After a gap of two years, it was a no-holds-barred Vijaya sammilani organised by the Salt Lake BE (East) puja committee to conclude the 43rd edition of their Durga puja. And the highlight of the evening was a performance by singer Sriradha Bandyopadhyay. “It is an honour to be back and perform for you all,” said Bandyopadhyay. “I stay in the next block (CE), so I am one of you.”
She went on to sing popular tracks like Naam na jane dham na jane, Amar shwapan kinte pare, Ami tomar shonge bnedechhi and more. She also presented a few Hindi hits like Jaane kya baat hai, Lag ja gale and Aaj jane ki zid na karo. Requests kept reaching the singer.
“I am so happy to receive this song request! Even though I have never performed this number in public, I shall sing it for you today,” said Bandyopadhyay, as she began Piya bina piya bina. Singers Jolly Das and Kumar Sanjoy also performed later that night.
Audience members were visibly upbeat. “We feel so relaxed tonight watching this show in the open. It’s as if we’re going back to the good old pre-pandemic days,” said Papia Basak, a resident. “Everything was low key the last two years so this year we are delighted to host a show that people of all ages can come and enjoy,” said joint secretary of the puja committee, Aniruddha Ghosh.
“We had not planned the Vijaya meet much in advance. We waited till Dashami and when we realised that we have enough funds, we went ahead with grand plans. Our councillor Sabyasachi Dutta helped us a lot.” Prizes were also given out to winners of various competitions held during the Pujas, like phuchka and kamolabhog-eating and conchshell-blowing.Rajat Saha won the first prize in the kamolabhog-eating competition, having wolfed down eight of the sweetmeats in a minute. “I love sweets! I had once eaten 38 sandeshes at a wedding. I could have eaten more but with everyone watching, I shied away,” smiled Saha. In the phuchka-eating contest, Ranjit Ghosh and Bappaditya Chowdhury were joint winners. “I ate phuchka after almost 30 years. Maybe the long abstinence gave me the boost and I could gulp down 15 phuchkas in a minute,” said Ghosh. “I live in HA Block and was here to meet a friend on the evening of the contest. Since it was open to all, I had joined it.”
Shatadipa Bhattacharya
Feeling the idols
A musical performance at Workshop for the Blind
Vijaya Sammelani 2022 was special for students of Workshop for the Blind as it was the culmination of a festival of many firsts.
“We have lived through many a Durga puja but this was the first time we were taken to Kumartuli before the festival,” said Kakoli Barui, an instructor of the LB Block address for the visually impaired. “The artisans explained to us the different stages of making of the idol. We ran our fingers on the idols and saw their work with our inner eyes. It was a phenomenal.”
Another student, Saraswati Pandit, shared her experience of attending a khnuti puja for the first time. “I had always heard about this ritual but wasn’t clear about it. But this year we were taken to AK Block’s khnuti puja and all the rituals were explained to us. We got to touch the sacred khnuti too,” smiled the student who attends the workshop from Behala.
Besides sharing memories, the students performed. They began with a chorus of Egiye cholo, the lyrics of which had been penned by the visually impaired founder-secretary of the workshop, the late Tulsi Narayan Chakraborty, in the 1970s.
Swapan Singha played the harmonium and sang Kishore Kumar’s Aaj ei dintake, accompanied by Subodh Rajak on the tabla. Rajak, whose vision was claimed by a strain of typhoid, teaches computer at the workshop. Visually challenged guest artiste Bidhan Chandra Das played Rabindrasangeet on the flute and Shishir Das played folk songs on his dotara. Chandan Mukherjee recited Nazrul’s poem Shariat and, on request from the audience, followed it up with Satyendranath Dutta’s Jonaki.
The event was compered by president of the workshop Sanjay Kumar Das, who described their institute as a close-knit family. Septuagenarian secretary, Swapan Ghosal, spoke of how their students were invited to perform at several puja pandals this year. “The icing on the cake, of course, was the trip to Kumartuli. I always thought the hands of Durga were spread around like branches of a tree but after touching the idols realised how it actually is,” he said.
Bharati Kanjilal
Twins worshiped
Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra members perform in front of guests
The Durga puja at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, in DD Block was inaugurated virtually by the chief minister this year and its Vijaya sammelani was presided by Debashis Sen, the managing director of Hidco. The chief guests, Sen and his wife Urmila Sen, were felicitated by president of the centre Sharat Kanjilal and secretary Chanchal De. Debashis Sen lauded the administration for the smooth running of the centre and wished it the best for the future. Urmila Sen spoke on the significance of Vijaya Dashami and recited Himero ratey oi gaganer deepgulire from Gitabitan. Members of the institute then took stage. Sikha De performed Tagore’s Oi Asantaler and Sreemoyee Das, Mou Chatterjee and Indira Banerjee followed it up with devotional music. “Whenever I step into this centre I feel like I’ve come to my parents’ house. It’s serene, peaceful and I feel heavenly,” said Sikha De, a gynaecologist.Saikat Pakrashi presented a glimpse of the pandemic through his own story, titled 2020: Ekti nirbak upohar, and Piyali Roy Burman danced to Samarohey eso hey sundari. Guest artist Manika Dutta performed songs on Ramakrishna and Sister Nivedita and Aloke Das presented Rabindrasangeet on the harmonica. “I am associated with this centre since 2007, when I was entrusted with starting a foreign language department here,” said Lopamudra Sarkar, who recited Ami shei meye and Pathorer maa by Shuvo Dasgupta. “We began with Spanish and spoken English, that I teach myself, and gradually introduced French, Japanese, Sanskriti and other languages.” “This was the 36th year of our puja and was inaugurated on Tritiya, virtually by the chief minister and in person, later in the day, by Swami Jnanalokanandaji, trustee of Ramakrishna Mission,” said secretary Chanchal De. “Our specialty this year was that the Kumari puja featured a pair of twin girls. Prasad was distributed to about 12 to 13,000 devotees too,” he added.
Bharati Kanjilal