Some of the best writers, photographers and artists of the twin townships came together at City Centre’s Royal Bengal Room on May 10. The occasion was the 13th annual awards ceremony for The Telegraph Salt Lake Super Souvenir 2017. 

To participate in the 2018 contest, send us your block’s or apartment’s Durga puja souvenir later this year. As for last year’s edition, here are  the winners — 

EARLY BIRD:  

Winner: BL Block

“Over the years we have developed a reliable team that works quickly to prepare the souvenir on time,” said Saikat Mukhopadhyay (in picture left). “This year too we shall start working on it from the day of Rathyatra.” 

BEST EDITORIAL:

Winner: Subrata Sinha and Satyaban Roy, joint convenors of New Town AA-1B’s souvenir committee 

“It’s all fun and frolic during the Pujas but it is after immersion that the souvenir committee has to sit to work,” said Satyaban Roy.

“In our write up we tried to bring out the many faces of the Puja — from tradition to modernity,” said Roy.

SPECIAL MENTION: 

Basab Basak, secretary, Salt Lake FE Block Residents Association 

“I could not attend the ceremony due to a personal emergency. The Telegraph plays an important role in nurturing a healthy cultural ambience in Salt Lake. I thank them for hosting this award and selecting my editorial in our block’s souvenir for a special mention among so many entries,” said Basak in a message sent later.

Saikat Mukhopadhyay, convenor, cultural committee, BL Block

“Being the cultural convenor of our block I realise how music, recitation and other cultural activities have the power to influence viewers,” said Mukhopadhyay, who had written about this in the souvenir. “This is a key to eliminating poverty, atrocities against women and religious intolerance.”

BEST FICTION: 

Winner: Monalisa Chandra of BL Block 

“Our block has been sending entries to this contest for 13 years and every time we hope to win something,” said Monalisa Chandra. “My writings in the souvenir have a certain readership and these well-wishers were even happier than I was, on learning that I had won.” Given that the award ceremony was held the day after Rabindrajayanti, she signed off singing Tagore’s Ki paini.  

SPECIAL MENTION: 

Rita Das of Animikha Apartment, New Town

Our judges revealed that there were two Rita Dases in the running for this prize, one from Animikha and the other from Salt Lake’s BE Block. It turned out that both writers were one and the same. “I live in BE Block and my mother lived in Animikha,” said Das, who had won a prize in 2011 too. “Back then, my mother had been extremely excited, wondering which sari I should wear to the ceremony and even declaring that she would foot the taxi bill to the venue. Ma has passed away since but her blessings have helped me win once again,” Das said.

BEST NON-FICTION: 

Winner: Pijush Kanti Majumdar of FE Block 

“I’m 81 now but am nostalgic about my childhood in Chittagong. That’s what I had written about. Open skies, fields, rivers…today’s children have no exposure to these joys and I appeal to parents to introduce them to nature,” said Majumdar, before reciting Tagore’s Kripon.

SPECIAL MENTION: 

Santosh Biswas of BF Block 

“I love writing, it’s almost an addiction but at present spondylitis is making it painful for me to sit at a stretch and write,” said Biswas. “This award reminds me of how our block began its Durga puja 40 years ago. Incidentally, I was the secretary of that puja. We have come a long way since then.”

Susmita Bhaduri of Sanjeeva Town The Bungalow Estate, New Town

“I had written my story for the lark. I was surprised when our souvenir editor selected it and was even more surprised to learn that it had won a prize,” smiled Bhaduri. 

BEST POETRY:

Winner: Janmejoy Deb of Animikha Apartment, New Town 

“Often a fleeting thought comes to mind while travelling but fades away by the time I have a chance to pen it down,” said Deb. “This poem was a rare occasion when I could turn a thought to poetry.” 

SPECIAL MENTION: 

1. Sarbani Banerjee of East Enclave Co-operative Housing Society, New Town 

“I’ve won prizes for poetry in this contest in the past and every time it increases my desire and motivation for one more,” smiled Banerjee. “My field of work is research, and that can get monotonous. Poetry is my creative outlet.” 

Shree Pyne of FE Block 

The winner (picture top) fell ill and could not make it but her husband Pulak and son Sourav Pyne received the award on her behalf. Pulak even read out Shree’s humorous poem about a housewife who, as if like the 10-handed goddess, managed the entire household. 

BEST COVER: 

Winner: Salt Lake BF Block Residents Association

“This year our cover design was conceived by an artiste and executed by Arup Pal, who teaches art in our community hall. We also invite the students of that class to contribute so we get more variety to choose from,” said editor Subhasish Mondal. 

SPECIAL MENTION: 

Banga Sourav Abasan, ED Block 

“This being our 15th puja, I was asked to keep the digit “15” in mind and also pay homage to all the past years’ efforts,” said Abhirup Bhattacharyya, a civil engineering student. “I like doing creative things and I have enjoyed making this cover.”

Mallika Malancha Housing Complex, Action Area IIB, New Town

Joint souvenir convenor Brati Sankar Ghosh had the audience in splits as he tried to explain where in New Town their complex was. “We have more cows than people where we live and three years ago, when we began our puja, it was worse! So it’s a huge achievement to be recognised by an organisation from Calcutta proper, that too a name as big as 
The Telegraph.”

CLICK YOUR TOWNSHIP

Protip Chakraborty, Sunrise Symphony, 
New Town 

“I had bought a camera three years ago to click pictures of our anniversary and son’s birthday parties. I never thought anyone other than my family members would be interested in my pictures,” said Chakraborty. His eight- year-old son Prithwish (busy with a Rubik’s cube in picture left), himself a budding photographer, clicked his father receiving the award.

Rachana Pagaria, AL Block 

“Had I known about this ceremony earlier I would not have left Calcutta.” Winner Rachna Pagaria was in Udaipur and her husband Vinay read out her acceptance speech that had been texted to him on his mobile phone. Rachna had clicked a candid shot of a child standing on the shoulders of another, trying to pluck mangoes. “The message of this picture was that ‘united we stand, divided we fall’,” she wrote.

Avijit Dutta, Flat D3, Cluster XII, Purbachal 

“I only click people during the Pujas; the rest of the year I click wildlife,” said Dutta, as daughter Shivangi, a first year student of NIFT, clicked him. 

THE TELEGRAPH SALT LAKE SUPER SOUVENIR 2017: EAST ENCLAVE RESIDENTS WELFARE ASSOCIATION 

“I had wanted an editorial board for our souvenir but residents made me the sole editor,” said Kumkum Chattopadhyay.

“I had everyone’s help. Koushik Pattanayak and Moumita Mallick clicked and selected pictures, Arun Kumar Mallick compiled residents’ phone numbers for our directory, Nabamita Nath designed the cover, Ramaprasad Roy got advertisments and our printer did a great job.”

Narayan Dhar Choudhury added that while they would regularly win individual prizes this was the first time that they had won the overall award. “In the quest for this award, we had consulted an astrologer and changed the name of our souvenir from Anjali to Pushpanjali for luck. See how it has worked,” he quipped, as the audience burst into laughter.