Amader Pujo

Community Pujas in Kolkata abound in every narrow alley and vacant field and park. I remember Bangur Park being taken over by the organisers one year for a couple of months so that a terracotta mandir could be built, thereby depriving the underprivileged children who use it for a playground , had to twiddle their thumbs in the football season. The same theme is repeated across Kolkata and organisers sweat it out so that their Puja is designated on of the many Pujos of the year . The fact that many "Pujas of the year " abound is another matter .

Amader Pujo is on a different level. It is more of a family Puja - the larger family embracing a muber of families in the locality. All of us have a responsibility towards ensuring that the days of festivities are complete in every way - from the worship of the goddess to the planning and execution of the puja and the entertainment in the evenings . The ladies congregate in the morning armed with their knives and bnotis to cut the fruits , pick the flowers and separate the clean flowers and bel leaves , arrange the puja thalis , ensure the altar is clean and everything is ready and prepared so that the purohits find everything close at hand when they sit down to perform the puja. The level of involvement is phenomenal and no less than what one would find in a "barir puja.