Far away from home, a group of PhD students is trying to recreate the Calcutta Durga Puja feel in Chicago.

Bengali students in different departments at the University of Chicago feel “homesick” at this time of the year.

When family and friends were offering pushpanjali to Goddess Durga or praying during Sandhi puja back home, Soumik Ghosh, a fifth-year PhD scholar in computer science, and many other Bengali students were in the laboratories or sitting in front of their laptops.

“When I called my mother she had just offered the pushpanjali. These aspects of home is what you miss. It hits you on these specific days when you are in a foreign land and your culture is in the fringes and is not celebrated,” said Soumik over phone from Chicago.

But what they can look forward to is their own Durga Puja to be celebrated on October 19-20 in a hall.

Organised by Kheyal, the Bengali Students’ Club at the University of Chicago, this is the second edition of Durgotsav.

The group got their idol shipped from Kumartuli. A 6ft Durga idol with her entourage made by artist Mintu Pal, reached Chicago last week.

“It gives you a feeling of being able to recreate that Calcutta feeling in Chicago. We also want to recreate the para puja vibe,” said Aabesh Bhattacharyya, a PhD student in the department of statistics.

“We will organise a few games and quizzes that we had during the puja in our childhood days.”

The Durgotsav also tries to break stereotypes in many ways and aims to make it a celebration that promotes inclusiveness. For example, the person leading the pushpanjali is a girl.

“If we look for a Brahmin priest it will make the puja exclusive and take us backwards. We don’t want to create that kind of division,” said Bhattacharyya.

Unlike many other puja celebrated in foreign lands, this group has a theme: Sekal-er puja, Ekal-er puja (Puja then, Puja now).

“We have tried to project the theme through the food, decoration and cultural programmes,” said Bhattacharyya.

Their American peers are not just mere invitees but a more integral part of the celebrations.

An American student will play the guitar while some of his Indian mates will perform a medley during the cultural programme.