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| (Top) Sit-and-draw at the Utsarg Utsav Puja at Survey Park, Santoshpur. (Above): Puja preparations at Saurav Abasan, Salt Lake. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya |
Marathon adda at the pandal, rustling up an elaborate bhog, offering anjali, sharing prasad? the warmth of togetherness. Cementing this community camaraderie by reviving the old para feel.
The Telegraph Hand in Hand Puja programme promises four days of fun and frolic, from Sashti to Navami, with loads of events and prizes galore at housing estates across the city.
The contest line-up has something for everyone in the family, with prizes to be sponsored by Pepsi and Ffort Holiday Klub. While the ladies can show off their conch-blowing skills, the men may line up for a round of dhunuchi naach.
There?s a fashion contest for teens, sit-and-draw for the little ones and spot quiz for those with a penchant for mind-teasers.
Antakshari, needless to say, is open to all those with a melodious strain or just a good enough stock of songs, while the Shera Uttor demands answers to some crafty queries.
Those under one roof bagging the maximum number of prizes will be crowned the Family of the Puja, while the Personality of the Puja goes to the fortunate one who mops up the most medals.
Sashti took off with crayons and water colours at most estates. ?Around 80 kids took part in the sit-and-draw held in our community hall. People are gearing up for the conch-blowing competition, slated for Saptami morning,? said Shankar Banerjee, of Utsarg Utsav Puja in Survey Park, Santoshpur.
At Saurav Abasan in Salt Lake, the drawing contest pulled in 14 kids from the complex with a resident strength of 50. ?The contest has generated a lot of excitement among the children and the elders are animated, too,? said Chaitali Mukherjee.
?There were around 15 participants in each of the two age groups ? three to eight and eight to 14,? added D.L. Bandyopadhyay, of Anushakti Abasan in the township.
The three are among 60-odd community pujas enlisted with The Telegraph Hand in Hand this autumn, from north to south and east to west.
In the south, there?s Darpan Concord on Purna Das Road, Mecon Tower on Prince Anwar Shah Road, along with ONGC-Green Towers, Golf Garden Natun Pally, Regent Estate and Golf Green Sarbojanin Phases III, IV, VII.
There?s Saptaparni, Naba Kailash and Alakapuri on Ballygunge Circular Road, Auroville Apartment in Mandeville Garden, plus Avenue House on Southern Avenue.
Further south, there?s Shikharbindu in East Brahmapur, Bank Garden Club and Maitree in Bansdroni, Telecom Housing in Baishnabghata. Add to this Happy Nook, ECTP, Phase IV, along with Utsarg Utsab in Survey Park, Hiland Park off the EM Bypass, Mohan Garden in Narendrapur, Purbayan in Haltu and Ma Manasa in Patuli.
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| The idol at Anushakti Abasan in Salt Lake. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya |
There?s CMCSSU Staff Housing, Swaronica and ODRC Rental in Behala, while in the far south-west, there?s Shyamolima in Raichak.
In Salt Lake, Koyla Vihar and Geetanjali are on VIP Road, Purbasha on Maniktala Main Road, while Anushakti Abasan, Labony Housing, Purbachal Sarbojanin, Saurav Abasan, EB Housing and Vidyasagar Abasan are located within the township.
Up north, there?s Minakshi on Teghoria Main Road, Basant Bihar in Belghoria, Binayak Enclave on Kalicharan Ghosh Road, Bijoypur Sarbojanin and Purbayan Udayan Sangho in Sodepur, Ramakrishna Puram Housing on Maharaja Nanda Kishore Road and Aurobindo Arena in Khardah.
Motijhil Housing, Shrachi Gardens, Anandalok Abashik and Uttarayan are all in Dum Dum, while there?s CIT Building at Girish Park, CMDA Housing in Barrackpore and Uttarayan Housing in Bonhooghly.
This apart, there?s MIG & RHE Housing in Paikpara, plus LIG Housing Estate and Metro Railway Quarters on Belgachhia Road. Maniktala Govt, LIG H-1, Nirban, BRS 81, LIG & Rental, Narkeldanga North Road Govt, Ultadanga VIII-M, Citizen?s Cooperative and CIT Employees Co-operative, all in Maniktala.
