Students of a city school have designed their pandal with ‘woman’ as the central theme.
Paintings in acrylic and water colour by students of Classes IX and X of Chowringhee High School adorn the pandal. The painting depict the roles of a woman — as a mother protecting her child, as a free-spirited woman who wants to fly and be independent and as a career woman.
“Durga Puja is when we welcome the mother. Our students wanted to uphold the roles played by women. They did so with their paintings which have been used to decorate the pandal,” said Harshita Dasani, the school principal.
The 27th edition of the puja at Chowringhee High School would not have happened this year if not for the enthusiasm of its former and present students who wanted to carry forward the legacy of former administrator of the school, Perminder Dasani.
Perminder passed away in December last year.
“I thought the puja won’t happen this year but the students told me emphatically that the puja will take place. In fact, he (Perminder) told his daughters in November last year not to stop the puja,” said the principal, also Perminder’s wife.
“The students said that they would make all the arrangements to carry forward the legacy of their teacher,” she said.
Two walls of the pandal have been dedicated to the “woman” theme and one wall has been dedicated to Perminder’s memory. It contains Durga Puja pictures of previous years that happened under his leadership.
“Durga Puja is the ideal time to uphold the many hats that a woman wears both inside and outside the house,” said Subrata Kundu, art teacher of the school who conceptualised the paintings and guided the students.
“People around us need to know that women cannot be suppressed and be respectful of what she does which is often ignored by many. The message is also for the visitors who would come to our pandal,” said Class X student Diksha Sharma.