At a time when most committees are racing to complete Durga puja preparations, a Kali puja committee has begun work on theirs. On the day of Ganesh Puja, Balaka Salt Lake City performed the khunti puja of its Kali Puja at BD Park.
“Since this is our golden jubilee year, our pandal will be bigger than usual and there will be more work. We had to perform our khunti puja well in advance and what better day for it than Ganesh puja,” said Kanchan Jana, an AD Block resident who is co-ordinator to the puja’s chief patron and president, local MLA and minister Sujit Bose.
The pandal will be based on a temple and the idol will be sculpted by Pradip Rudrapal. Babu Pal of Chandernagore has been commissioned to provide the illumination. Work has begun on a portion of BD Park at a distance from where the Durga puja pandal is coming up.
“Our club engages in social activities too and through the pandemic, we organised vaccination camps and provided oxygen and doctors’ support to those in need. We are happy that the Covid situation is under control now so we can celebrate this milestone,” said Jana. “While the economic crisis is unfortunate and it may not be possible to raise sponsorship to the extent we could have in pre-pandemic times, we shall leave no stone unturned as far as pouring our emotions into the festivities is concerned.”
The highlight of the puja’s cultural programmes will be a Kumar Sanu night on October 19. Jayati Chakraborty would also perform on one of the days. They will also felicitate 10 founder members of the club. “It shall be a nostalgic time for us. Balaka was started at a time where there were maybe five to 10 houses in every block. The para culture was yet to develop and our meeting points were markets and playgrounds. That’s how our association with Sujit Bose began too. He would come from Sreebhumi and play with us,” said Jana.