This Durga Puja will not only see Goddess Uma arrive on an annual sojourn to her paternal home and bring joy to millions, but also mark the homecoming of a select few to their dearest ones after years.
For Soumitra Kanji, a diploma engineer working in Dubai, it will be a return to home after four and half years.
Abhik Mukherjee, pursuing PhD in the US, will see his parents after more than four years. All thanks to an initiative of a private radio station which aims to bring families together from overseas.
“I will not be able to make anybody understand my feelings. It’s after so many years that I will see my son (Soumitra),” says a teary-eyed Rikta Kanji.
It was in 2011 when Soumitra, a resident of South 24 Parganas district’s Mudipur, left for Dubai after completing his diploma in electrical engineering, his father, Dipendranath Kanji, said.
“I was working at a private factory and was unable to earn much to run the family and pay the tuition fees for my two sons. Soumitra decided to leave for Dubai,” he said.