#durga puja 2012

[withshaona-blog]

Babu Bagan, pandal making in the neighborhood my father grew up in.

Durga Puja, Kolkata 2012

[greenjaydeep]

Border security turns Bijoya bitter for many

Kamalendu Bhadra TNN 

People from India and Bangladesh immerse their Durga idols in Icchamati – on Taki international river border – every year and later exchange goodies

Taki: Though Bijoya Dashami is celebrated by exchanging greeting and sweets, it was a sad day for some who had gathered on either side of Icchamati on Wednesday, with hopes to meet their friends and relatives across the border.      Unlike the last three years, the administration on both sides of the river border did not allow boats from Bangladesh or India to  cross over and sail into the overseas country this time. “I don’t know if I can go to your land. They are not allowing a single boat to cross the river,” a youth was heard shouting over the phone, several heart-shaped balloons clutched in his hand.      Until now, every year on Bijoya Dashami, people from the two neighbouring countries used to assemble on Icchamati to exchange pleasantries and gift. Shyama Prasad Dutta, a citybased solicitor who had gone all the way to Taki to witness the splendid crossborder immersion ceremony, was heartbroken. “It’s sad that these people have been deprived of a re-union with their friends from across the border. But apart from the security threat to our nation, the huge infiltration every year on this day is also harming our population balance and economy,” he reasoned.      However, no logic seemed to be pacifying enough for a 70-year-old  mother who had come all the way to meet his son. Every time the announcement – “This year, boats will not be allowed to cross the international border. All the boats are requested to abide by the order of the administration” – blared out of the speakers, tears welled up in her eyes, as Tagore’s “Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy Hote Kakhon Aponi/ Tumi ei aporup rupe bahir hole janoni.../ Tomar duar aaji khule gechhe sonar mondire…”  playing in the background added to the cruel paradox.

[greenjaydeep]

On roads, the smoothest Puja in years

BIDDING ADIEU: Immersion crowd on the roads was less chaotic compared to previous years

Cops Overcome Panchami Chaos; Metro Registers Record Footfall

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Kolkata:Chaos during the Pujas last year turned into order this year as Kolkata Police refused to let the perennial traffic stoppers — rampant illegal parking, crowds spilling over on streets and autorickshaws — to play a spoilsport.      Barring occasional hiccups and a few bottlenecks, which slowed down traffic in patches, vehicles kept moving smoothly in Kolkata on all the four puja days. However, huge turnout at the pandals, ahead of Shashthi, will send police back to the drawing boards on whether traffic and vehicular restrictions need to be preponed from next year.      Police commissioner R K Pachnanda said, “We’ve been working on these for the past three months. Earlier, people started early and were done with their pandal visits by 4am. Since last year, we’ve noticed that people, in order to avoid the late-night traffic, started visiting the pandals in the early mornings too. So, we decided to keep a strong police presence in the morning. Around 57 traffic sergeants were initially deployed in the morning and it was later scaled to 67. Their job was to ensure that no parking was made on the main thoroughfares. This, we feel, kept the roads free.”      He said much of the Panchami bottlenecks were due to the office traffic overlapping with the pandal-hoppers. However, he asserted: “If people choose to visit the pandal early, it is our job to ensure that they have a hassle-free time. So, we will try to work on it going forward.” This year most of  the big draw Pujas were inaugurated in dwitiya and tritiya. The traffic restrictions and  road diversions, essential to ensure a smooth traffic movement in Pujas, come into force from  Shashthi and remain operational till Dashami. This can’t be enforced before, for it will curtail the movement of office-bound traffic since Panchami is a normal working day. The restrictions on autorickshaws also came into force from Shashthi. So, the Panchami crowd was over-and-above these factors leading to the bottlenecks, which took several hours to ease out.      The Metro Railway made a record by carrying nearly 32.85 lakh commuters between Panchami and Dashami this year. The largest crowd was on Panchami when 7.45 lakh commuters availed the services. According to Protyush Ghosh, DGM(G), Metro Railway, the number of commuters was 21.64% higher than the Pujas in 2011. “We also earned Rs 1.69 crore from ticket sales during the Pujas. This was an all-time high. In 2011, we had earned Rs 1.49 crore. This year, we had arranged 1,158 services during the Pujas. This was 251 more than last year. The services were completely trouble free,” he said.

[withshaona-blog]

A Bengali custom now comes with more meaning

Durga Puja, the Indian festival celebrating good triumphing evil, has wrapped up til next year! No exaggeration, imagine a massive, creativity filled carnival, going on in all of one of the most populated cities (Kolkata) of the world, for a week. Hopping in and out of the possible 4,500+ (99% handmade) pandals (huge, intricate shrines) to see various renditions of a mythological Goddess. Visual storytelling like I've never seen before. And everyone, poor to rich, mixed together, dressed in new/clean clothes given by family and friends, with an overall feeling of hope in the city air. This is Kolkata, during Durga Puja.

My family, friends, Bengali community back home celebrate Durga Puja every year. I've finally seen the roots of. I wish I could bring anyone and everyone to Kolkata, to the longest stretch of festive atmosphere I've felt yet. Incredible.

Well wishes to my loves during this time of year, since I can remember, is more meaningful than ever before. 'SHUBHO BIJOYA (A big cheers to the power of 'good')" to all.

[withshaona-blog]

More wandering, less sitting

This stay, time usually spent visiting LOTS of family (= 2-3hr hosting filled with heaps of rice, sweets, chai and storytelling that shouldn't be rushed)  was minimal and more of lots of walking, street food grubbing and public people watching during the most festive time of the year in Kolkata. And in the mix of, enjoying a breeze and view from my family's rooftops/verandas, eating in my mother and aunt's favorite Chinese restaurant that they'd go to during their pre-marriage days, seeing spots like where my grandmother would go for tailoring.