Durga Puja: More than a Unesco badge or one-upmanship

 ‘’You can take the craze of Diwali in Delhi, Christmas in London, summer carnival in Rio de janeiro, Valentine’s Day in Paris and then add it to the month-long madness of Olympic Games or the World Cup and cram all that into a span of five days and you still wouldn’t know what you are missing if you haven’t been in Kolkata during Durga Puja…’’

• Vir Sanghvi

Every year around this time of the year, these lines of the well known editor-writer pops up in the social media. Having worked in the city for long enough, Sanghvi must have had a first hand experience of what ‘pujo’ means to the city – and I see enough reasons to fall back on them in order for the uninitiated to try and gauge the intensity it creates across the city and state of West Bengal.

This year, a lot has been made about the Unesco recognition of the Durga Puja as an event of intangible heritage – including the not-too-subtle fight to score political brownie points over it. It remains to be seen if the recognition is going to convert it into a more global affair and help in generating Puja tourism in the state but for the teeming millions who will go pandal-hopping soon – it hardly makes a difference.

The mother of all festivals for Bengalis is an occasion for homecoming – above everything else. When I say homecoming, it’s not only about the myth of Goddess Durga and her children returning to her parents on earth but the longing of everyone to be with their families. The desire to return home, making light of time and distance from around the globe, is the underlying theme across all religions – be it the Eid in Dubai or Christmas in London.

Homecoming yes, but the other overriding quality of Durga Puja is that it had been always a great leveller. There is something in it for everybody cutting across all sections of the society – where the man of the house wants to put the smiles on his wife and children’s faces at any cost.

Well, how has the Durga Puja changed over the years? Having been born and bred in the city, I cannot quite relate with experiences of the older generation who grew up watching the kaash flowers in full bloom and the enjoyed pujas in their family homes. What I can certainly relate with is the relative simplicity of neighbourhood pujas even till the Eighties and early Nineties – till gradually the so-called corporatisation of the pujas took over.

As the budgets of pujas understandably soared over the years, the organisers have become overtly reliant on corporate sponsorships – with the slew of best puja awards showing the way. What, perhaps, sends a slightly worrying signal is that some pujas seem to be more equal than others in recent years. The ostentatious nature of such pujas backed by political heavyweights – stunning and novel as they are in terms of grandeur and craftsmanship – makes one wonder whether a game of one-upmanship is taking precedence now.

Mind you, there has been a prevalent culture of some of the pujas enjoying political patronage – one of the more famous ones in southern part of the city in our younger days being the Ekdalia Evergreen Society. The trend has only increased with most powerful politicians now patronising a puja – as if almost threatening to create a class divide between the pujas.

Fortunately enough, there is something in it for all the pujas – with even the ones in the housing complexes vying for one of the prestigious awards. It’s already Tritiya night and the pandal hopping is set to begin at the right earnest.

Let the celebrations begin!