Toufik Laskar, a boutique owner in Kerala’s Kollam district, left for his hometown in South 24-Parganas last week after a gap of three years. To celebrate Durga Puja.
Many among Kerala's huge migrant population from Bengal, mostly labourers but including small entrepreneurs like Toufik, have gone back home for the autumn festival but a host of others are staying put.
They will be participating in the festivities in Kerala, which they call their "second home" and where the local Bengali Association and some other bodies will be organising Durga Puja.
Benoy Peter, co-founder and executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, Kochi, told The Telegraph that at least half the Bengali migrants in Kerala are Muslim and don't celebrate Durga Puja.
"Workers from West Bengal make up one of the largest groups among migrant labourers in Kerala. If we take two workers from West Bengal, one would be a Muslim. They don’t usually celebrate Durga Puja in Kerala," he said.
But Toufik, 33, disagreed. He told this newspaper that in his hometown in South 24-Parganas, people celebrate Durga Puja irrespective of their religion. "Like Keralites during Onam, people in Bengal celebrate Durga Puja whatever their religion. There’s no division in South 24-Parganas, at least," he said.
However, for all his cultural and emotional ties with Bengal, Toufik plans to settle down in Kerala.
"I came to Kerala five years ago. I run the ST Designer Boutique at Kottiyam in Kollam. I’m trying to buy land in Kollam, which has become a second home for me and my wife Selina. We wish to settle down in Kerala," he said.
Kanak Mandal, 38, who came from Midnapore, has been working as a housemaid in Kochi for the last two decades. She will be staying back, too. After all, she recently received a ₹4 lakh, 450sqft home from the Kerala government.
She will be celebrating Puja in Kochi but is a tad disappointed that husband Abhijit, a gardener, and elder son Pradeep, a second-year BCom student at the KMM College of Arts and Sciences, have caught chickenpox.
Kanak will be joining the festivities with her younger son Nishanth. "I shall provide free food on Ashtami (Tuesday) to people belonging to our community in Kochi," she said.
Kanak added: "Kerala has been my home since I got married to Abhijit 21 years ago. I am the first guest (migrant) labourer from the Maradu area of Kochi to get a house from the state government.
"We spent another ₹8 lakh on our home. I hardly visit my hometown; my relatives from Odisha and Bengal come over to Kochi to see me."
