With AH Block’s puja turning 40 this year, 40 residents above the age of 75 were felicitated by the puja committee. And the event turned out to be an outpouring of fond memories by the elders.
The residents were chosen on the basis of seniority and the first recipient was 90-year-old Tulsi Mohon Chowdhury. “I am overwhelmed with this gesture. This will be a source of inspiration for the rest of my life,” said Chowdhury, after the felicitation.
Octogenarian Chhobi Banerjee is a retired teacher and writer who has two books to her credit. The resident of AH 137 recited a self-composed poem on the irony of old age and received roaring applause from the crowd.
Another octogenarian Subal Chandra Ghosh is rather active and continues to impart free yoga sessions in four venues. “When I moved to AH Block with my family in 1983 we had just four or five neighbours. There were no streetlights and the howling of jackals was a regular affair. Vacant plots blossomed with kashful, public transport meant private buses on the lone 206 route and a single minibus route,” recalled Ghosh.
Biswanath Ghosh, a 1935-born, was a body builder and judo and jujutsu trainer. He was a disciple of Pulin Bihari Das and Bishnu Charan Ghosh, both known to promote yoga and sports. “I have been feeling younger ever since I heard about this felicitation,” he smiled. “When I settled here in 1984, there was no provision for outdoor games. I cleared the plot behind my house and created a playground. I bought a football and started training local children. I also taught them yoga and physical training,” said the resident who would be in charge of community lunch and the immersion procession during the early years of AH Block puja.”
The first secretary of the block, Pabitra Kumar Chatterjee, recalled that their first puja’s budget was less than Rs 10,000. “The puja subscription was Rs 100 but people were reluctant to pay even that. We would struggle to pull off community lunch for one day, sometimes running to the market a second time. Committee members would sit to eat after all others, lest food fall short!”
He recalled their cultural programmes, including the year when bands Bhoomi and Chandrabindoo performed on the same evening. “Towards the end of the programme, as late as 1.30am, artistes would switch to Hindi songs and we organisers would stand guard with batons, lest young lads started dancing. It was hilarious,” he recalled.
Chatterjee recalled how three or four plays would be staged during the Pujas back in the day. “Now most of our youths have moved out of town so these plays are a thing of the past,” he sighed.
President of the current puja committee, Shyamal Dutta, requested Chatterjee to write the history of AH Block. “With this felicitation, we wished to sustain the age-old tradition of paying respect to the elders as well as to instill a sense of duty and responsibility amongst the next generation. From now on such felicitations would be an ongoing process,” said Dutta.