BL Block’s Kali puja saw a combination of riveting cultural programmes and contests. The first day saw a performance by Snigdhajit Bhowmick of Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame who also boasts of having sung the Alcoholia number in the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Vikram Vedha.
More than 200 people turned up for the show and grooved to the beats of Yeh kali kali aankhen, Badan pe sitare and Kal ho naa ho. But what really set the stage on fire was Snigdhajit’s folk songs like Hrid majhare rakhbo and Mon majhi re.
“Our block has a history of connecting with the youth,” said president of the organising committee Shameek De Sannamath. This was the 32nd edition of Shri Shri Shyama Puja and Spectrum, by BL Block youth wing. “It has become popular among college-goers and gets participants from outside Salt Lake too.”
There were several competitions such as treasure hunt, FIFA, Need For Speed (NFS), quiz, antakshari and band performance by Bhromor. For the treasure hunt, five clues were set up across the block. Each team with three members had to gather all five clues to find the treasure, which was a cash prize of Rs 1,000.
Ruhani Chakraborty, one of the winners of the treasure hunt, said: “It was really exciting to look for the clues and find the treasure. We divided the money amongst our team members.”
Ketan Biswas, one of the participants in the gaming competition, said: “This online gaming competition was exciting. I love football and NFS. It was very thrilling. There were more than 35 people taking part. I am so happy that new things are coming up for youngsters every year.”
Sing along
The antakshari was a fun affair with participation from near and far. Participants had to listen to songs and identify the hero, heroine, watch muted visuals to identify the film and sing another song from it, hear the antara and sing the mukhda…
Conducting the show and singing the songs was Sonali Sen, a resident of CL Block who has been a part of Spectrum since she was in Class VI. “I’ve joined this antakshari as a participant, judge and now anchor,” she laughed. “Though I am more comfortable with older songs, I practise the latest ones too so we can keep the contest contemporary.”
This time, there was just one song that neither the teams nor audience could identify from the muted visuals. It was Radhe Radhe from Ayushmann Khurrana’s 2019 film Dream Girl. The contest was won by a team from Behala and the runner-up was BL Block’s Daga family, comprising grandpa, grandma, son, son’s wife and their toddler.