The GC Block pandal this year was done up — not by theme makers but — by residents themselves. About 20 women worked for weeks to decorate the community hall with kulos and kolshis that they had painted themselves.
The idea was mooted by block vice president and pandal convenor Joyjit Roy and then Rupa Gupta and Alpana Kar took it upon themselves to get the artwork organised.
“There are many women in the block who have a knack for art and volunteered eagerly,” said Rupa. “We would take five or six kulos home and paint them through the week. In the weekends we’d stay in the community hall from 3 to 9pm and work together,” said Alpana. Rehearsals for plays would go on next to them and the overall ambience was one of cheerful camaraderie.
They painted Durgas, owls and warli figures on some 150 kulos and 50 kolshis. Lampshades were made of baskets and handfans were embellished with ribbons. That the women loved the work was apparent when Priyanka Shaw, a mother of two young kids, said she would sit with the artwork after putting the kids to bed at 10pm every night. “I have a puppy who keeps me on my toes round the clock but I pick up my paintbrush whenever he dozes off,” added Tanusree Basu. “Since we love art, we made time for it.”
Jhumpa Ghosh said that despite being amateurs, they worked diligently. “And even if we made a mistake, the canvases could be painted over,” said Jhumpa, who is also the cultural committee convenor. “Our puja didn’t have the budget to hire a theme maker but this way we enjoyed and had a pandal to be proud of.”
“Children are easy to involve in block activities. They readily join group dances or plays. But adults need a lot of pushing. Mandap decoration brought everyone together,” said Roy, who chipped in by painting himself.