Durga Puja, for most, is a time to enjoy, feast and celebrate. For some others, it’s a time to earn some much-needed extra money.
From the men who make the pandals to the hawkers selling sundry items in front of the pandals or the street food vendors — Durga Puja makes sure each of them can boost their income.
My Kolkata meets a few people who look forward to these five festive days for a different reason, to celebrate the chance to take home a few extra rupees, and every one of them tries their best to come up with ways to make the most of the opportunity.
Festive extras
Rakesh Gupta, a phuchka seller from the bylanes of Behala, chooses to set up shop near a puja pandal, hoping to sell more
Rakesh Gupta has been selling phuchka in the bylanes of Behala, visiting one locality to another and ringing the bell at homes. But during Durga Puja, he chooses to set up shop near a puja pandal, hoping to sell more.
On the lookout for more customers, he sells a variety of phuchkas and chaats — many of them exclusive to Durga Puja.
“People who are out pandal-hopping usually want to try different kinds of phuchka. So, besides jol phuchka, I have doi phuchka, ghugni phuchka, alur dum phuchka, meetha phuchka and a variety of chaats. More the variety, more the effort you need to put in. So to help me out with peeling potatoes and other things, my nephew comes from Bihar,” said Rakesh. His reward: at least double the income during Puja.
The spot near a puja pandal does not come for free. But if the area is chosen wisely, the profits can cover the cost, too. “Depending on the location and scale of the Puja, one has to pay a fee to the committees. But if you can pick a good spot, one can make up to five times the profits they usually make,” Rakesh said.
Like him, many other food vendors come up with innovations to please revellers. Many tea sellers add tidbits to their menu to cater to famished pandal-hoppers. Many roadside food stalls get their family members to help them on the days of Pujo.
Extended hours are a given, whatever the scale of the eatery. An owner of a franchise of Kreamz in Mudiali said, “People who are a little health and hygiene conscious and don’t want to eat from roadside stalls often turn to confectioneries. We have decided to keep the shutters open all night with a rotational shift among the shop workers. We (owners), too, are helping them out till late hours.”
Building opportunities
The Durga Puja pandal of South End Club on Bawali Mondal Road, near Southern Avenue, opposite Mudiali, comes up with a modest but innovative theme every year. People who come to visit big-ticket pujas in the area often stop by to admire the small but well-designed pandal. The committee members ideate every year and trust their local decorator with the executiSome props made by Jayanta Das for South End Club_s tribal theme_
Props made by Jayanta Das for South End Club's tribal theme pandal
Jayanta Das, who runs a small 'decorator' business, takes pride in designing and making the pandal in keeping with the ideas shared. Otherwise involved in decorating venues for wedding, birthdays, parties on a small scale, Durga puja is his biggest opportunity to showcase his talent as well as earn extra money. “This is most definitely my biggest project every year that requires a lot of prior research and planning. I search the internet to draw inspiration on designs and implement them on my own. Since the payment is more, I am also able to hire two other people,” said Das. He has been in the business for more than 30 years.
Vishwanath Haldar is involved in constructing bamboo structures for pandals
A labourer from Burdwan, Vishwanath Haldar, is involved in constructing bamboo structures. He travels to Kolkata as part of a group that works as daily wagers in the run-up to Durga Puja. “All year, we build pandals for different occasions and even pujas. But the payment during Durga Puja is slightly more since the pandals are bigger and have more complex structures. We work for seven to eight hours everyday and can get paid something around Rs 800-1200 a day. The amount entirely depends on the deal and complexity of the project.”
While Haldar travels to various other districts of West Bengal for work, during Durga Puja he makes sure he is in Kolkata. “The payment in big cities is more and then there is more work.”
Some tales of struggle
There are some, however, who struggle to make a living during pujo. Movement of rickshaws, totos and auto-rickshaws is severely affected by traffic regulations and restrictions, congested streets during Puja. Auto-rickshaws often have to take alternate routes through lanes and bylanes or opt for reserved rides.
“The usual route is closed down during the prime time of the day, so we take the inner gullies till a certain point. Many of us take passengers on a reserved ride to earn extra. We cannot sustain otherwise,” said an auto rickshaw driver in south Kolkata.
Pandal makers at work
Congestion on main roads and closure of by-lanes is another problem, according to a rickshaw-puller in Thakurpukur. “We take alternate routes but then we are often stuck for a long time in traffic snarls. Everyone wants to take shortcuts and cars, autos, bikes get into narrow lanes. There are usually no traffic volunteers in these lanes, so we have to wait until the local residents help to release the traffic. Many times passengers have to get off mid-way and pay us half of the agreed fare because we can't take them to the destination,” he said. To make up for the losses because of the unstructured system, the fares are often increased.
