For Paltu Chakraborty, 87, Lakhan Patra, 72, Shefali Majhi, 65, and many others who live in Oboseshe, an old-age home at Adra in Purulia district, Durga Puja so far was a festival they could only hear about from a distance.

For more than two decades, these elderly persons, who once had leprosy, couldn’t take part in festivities as they were shunned by society. Though cured long ago, the stigma of leprosy clung to them like a second skin, barring them from Puja pandals.

This year, however, is different.

For the first time, residents of Oboseshe are celebrating Durga Puja within their home, thanks to local well-wishers and the Birati-based welfare group, Birati Globe Vision Society (BGVS). Members of BGVS have come forward to fund the entire cost of the Durga Puja and celebration of the two most significant days of the festival — Ashtami and Dashami. The BGVS also gifted them new clothes, bed sheets and towels.

The story of Oboseshe is rooted in both suffering and resilience. Founded four decades ago by Nabakumar Das of Monipur Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre, the home became a refuge for those abandoned by families and ostracised by society for once suffering from leprosy.

It shelters not only 26 elderly persons, who once battled leprosy, but also 189 children — some cured, some affected by their parents’ illness — who receive food, medical care, education, and above all, acceptance. For these people, Oboseshe is a sanctuary where compassion replaces prejudice.

Members of BGVS, who have long worked in the fields of education and social welfare across Bengal, said this year their journey took a different turn. “We chose to stand by the residents of Oboseshe this year,” said BGVS secretary Chandan Paul. “We reached out to elderly persons once affected by leprosy, as well as children and those devoted individuals who have dedicated their lives to their care and rehabilitation.”

Paul added: “Their eyes now shine with optimism, their faces glow with joy, and they are set to celebrate Bengal’s biggest festival as organisers of their own Durga Puja. We pledged support for the expenses of Ashtami and Dashami, ensuring that their Durga Puja is filled with dignity, devotion and joy. It is a small contribution compared to their immense courage.”

The Puja pandal, inaugurated on Panchami, saw heartfelt scenes. Among the residents, Paltu Chakraborty, 87, was overwhelmed. “It is like a dream come true,” he wept.

In Chakraborty’s tears lie a larger truth in India.

Even in 2025, despite medical advances that have made leprosy fully curable, social stigma persists long after the illness has been cured. Fully cured former leprosy patients are often excluded from schools, denied work opportunities and barred from community life. The scars of exclusion often run deeper than the disease itself, leaving many in lifelong isolation.

At Oboseshe, however, a different narrative is being written.

For the first time in decades, Durga Puja reached those who were once pushed to the margins. In their modest pandal, amid the chants of prayer and the smiles of residents, the celebration has become more than a ritual. “It has become a triumph over stigma and the reclaiming of dignity,” Paul said.