Mamata Banerjee expresses gratitude to UNESCO for awarding Cultural Heritage tag to Kolkata’s Durga Puja

Kolkata witnessed an unusual rally. The people of the city usually have to endure rallies of political parties but this was an exception. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee headed it. The purpose was to express gratitude to UNESCO for including Kolkata’s Durga Puja on the intangible cultural heritage representative list. The chief minister had renowned cricketer Sourav Ganguly alongside her on the stage and they greeted the UNESCO representatives who were present on the occasion. The rally included not only Kolkata but also each district of West Bengal. Among the participants were women drummers of South 24 Parganas to religious and cultural groups (Bauls) of Birbhum. The rally originated from Jorasanko Thakur Bari (House of Rabindranath Tagore) in Kolkata and culminated at Red Road ‘Durga Puja is Celebrated by All’: Mamata Thanks UNESCO for Recognising Festival at Kolkata Rally. The chief minister thanked the UNESCO representatives who had come. She said, “….. About Rs 40 crore business takes place during the Durga Puja, and this support from UNESCO will give a big boost to us…..”

Sourav Ganguly also expressed happiness and said Durga Puja is “beyond imagination”. He admitted about traveling to different parts of the world and said he had never seen such festivity anywhere. He thanked UNESCO about giving the festival due recognition. The TMC government also felicitated Professor Tapati Guha Thakurtha for her efforts to put Bengal’s Durga Puja in the UNESCO list.

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I have been asked any number of times as to how I landed up in the Customer Services department and no one would believe that Tagore was responsible. Yes, the very same Rabindranath Tagore, the name every Bengali swears by.
The fact of the matter was my involvement in the Tagore birthday celebrations. The Bengali community wanted to put up a small play and they wanted me to select a story, write the script and help in directing it. Well – that was not much of a problem. There was sufficient time and once the script was approved, rehearsals began in the evenings. It would be held on the rooftop of one of the actors.

The venue of the program was supposed to be the School auditorium and I was under the impression that the Bengali club would get the approval from the school. But, at the last minute. I got to know that they had not bothered presuming that I would get the permission.
Well – I had an argument with one of the club members that led to high blood pressure. I was hospitalized and my doctor, a very strict doctor, wanted me to come over for periodic checkup every fortnight. He had prescribed medicines and the effect of those medicines was that I became like a zombie. I began to forget simple things like the names of technicians working under me.
My doctor was a chain smoker and, forbade me from smoking. When I pointed this out to him, he smiled and replied – I may be a chain smoker but I can float in the water for hours. Can you?
Anyway, I was stuck with the situation and finally requested my boss for a transfer. And, that is how I landed up in a department where all my colleagues were near to retirement.
Incidentally, when next I visited Kolkata, I got myself checked up by a specialist and he informed that my physical condition was not bad and I could safely discontinue all medicines. It was a huge relief. (to be continued …)


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