Labony Housing Estate

The Labony Puja turns 50 this year and festivities began right from its khuti puja, when over 2,500 residents from their 700 flats came to join.

There were tribal dancers, male and female dhakis along with guests like minister and MLA Sujit Bose and councillor Tulsi Sinha Roy. The celebration also included a group of underprivileged and specially-abled children.

To make a statement on its golden jubilee year, the housing society had hired 50 dhakis, both male and female, to drum up a beat. “This year, for the first time we also served lunch for all our residents on khuti puja. Because of the mood of protest all around, raising funds from the market is a challenge. Still we are going ahead with our resources,” said secretary Sumit Sarkar.

Artist Animesh Pal from Santiniketan is creating a glass temple. It will not be a replica of any existing structure. The idol will be traditional,” the organisers say.

BB Block

Handi, khunti, utensils, and that too with a touch of divinity. The theme of the Durga puja at BB Block this year is the holy kitchen of lord Jagannath. “Artiste Goutam Das is working on the theme and will be depicting the utensils, cooking process and bhog that is offered at the lord’s temple,” said secretary of the block committee, Sudipta Dey.

Last year, the block’s puja had turned 50 and the organiser had used patachitra to narrate the story of Manasamangal Kabya in what was one of the most loved theme pandals in the township. “Last time, the puja was in the park but this time we are back to celebrating it outside the community hall. The scale will be less but we are sure it will be worth a visit,” said Dey.

The khuti puja was attended by minister and MLA Sujit Bose and councillors Kakali Saha and Tulsi Sinha Roy.

“We have yet to take a call on our cultural programmes this time. We’re not sure if it would be right to hold them at a time when the city is so upset about the RG Kar hospital incident,” said Dey.

Silver Oak Estate

When Silver Oak Estate performed their khuti puja this year, they had grand plans of building a pandal resembling a Rajasthani temple. But then the RG Kar hospital rape and murder happened.

“Now we are so upset that we’ve toned down the celebration,” said puja president Amit Mukhopadhyay. “We shall be having an eco-friendly ‘gram Bangla’ kind of pandal and, most importantly, residents will be creating paintings on women’s safety and empowerment that we shall put up.”

Every year, the complex gifts new clothes and meals to a children’s home in Baruipur, but this time they have decided to fund one year’s worth of martial arts coaching for the girls and boys. “This is very important in today’s day and age,” said Mukhopadhyay.

Residents of the complex near City Centre 2 have been organising multiple protest marches as they want to keep the RG Kar issue alive. “As for the celebrations, we have survived the pandemic, and if we weather this current storm, we shall get to enjoy other Pujas ahead. This year we want to keep it simple,” said Mukhopadhyay.

DL Block

“No one is as excited as we used to be for the Pujas, but then children look forward to it. The elderly are already depressed due to the RG Kar incident, and they need something to look forward to as well. So we are going ahead with a simple puja,” said Chandrika Ramakrishnan, president of the DL Block Residents’ Association after their khuti puja.

Minister and MLA Sujit Bose and councillor Kakali Saha had come down for the ceremony.

Ramakrishnan also mentioned how many people depend on the festival for their livelihood. “Even our decorator Amalendu Das has been worried and has been gently asking if the puja is on. We also do charity work during the festival, treating specially-abled people from homes and distributing saris among domestic helps. So the puja shall certainly continue but it shall be a homely affair to pray for peace and for the parents of the slain doctor,” she said.

AE (Part 2)

A simple puja with the focus on devotion. That’s the mantra at AE (Part 2) this year. “We’ve never really been drawn to themed pujas,” explained Tapas Sengupta, secretary of AE Block Samaj Kalyan Sangha, the residents’ welfare association of the block. “A truly successful theme requires meticulous co-ordination of pandal, idol, decor, lighting…. It’s complex, costly and something most residents don’t seek in the first place.”

Many of the residents are elderly who simply want a traditional idol that evokes devotion.

Their idol is being sculpted by Sunayan Pal, who is working right next to the community hall. “Ordering from Kumartuli involves multiple trips to check on its progress and offer suggestions,” Sengupta explained. “Plus, renowned sculptors often take on more orders than they can handle, leading to a mad rush towards the end to ensure timely delivery. By having the idol sculpted here, we can monitor the process more closely and it’s a great opportunity for children to witness the idol’s creation first-hand.”

Polenite

Residents of Polenite, the unplanned area between Sector V and New Town, have seen their surroundings change drastically since the development of swanky condominiums. “Those gated complexes have big pujas but they aren’t open to outsiders. So now we too have decided to have a theme for our puja,” said Aninda Pramanick, secretary of the Polenite Sarbojanin Durgotsav committee.

The pandal will be based on the Swaminarayan temple of London. “Work had started in our artiste Imdadul Islam’s workshop two months ago but the khuti puja had to wait as a football tournament was scheduled in the field here on Independence Day,” said Pramanick. The khuti puja took place shortly afterwards.

The puja is older than most others in the neighbourhood — it will be celebrating 53 years in 2024 — and the budget is Rs 20-22 lakh.

“We have scaled up the puja since the last few years mainly for the sake of our elderly residents. Youths head out to see the Salt Lake pujas but the elderly are unable to travel far. Balaka Abasan puja used to be a stone’s throw away from our area but of late they aren’t doing anything fancy. The Newtown Sarbojanin puja, outside Central Mall, is the closest but not within walking distance,” Pramanick said. “It will be a big and beautiful puja, and all are welcome."