An ode to all things cultural

The charm of Durga Puja lies in the smell of new clothes, the melodious sound of dhak, children running with plastic cap guns giggling, on-stage cultural programmes, dhunuchi naach, and ‘Anando Mela’. 

With an increasing Bengali diaspora, Durga Puja has now become a national festival, celebrated by one and all. The national Capital too, is ready to bask in this festive fever with its own ‘mini’ Kolkata – Chittaranjan Park, all decked up to celebrate the grand festival with much gusto and fervour. Durga Puja, like any other festival unites people irrespective of their religious beliefs and social status. Apart from worshiping the goddess of strength and eradicator of evil, Durga, the festival hosts a lot of colour and joy through fun activities, food dance and music.

When several celebrated singers from the cultural capital of the country come to perform at CR Park, what happens to the local budding artistes? Do they get to display their share of talent? 

They might not be felicitated with large bouquets by the organisers or crowds from around the city might not gather around the marquees to attentively listen to them sing or watch them perform, but a huge chunk of encouraging audience does sit back and enjoy their performances. 

Five Mass Communication students from Madhu Bala Institute of Communication and Electronic Media (MBICEM), IP University – Riyanka, Aditya, Brett, Milan and Sean have formed a band ‘Muraag’ and would be performing some fusion songs today at B-block in CR Park.

This team of youngsters have named their band by combining the words ‘music’ and ‘raag’ together, and will be going on stage with a fusion of folk songs and rock music. The group has performed at various college fests prior to this. 

“It is not about earning from a performance, but it is about getting a platform to perform,” say the members of ‘Muraag’. Like ‘Muraag’ there are several budding artistes waiting for the world to acknowledge their talent in various fields.

Since two of the most important days of the festival are the weekends this year, it is wise to avoid being victims of the crowded pandals in the city by visiting the places in the daytime. But if you are enthused to watch the lighting and the cultural programmes then you better buckle up and save all your energy to surf through the crowd on the weekends at CR Park!