The Aranghata Upendra Memorial Institution in Nadia, which is the only school in the state that officially organises Durga puja on its campus in the School Para area of the township, on Monday felicitated working mothers as “real-life Durgas”.

On Maha Ashtami, the 120-year-old higher secondary school paid a tribute to “working mothers” as a recognition of their great role inside and outside the home.

The event was geared around the theme titled “Amar Maa-Amar Garbo (My mother-My pride)".

As a part of the event, 50 mothers, who work in the brick kilns, on construction sites or as farm labourers were felicitated by 50 students of the school.

Reciting the hymns of Rig Veda, the students felicitated the “mothers” with flowers, sweets, and saris.

The women stood in a row before the deity.

“This is a tribute to the Durgas in real life. Goddess Durga in real life has been epitomised as the working mother who regularly toils for the sake of her children. There are many students in our school who are the children of working mothers. A large number of people living in the area belong to the working class. We have tried to cultivate respect for these mothers in the mind of our students,” said Barun Sengupta, a teacher of English in the school, and the brain behind this year’s puja theme.

Started in 1948 by a group of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on the school ground as a community puja, this Durga puja eventually turned into a school event during the early parts of the 1980s.

The event turned 75 this year. School authorities have been officially organising it for about the past 40 years with the collective support of contemporary students, teachers, and non-teaching staff.

The popularity of the event makes it a bigger community event with the involvement of local people, who join hands with teachers and students during the five festive days.

However, the school does not collect any subscriptions from local residents. The entire expenses of the event are sourced from donations from teachers and non-teaching staff, as well as one-time annual subscriptions from students.

Teachers, non-teaching staff, and students, despite the ongoing puja vacations, sincerely attend school during the festive to discharge their responsibilities of the puja.

On the history of the puja, local residents had an interesting account. They said that after Independence in 1947, a large number of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan settled in Aranghata. Back then, Durga puja was an exclusive family event for some rich families in the area. However in 1948, the refugees joined hands to organise a community Durga puja on the school ground. Mohini Mohan Chakraborty, the then headmaster of the Aranghata

Upendra Memorial Institution, played a leading role in organising the event.

Present headmaster Debasish Tarafdar said: “The pain of social isolation prompted the Hindus who had migrated to organise the Durga puja on the school ground. Local people joined hands to organise the autumnal event through subscriptions. The school had little role then. Gradually, the involvement of the school increased, and during the early 1980s school authorities formally began organising the puja.

Teacher Barun Sengupta added that the event has now become the collective financial responsibility of the teachers, students and the non-teaching staff. “All of us pay according to our capabilities. Fortunately, we don’t need to use school funds. Rather, we try to utilise the balance amount for tangible development of school.”

Sanjit Dutta, a researcher and expert in the history of Nadia said” “We generally see schools in the state organising Saraswati puja. But Durga puja being organised by a school is never heard of.”

Sources in Hooghly claimed that in 1954 a community Durga puja was started on Jirat Colony school ground by its headteacher B.K. Ghosh and involving residents. It could not be continued for long.