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A worker sprays mosquito repellent in a moat surrounding the pandal of Behala Buroshibtala Janakalyan Sangha, which undertook a dengue awareness drive. A fibre hilsa, the theme at United Club, Ultadanga. Pictures by Sudeshna Banerjee and Sayantan Ghosh |
If you want to make news, follow the news. This is the strategy that some puja players have devised in a field flooded with themes brilliant in conception and pandals excelling in execution.
Take Behala Buroshibtala Janakalyan Sangha. The puja has depicted a temple in Andhra Pradesh, surrounded by slices of life in a fishing village in the southern backwaters, complete with the detail of actual fish hung out to dry, adding authentic odour to the ambience. But the theme is not unique enough to guarantee total public recall.
Yet, the club’s flex banners with the message ‘Pujor prochar hobey pore/ dengue shotru dhukchhey ghorey/ Tai pujor prochar porey kori/ dengue mukto Bangla gori (Let us tackle dengue first and campaign for our puja later)’ with huge pictures of mosquitoes have managed to grab eyeballs months in advance. “We put up 165 such banners across the city,” said secretary Robin Mandal. The club also brought out a procession in the area, which must have raised as much awareness of itself as of the disease. Slogans of dengue dos and don’ts line the approach to the pandal.
In its golden jubilee year, United Club in Ultadanga has an intriguing theme: “Tomar dekha nai re” (You are nowhere to be seen). The sight of more than 150 hilsas trapped in fishermen’s nets around the pandal solves the puzzle. Cast in fibre, they mirror the 600g ones in appearance. “Our theme is hilsa preservation. Even in high monsoon this year, the hilsa remained unseen on our plates,” said organiser Subrata Mitra. His explanation of why rising river pollution and illegal trawling of fledgling fish are the ruin of the silver harvest proves he has closely read recent media reports on the subject. “Our theme is a hit,” he beams as visitors smile fondly on spotting the familiar hilsas.
Fishermen in eight giant boats lining the pandal walls stand for the culprits who fish for hilsa well after monsoon, depriving them a chance to grow to full size and maturity.
In Beleghata, a puja centred around a citadel in bamboo, has been christened Junglemahal. The depiction, prima facie, can stand for any part of rural Bengal. “Why Jungle Mahal? Because it is a controversial area. Everyone will be interested to know more about it,” said Supratim Kar, assistant treasurer of Sandhani.
But the club has gone the extra mile to establish the authenticity of this theme. Twenty-one tribal men and women from Jungle Mahal have arrived on Thursday, with madol. bows and arrows and even cocks for staging cock fights. “They will give visitors live demonstration of their way of life,” Kar said.
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