Pujas highlight social reform, contemporary issues
Kolkata: This year, several community Durga Pujas in Kolkata are set to deliver powerful social messages. These themes range from the lifelong efforts of two social reformers, which paved the way for contemporary women’s empowerment, to the shift from joint families to micro-families and the critical issue of food wastage. These Pujas aim to highlight these messages while captivating visitors with their creative displays, seamlessly blending social awareness with artistic expression.
North Kolkata’s Kashi Bose Lane, in its 87th year, has highlighted the contributions of two social reformers — Raja Rammohan Roy and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. There was a time when young girls, unaware of the meaning of marriage, were wed and widows were forced to burn on their husbands’ pyres. Raja Rammohan Roy’s relentless fight ended these practices. Similarly, Vidyasagar championed women’s education and his efforts legalised remarriages of widows, bringing colour back into the lives of those women who were previously restricted to wearing white.
The theme, named ‘Ratnagarva,’ has been crafted by artist Rintu Das. Kashi Bose Lane Puja Committee’s General Secretary, Somen Dutta, stated: “These two reformers fought for women’s empowerment and succeeded. As a result, we now have the first Bengali woman Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, the first woman President of India, Pratibha Patil, the first from tribal community and second woman President, Droupadi Murmu and many other accomplished women like Lata Mangeshkar and Mary Kom. These women are the jewels of our society, hence the term Ratnagarva.”
On Wednesday, the day of Mahalaya, Minister Shashi Panja, along with around 50 visually challenged children and youths, conducted the ‘Cokkhudan’ ritual at Kashi Bose Lane. The visually challenged individuals enjoyed the entire ceremony as it was described for them in Braille. They were also given VIP passes for the Puja, featuring QR codes in Braille. Actress Sandipta Sen was also present. Minister Panja stated that through the Braille system, visually challenged individuals would be able to enjoy this Puja. “Any physically challenged individual by vision will receive VVIP treatment,” stated Dutta. Art Director Rintu Das has also conceptualised South Kolkata’s famous Puja, Naktala Udayan Sangha, this year.
The theme, named ‘Ekannaborti,’ will take visitors on a journey from joint families to the now-familiar micro-families, where every member is busy with their own activities while living under the same roof and their increasing reliance on online food delivery services.
“There was a time when cooking was done in a big pot as there were so many in the joint family and they used to eat together. There was a bonding among them. Now we live in a forest of concrete; the pot is not there, the family has become smaller, and they don’t get time to eat together. They are ordering food online and eating separately. I am working with this concept,” said Das. ‘N Kaka,’ who is the fourth-born among the five siblings and many other relations which are non-existent in today’s world, will come back through this Puja. Mobile phones will ring all the time to inform people that their food has arrived or to ask for the proper address.
Telengabagan Sarbojanin is celebrating its 59th Durga Puja with the theme ‘Prithibi Gadyomoi’, inspired by Sukanta Bhattacharya’s poignant lines from ‘Chharpatra’ and its relevance in today’s society. Amrit Shaw, the Puja’s Secretary, highlighted the pressing issue of food wastage, questioning whether “people live to eat or eat to live.” The Puja aims to raise awareness about the current food crisis and the importance of not wasting food. Assistant Artist Prithwish Roy shared that the Durga idol has been crafted to represent Devi Annapurna, the goddess of nourishment.
