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DURGA PUJA: PART 5

Durga pujo jamjamat

Days of fashion and frolic

The earlier posts in the ongoing series have unwrapped how the city gets decked up for the Bengalis' biggest festival. How the city conveys two distinguished faces of Durga puja through sabekiyana and adhunikota (traditionality and contemporality) on the same canvas have been portrayed in the third and fourth posts. This piece is somewhat different from others. The earlier posts took attempts to document the making of idols in Kumortuli, city’s business in the last minute’s preparation, the traditional and the contemporary ways of the puja celebration. This particular post is going to trace the moments and the instances of the festival which if not highlighted, creates gap in the documentation of the whole celebration.

Niladri Roy again, through his lens, has tried to capture the three ‘F’s (food, fashion and frolic) of the festive cityscape. Variety of food stalls, game stalls, shopping joints, urban style statement as well as the participation of people in the festival from various communities and ages, all have been captured in Niladri’s camera.

Exploring the multi-faceted ‘streets’. . .

The ‘city lights’: Illuminated over-bridge and apartments, Dhakuria, South Kolkata

Main entrance gate, Singhi Park, South Kolkata

Pandal hopping: The long queue at the entrance gate of a pandal

Halt a little/ think a little/ shop a little: Browsing through the roadside shopping joints . . .

Small shops are being put up at the roadside, in front of most of the pandals across the city. Stalls contain handicrafts, ornaments, toys, balloons and such innumerable things. People on their way, stop at those shopping joints and buy according to their choice. Niladri captured the buying-selling moments in such roadside shops.

         

Pujor tukitaki kenakata (light shopping during pandal hopping)

Explore your talents . . .

The city is a space where dreams fly. It gives its citizens opportunities to explore their hidden talents. The stall for Indian Idol has been put up to provide necessary information to the public whereas the gun shooting stall is offering prizes for successful shots. Along with the brightening scopes of the city life on one side, stories of hardship are embedded within the other. When people are spending money to try their luck in reality shows or gun shooting, the little girl is showing tightrope walking, putting her life at risk, for earning money to make a better livelihood.

  

Of fortune and misery:  Kolkata with its dual image

The style icons . . .

Fashion represents popular culture which is mostly related to contemporary dressing sense, both in cases of men and women. A city is space where fashion holds a different meaning and festivals are the appropriate time to show off fashion in public. Let’s have a look at the urbanite fashion statements.

The fashion week: Durga puja and the show off

Faces and expressions . . .

Puja vacation is one of the most awaited vacation kids crave for. For five days, they get relief from their hectic schedule of school, private tutions and classes for co-curricular activities. Happiness is no studies and no home work, rather it is the time for pandal hopping, eating outs, shopping with parents, fun ridings and frolic. Niladri’s camera suddenly captures some of such faces and moments.

Moods and moments

Author’s Bio-Note:

Niladri Roy is a documentary film maker, film editor & graphics designer based in Kolkata. He has worked with renowned film maker; Mr. Goutam Ghosh in his various projects. Besides this profession, he has passion in photography. Presently, he is working on a photo story and documentary film which is his dream project. 

Series Editor:

Nirmita Roychowdhury