished, ‘Moo Cool was apologetic. ‘But – there is one more inauguration.’
‘But I have completed the schedule for the day,’ Didi was irritated.
‘This is not a puja but a toy train.’
‘In Darjeeling?’
‘No. In one of the pandals. You have inaugurated the puja but missed out the toy train. And – the kids are crying. They are waiting in queue and want you in the driver’s seat.’

Didi sighed.
She could not antagonize the kids. They were the future. Who knows, one of them could very well become her Nemesis and the reason for her downfall.
This Durga Puja had been hectic for her. All her fans wanted her to inaugurate the pujas and she did not have the heart to refuse. The popularity of movie stars faded when she came on the stage. And Tollywood had accepted the fate.
Didi had accommodated many of them into her menagerie and had never worried about the age factor. There were those bent down by age alongside the youth bubbling with energy. To her, the ability to draw crowds was what mattered.
As her car moved towards the venue, she remembered that she has yet to paint more pictures, sell them and make money to bring the Eiffel Tower into Kolkata. She had already brought the Big Ben and the London Eye was on its way. Now, it was the turn of the Eiffel Tower.
That was the feedback from the social media circuit as confirmed by Dee Wreck – he managed her internet interaction.
She was the only woman leader who could paint, write poems, sing, and walk – and hold the stage on her own. She could hold her audience spellbound with her oratory powers. She was, in essence, a Jill of all trades. (to be continued …)


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Lord Shiva’s Durga puja is about selfish people and selfies (satire)

Lord Shiva was totally relaxed. Durga had gone to her mother’s and the surroundings of Mount Kailash were calm and quiet. No sound of cooking came from the kitchen. Durga had, like a dutiful and loving Indian wife had cooked in advance and stocked the freezer with a variety of ready-to-eat dishes.
It was afternoon and Shiva was sitting in the shade of a tree after a dose of chillum when his smartphone rang. Durga was on the line.
‘Are you feeling lonely?’ he asked.
‘Not lonely but confused,’ Durga sighed.
‘Why?’
‘In one pandal, I am surrounded by broken bricks, in another pandal, it is sea shells, in a third it is coconuts. My devotees are exploiting me. To them, I have become a means to make money. There is no devotion.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Shiva consoled her. ‘It’s all for a good cause.’
‘How?’
‘This annual ritual surrounding your visit to your mother’s place has spawned a whole number of industries and generated thousands of jobs. It has reduced unemployment.’
‘I think your dose of ganja has gone to your head. You must be hallucinating.’
‘I am serious,’ Shiva said. ‘The annual puja that you are seeing is the result of a whole year’s effort by a group of people. And, these people are artists, artisans and think tanks. They are intellectuals and scour the internet to come up with revolutionary ideas to mint money.’
‘Don’t talk in riddles,’ Durga was irritated.
‘The brains behind these pujas work overtime to conjure up ways and means of making money. They select a design for the pandal and then sets the ball rolling. They have to generate enough employment potentials for their trusted followers to keep them happy.’
‘I really think you are stoned.’
‘No. I am absolutely sane. You must remember Rome was not built in a day.’
‘What has Rome got to do with Kolkata?’
‘Plenty. Believe me –the puja organizers are real genius. They dream up a theme like making the pandal out of seashells. And – procure them from people who will pay them back when required. It’s a major political game. Sponsors shell out the money and the organizers make the most of the opportunity.’
‘Now I understand why the awards go to those with political connections.’
‘Durga Puja today is about selfish people and selfies,’ Shiva said. (to be concluded …)


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Goddess Durga and her kids wait for the annual bash (satire)

‘How are the preparations going on?’ Lord Shiva asked to nobody in particular. He seemed to be off mood because, once Durga leaves with her kids for her mother’s home, he would be left alone to fend for himself. It was an annual affair and he had got used to it – he would enjoy the freedom.
‘The number of pujas are increasing,’ Saraswati said. ‘Kids today do not pray any longer for my intervention - they have got addicted to coaching classes and are scoring nearly full marks.’
‘I know,’ Lakshmi joined in the conversion. ‘They have unearthed innumerable methods to make money and are deserting me.’
‘You are so very right,’ Ganesh intervened. ‘Earlier, only a section of people used to worship me in Bengal. But, today, the numbers have increased. They seek my blessings for their investments in chit funds. My image is taking a beating.’
Kartika had been a silent spectator till now.

‘And what is your opinion?’ Durga prodded him. ‘You are the one who is supposed to make the fashion statement.’
‘Fashion is not there anymore,’ Kartika sighed. ‘Actors go bare bodied, actresses wear the skimpiest of dresses. And – it is not due to fashion but due to convenience.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Have you seen them dance?’
‘Yes. Every movie has dance sequences. That is the tradition.’
‘Right. But – the nature of the dance has changed. Today it is all about throwing your hands and legs in all directions. And – to perform such antics, one cannot be tied down in too much dress. It is the requirement – like in sports. Those who run to win medals wear the scantiest of dress – just to ensure respectability.’
‘Where does that leave you?’ Durga asked.
‘Stranded,’ Kartika replied.
‘Actually, Bengalis are gradually losing their culture,’ Durga sighed. ‘They want everything on a platter. Gone are the days when the women would think up new recipes to win the hearts of her family members.’
‘They don’t have time to think about such trivialities,’ Shiva murmured from his corner.
‘You can’t blame the women,’ Durga protested. ‘They now chip in with their salaries to enjoy the goodies that life has to offer.’
‘I know,’ Shiva grinned. ‘I can see that from the huge crowds in the pandals – they do not have time to pray to you. They are busy taking selfies and wondering about the table booked in the restaurant to enjoy over long forgotten Bengali menus.’
Ganesh strolled up stroking his paunch.
‘I should now,’ he said. ‘The restaurants have master chefs who try hard to replicate the recipes of their mothers and grandmothers.’
‘And – the owners roll in money while the patrons roll in agony - at the size of the bill.’
‘One has to pay to enjoy the good things of life,’ Durga became philosophical. ‘Everything comes with a price tag.’(to be continued …)


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