NO BAR TO ADDA, FOOD & SHOPPING…

Kolkata Newsline, India
Sept 28 2006

Though Bengalis have the time of their life during the Pujas, Kolkata
being a cosmopolitan city, people from other communities have different
interpretations of the same. our correspondent

Ishrat Ara Salim

Kolkata, September 28: So the time for Maa Durga to be seated on a
gaj and visit her devotees has finally arrived! Meet any Bengali and
he/she is too busy preparing for the big event. After all, who does
not know what importance the Pujas hold for a Bengali.

However, while the city is immersed in festivities, it is interesting
to find out what people with different religious affiliations
indulge in.

Holidays, brightly lit roads, decorated pandals, toy-trains, giant
ferris-wheel rides, toys and a tarry of mouthwatering delicacies to
gorge on, is what brothers Farhan and Furquan Yusuf, aged eight and
six years, respectively, associate the Pujas with. The enthusiastic
duo can hardly think of anything beyond the Park Circus fair they
frequent during the Pujas, it being the closest one to their homes.

"We love the Puja vacation. It is the best time of the year,"
they said.

Their mother, Nahid Yusuf, agrees. "The children enjoy themselves
thoroughly during the Pujas. It’s party time for them," she said.

Though she is not too comfortable with the hustle-bustle around and
the excessive noise, the joy on her children’s face is enough to
overlook the disturbance.

"Pujas for me mean relaxed holidays, discounts and good food,"
said 28-year-old Cecilia Shiu, a Chinese. Though she admits to not
having the patience for pandal hopping, she is perfectly comfortable
braving the crowds to get the best bargain while picking up something
in advance for the Christmas. When asked why she is not too keen
on checking out the pandals, she replies, "It’s nice to see people
dressed colourfully but I’d rather avoid the crowd. The vagabonds
take these opportunities to hit out at you," she said.

One is forced to wonder if the Pujas become less of a festival and more
of a feast for eve-teasers. However, Tanya Ellis, an Anglo-Indian,
begs to differ. She lets herself get engulfed by the revelry and
said that she had never faced such advances during the Pujas. She
emphasises that she cannot even think of spending her Puja holidays
in some place other than Kolkata. "During the Pujas Kolkata is the
best place to be in," she said. At present, she is waiting her turn
at the marathon adda sessions at Maddox Square.

Iftekar Ahsan, 25, too visits the popular Maddox Square pandal to have
a blast with his friends. Asked if his business is affected by the
Pujas, he vehemently nods in agreement. "We have a business of dying
and processing clothes. There is a huge overload even one-and-a-half
months before the Pujas and our employees have to work in double
shifts," she said. That also means doubled profits.

David Nahoum, owner of Nahoum Confectionary at New Market, makes
an important observation. "We do record a 20-30 per cent increase
in sales during Pujas. But unfortunately, because of the failure
of the underground parking system and the unavailability of proper
parking facilities, the sales figures have been affected," said the
80-year-old Jew.

On being asked whether the confectionary has anything special to offer
during the Pujas, his answer is in the negative. However, he said:
"We are concerned about giving our customers the best variety and
are quite happy to serve them with special delicacies like baqlava,
cheese sambasuk, chocolate walnut brownies and rich fruit cake around
the year." At the same time, he said that no discounts are on offer.

Zarine Choudhary, a Parsee from Mumbai, has made Kolkata her home
for 30 years now. She is a freelance teacher who coaches student in
speech and drama. Choudhary never misses out on the discounts that
almost define Puja shopping. In fact, she waits for the special offers
during the Pujas to purchase upholstery, towels, sheets, linens and
clothes for the year. "One can get really good bargains during the
Pujas and I quite enjoy indulging into it," she said.

So are the Pujas only about shopping extravaganzas and pandal-hopping
for the non-Bengalis?

"That’s not true," she said. "I have always loved Puja-time. It has
a very unifying quality and brings people together," she added.

Sonia John, an Armenian has witnessed the Pujas of Kolkata ever since
she came here as a little girl before the Second World War. "For
me, to see a family together, parents and children, hand-in-hand,
is beautiful, something that is gradually getting lost in the modern
world," she said.

She considers the Pujas a very inspiring spectacle because of
its artistry. Pointing out the difference between the Pujas of
yesteryears and the present, she said that the Pujas in the past
were based only on the religious aspect, but nowadays because of the
increasing competition among the various Puja committees, each year
the spectacle becomes more glamorous, decorative and innovative.

However, amid the festivities one tends to dismiss the disruption of
normal life that results from Pujas. Traffic jams and road blockades
increase both in frequency and dimension due to the construction of
pandals and the people thronging the streets. Such problems can be
tolerated said John, adding, "The pujas happen only for a few days
in a year as compared to the protests, processions and strikes that
continue throughout the year. They are the ones that disrupt our
day-to-day lives as they are working days."

So all those who have already started grumbling about the overcrowded
streets, traffic jams, noise pollution take lessons of tolerance from
the lady and this Puja and just enjoy!