Durga Puja in pockets of South Kolkata, like Tridhara, Samaj Sebi, and Ballygunge Cultural, are huge crowd pullers. The pandal-hoppers enjoy various authentic savouries and sweets from villages hawked by rural people. In addition, many rural artisans and craftsmen display their work as a treat to the eyes. My office pavements, too, were occupied, people coming a week in advance to get the vantage positions.
I was shocked to see my windows tied with ropes and strings, stretching plastic canopies to prevent water seepage from protecting their precious food items for sale during the pujas. My windows will be forced shut for the next ten days.
Should I get angry? The little left humanity in me severely admonished me to show empathy and be compassionate. The leader of the team, a frail man, looked at me with a mixture of apprehension and hope. My yes or no could impact, positive or adverse, his life in the next few days. I smiled and asked him his place of origin. My smile strengthened his faith in his prayers, and he smiled in return, a mixture of gratitude and relief.
The six-person family are from a village called Bapulichawk on the Lakhikantapur line of South 24 Parganas District. They have brought many huge bags (almost six feet tall) of puchkas, also known as Pani-puri. This place will be their primary distribution centre, where the villagers will carry the crispy puchkas to nearby vending points, in the cane stands and glass cases with the fries and chilli-tamarind liquor.
I talked to the two ladies in charge of the kitchen. Nityagopal Halder was their team leader. There are many teams from their village in the vicinity. Rekha Haldar, the wife of Nityagopal, is a vaishnavait and a vegetarian wearing a tulsi-bead neck chain. Rekha and her younger sister Vandana Haldar have made all the thousands of Puchkas by themselves.
For this puja, they used 150 kgs of wheat flour, pro-rata oil, and other spice, which could have cost almost Rs.12000-15000. On average, they usually get credit for about a week or ten days and earn Rs.6000-Rs.7000 per month. Income from pujas like this could feed them for 2-3 months. The silver lining in their lives is that their children are educated. Rekha’s daughter is a MA from Calcutta University and has done her B.Ed. She is pursuing higher studies, which Rekha did not know. Her son is an Arts graduate. Vandana’s daughter, too, has done her MA, and her son is in class 11 from their village school.
They innocently smile if their children will also sell puchkas. No, if they get a job. But will they? Babu, (sir), we are very poor and do not have any political contacts. Only God must help us. The ladies praised Deba da, the TMC MLA and councillor of this area, Shri Debasish Kumar, who offers free space for poor rural folk of Bengal.
They fear met office warning of heavy rains during the pujas. We will be devastated, the pain clouding their eyes. Unlike many non-perishable items, theirs could be damaged beyond salvage. My assurance of help brought a sparkle in their eyes, like the one I saw in Nityagopal’s when I permitted his use of the pavement blocking my windows.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
