Career takes over festivities

It’s festival time - more so for Bengalis, whose biggest festival Durga Puja is just round the corner and most are now gearing up to celebrate the goddess of strength. Delhi being a hub for all cultures and communities boasts of number of Bengalis too.

Chittaranjan Park, Kashmere Gate, Moti Bagh and Mayur Vihar are few of the hubs which celebrate ‘Pujo’ with full vigour.

But there are a lot of youngsters who are unfortunately deprived of the festivities back home. College and work has taken over their personal space and have left them isolated and away from family and friends.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) organises a Durga Puja every year too as it has a lot of Bengali students as hostellers. Unfortunately the celebrations here cannot compensate for the kind of Durga Puja which takes place in Kolkata. Kingshuk Roy, a JNU PhD student in Economics also feels the same way.

“It’s been over four years that I have been missing Puja. One can’t miss classes because of Puja. It feels very awkward to stay here in the hostels and attend classes during Puja days. But then, I celebrate it with other Bengali friends here.”

Another PhD student, Arkajyoti Jana,  again from Kolkata has been missing out on Pujo back home for the past four years. “We have to function according to the academic calender. You never know what comes up next in our courses and one cannot go at such a short notice.”

Talking about the pujas in Delhi Arkajyoti is totally dissatisfied with the way they are celebrated. “I don’t enjoy the pujas here. They are disappointing, the pandals are even not that great. You will only find police personnel and restrictions all over. It is way different than what is done in Kolkata and how people celebrate there.”

In a similar situation as Kingshuk and Arkajyoti, is a professional Paromita Sarkar from Belur near Howrah who too misses her family and friends during this time of the year. “I prefer going during bhai phota (Bhai Dooj) rather then Durga Puja. I visit pandals here in Delhi. Due to less time and offs, I cannot go. I feel really nostalgic when family members call me during Puja, but cannot help also.”

If on one hand people are missing all the fun with their families, a professional and Delhiite Anamika Mandal is ecstatic as she is coming to Delhi from Mumbai to enjoy Puja. “Finally, after so long I will be coming to Delhi for the puja. This is the most important time of the year when everybody is together. I will be meeting my family after so long and am really happy that I could make it home this year.”