The Vidyasagan Niketan puja was inaugurated on Chaturthi and a slew of cultural programmes started right away.
Swati Sanyal sang agomoni songs. Nistha Roy, a Class IV student of Delhi Public School Newtown, was excellent in her solo renditions. She was followed by the even tinier Arshia Dutta, three classes junior to her in the same school. “Ami gaibo duto gaan — Ek ekke ek aar...onnota bhule gechhi,” she announced without the slightest hesitation, causing a roll of laughter in the audience comprising uncles, aunties, grandpas and grannies of the neighbourhood. Of course, she would soon remember the second song, Aay re chhute ay, and sing it with elan.
As the two girls met offstage to resume playing with other children, Nistha said: “Not only do we stay in the same housing complex and study in the same school, but we also take music lessons from the same teacher. People think we are sisters.”
Was Arshia at all nervous on forgetting the second song? The little one shrugged dismissively. Meanwhile, the announcement was made for solo songs by Sumitra Bhattacharya.
Vidyasagar Niketan is my grandparents’ (Sushanta and Moloya Dey Sarkar) place, and I have been dancing at the puja here since the age of 13. This year, around 15 of us put up a dance show to the chants of Rupang dehi Durga. Since the goddess came on a horse this year, we postured as horses, with one hand showing a shape like the face of a horse and the other behind us like the tail. Our dance teacher Roshni Bandyopadhyay played Durga.
On Trayodoshi, the same dance team (minus a few), performed Krishna Leela where all of us were gopis and Roshni ma’am’s four-year-old son Ishaanabho played Krishna. It was his first stage performance but he delivered with ease.
Chaturthi concluded with the play Padmaranir khana ghar, written and directed by residents Nirup Ray and Swati Sanyal. Then students who had done well in the Class X and XII Board exams were felicitated. With my school-leaving exams being months away, I sent up a prayer that I do well enough to be invited next Puja.
