Boarders of Saidpur Hostel perform Saraswati Puja on the premises. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 8: Rising prices of commodities, scandals and chief minister Nitish Kumar seeking special package for the state from the Prime Minister — all found place at the Saraswati Puja theme celebrations at the Patna University hostels today.

The boarders of Faraday Hostel, like the other university hostels, celebrated Saraswati Puja on a grand scale, but did that with a difference.

The major attraction at the hostel was the pictures, graphs and cartoons put up by the students of Patna Science College. Depicting the recent socio-economic, ecological and political upheavals, the decorations portrayed issues like the increase in prices of oil and onion.

Rakesh Kumar, one of the organisers of the puja at Faraday Hostel, said: “We made graphs and pictures to depict the problems we face in our daily lives. We primarily wanted to create mass awareness with our theme.”

The cartoons, among other things, highlighted the fall of former telecom minister A. Raja over the spectrum scam and the Commonwealth Games fiasco. One of the cartoons read: “Raja ka baj gaya baja”.

Krishna Kumar, a student of Patna Science College, sketched a cartoon on the tussle between the state and the Centre over the special package. It depicted Nitish, with folded hands, seeking special package for the state, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shows Nitish his thumb.

Similar cartoons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi were also on display. Lalu and Rabri were seen riding a cycle, discussing strategy for the panchayat elections after the party’s Assembly election debacle.

Pankaj Kumar, a mathematics student of Science College, depicted the life of an individual through various calculus equations. He said: “Through a mathematical curve from negative infinity to positive infinity, I have tried to depict how an individual experiences both joy and sorrow.”

Paintings on social evils like the dowry system, the caste system and promises politicians make to the electorate also found space.

Every college in the city exploded into a riot of colours and fashion today as the students took to the road to pray to the goddess and celebrate the occasion with friends. Boys with spiked hair and flower-printed shirts and girls in saris were seen at every educational institution and roadside pandal.

Minto Hostel, Jackson Hostel, New Hostel, Faraday Hostel, Saidpur Hostel and hostels of other constituent colleges welcomed the goddess of learning, music and the creative arts in a grand manner.

“This is one festival where we can dress up in our festive best. I wish Saraswati Puja never ends,” said Anil Pathak, a student, who had come to attend the puja at Jackson Hostel.

However, not everyone had it easy today. Raghuraj of Minto Hostel had a tough time dealing with the ever-increasing cost of puja materials. The funds, collected from his fellow hostel inmates, proved to be insufficient to meet the demands of the purohit and puja materials.

Meanwhile, the pandals at the hostels of Patna University were not only confined to the student community. Leaders and bureaucrats also did not miss out on the chance of visiting the pandals.

Rajavardhan Sharma, additional director-general of CID and a former boarder of Minto Hostel, came back to attend the puja on the hostel premises. He said: “A lot of time has passed but the fervour to celebrate the festival is still the same at the hostel.” The senior IPS officer also asked the boarders to restore the hostel to its lost glory.