This year, Hatibagan Sarbojonin attempts to revive the long lost para culture

Kolkata: Adda over a cup of tea or light snacks that people would genrally associate with the lanes of North Kolkata is gradually fading, all credits to today's youth being entangled in the world of internet.

The so called 'para culture' — discussing everything from politics to sports, from entertainment to science sitting together — is not the same anymore and this has affected the bonding among people in the neighbourhood.

The puja organisers of Hatibagan Sarbojonin feels that this adda culture of North Kolkata needs to be revived to get the sense of bonding back among people of a same neighbourhood and with this in mind, they have taken up the theme 'Antarjal or Bandhan.' "While modern youth are engrossed in various social networking sites such as Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and the likes of the same, the grown-ups are very busy with their daily chores. Small children too are hooked to cartoons on television. This hugely affects the para culture of North Kolkata. The sense of bonding among a locality has come to a halt because of this. We want to revive the culture that contributes in creating a sense of bonding among people," said Anindya Dasgupta of Hatibagan Sarbojonin.

According to the puja organisers, a real friendship or relationship can only develop through direct interaction and not through Facebook or similar social networking sites. "The lack of companionship ultimately leads a person to a space of loneliness. We want the sense of belonging and friendship among people," a member of the Puja Committee said. The Puja, which stepped into its 84th year, is constructing an iron structure for the main pandal. Iron and other metals are being combined to create nets depicting 'web' experiences, where people are gradually losing connection with the outer world. Special emphasis has been led on the lighting arrangements to match with the theme.

The theme is being etched out by Debajyoti Jana and the theme music is being done by Joy Sarkar. Soumen Pal is creating the idols. Hatibagan Sarbojonin has been churning out innovative themes year after year. Last year, it had created the theme Flight of Birds (Pakhir Uran) through which it had attempted to revive the art of wooden birds making, famous in Varanasi