Winter is on its way out, the glare of the summer sun is beginning to tell. But Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) is trying to make the most of the pithe puli season. It has organised a mela and pithe puli utsav at Sarat Sadan premises. Being held from February 11 to 25, the mela has been named, ‘Magh Manjari O Pithe Puli Utsav’.
The pithe pulis are available at two stalls at the mela. Usharani Dhaka Pithe Centre from Kalyani, Nadia, is serving hot bhapa pithe right from the pot. The large pithes are made with rice flour, coconut and gur (jaggery). Everyone tried one of this for Rs 15 a piece. “This is a special item that is made with rice flour ground in the dhenki (rice mill) and not in any machine,” said Krishna Sarkar at the stall. The gokul pithe, also stuffed with coconut, was also a popular item. Other items were patisapta, rash bora, coconut momo and kesar doodh puli, a special item that has saffron mixed in the milk. Most of the items were priced between Rs 15 and 20, but the kesar doodh puli was Rs 25 per piece. “This is the last mela we are attending this year. The mela season as well as the pithe puli season are on the wane as summer has started setting in,” said Sarkar.
The fair, that has some 30 big stalls and 20 small vendors, has a large mix of items, ranging from furniture to kitchen chimney, crockeries, linen and other goods. Toys and stationery are the attractive items for children while fancy costume jewellery made from beads are drawing the attention of girls. Another stall selling all kinds of knick-knacks has a recorded message hawking that anything is available for Rs 20. A stall on golden costume jewellery has also found place at the mela where gold plated necklace sets, chains, long earrings and a variety of designs copied from gold jewellery are available. Decorative items in bamboo have come from Cooch Behar to the fair. Handicraft items from Shantiniketan, like leather bags and dokra jewellery are also available. Paper and thermocol flowers are displayed out in the open in metal vases.
Other than pithe puli, street food is also available at the fair. Phuchka, bhelpuri and popcorn sellers always find takers at such fairs, but an additional stall selling different types of fish items is attracting many hungry mela shoppers. They are stopping by for a fish fry or fish chop after their shopping.
Cultural programmes were lined up through the first three days of the fair. The opening day’s dance performance was by Kashmira Samanta and her troupe Nritya Upasana. Councillor Mallika Roychowdhury and singer Archana Chakraborty presented Rabindrasangeet. The second day had Rabindrasangeet singer Indrani Sen’s performance while Baul performer, Sahaj Ma performed on February 13 at the stage inside the children’s park. “This was the best show of all three days. We had a good crowd at Sarat Sadan to watch Sahaj Ma’s programme,” said Mallika Roychowdhury, councillor of Ward 27 of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC).
