Countdown meter on top of TV screen on Bengali channels.
Shows on puja-based themes (like around goddess Durga and her sons and daughters).
The economic downturn effect...budgets of star Pujas (including those abroad) cut down...lack of sponsors.
Mad rush for shopping...no discounts on bigger brands.
Articles on this year's themes of pandals and idols. New trend: greenery themes (with painstakingly grown real green over months).
Untimely rains.....but no holding back shoppers.
Mahalaya....various actresses playing Durga on various channels..including Sandipta (on Star Jalsha) who plays a housewife named Durga in a soap on the same channel.
Outdoor advertising bounces back....hoardings at prime locations all booked.
Makeshift hoardings set up by Puja commitees dotting the roads.
Eco-friendly LED lights the new trend in many Pujas...as well as solar lights.
Finally...Maha Shasthi- the 'Bodhan' day...It's difficult to concentrate on work any more...rush of pandal-hoppers sends traffic movement haywire..with the stretch from Gariahat to Ruby Hospital taking one-and-a-half hour insted of 20 minutes (The same stretch has the superstar puja Bosepukur Shitala Mandir).
Puja awards anouncement starts.
Puja is on.....enjoy!
(Photo sourced from: www.anandautsav.com)
Kolkata is my home city and I love this city. I am proud of being part of this city. I like your blog. its really very nice
ReplyDeleteKolkata web design
Thanks Suhana. Your feedback is precious. Do keep reading and keep them pouring in.
ReplyDeleteCool post!
ReplyDeleteAt least this time the rains did not prove to be much of a spoilsport during the four days of Pujo!
The best part of Pujo 2009 in Kolkata has been the increasing awareness to tone down the loudspeakers' decibel level, which could never have been made functional through mere diktats.
Also, there was a greater importance given to ethnicity & aesthetic appeal by and large, at all the large-scale Pujo venues.
A small thing that stuck out like a sore thumb and pained my sensibility was the large blow-ups of the toppers at competitive exams - a promotional campaign of one of the premium sponsors, an educational... nee tutorial house - on huge flex banners at many of the Pujo-pandals' entrances.