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Durga Puja Celebrations by Bengali Association of Greater Atlanta
In keeping with the tradition of the last twenty-seven years, BAGA celebrated the most popular and important celebration for Bengalees, the Durga Puja, on October 7th, 8th and 9th at Shamrock Middle School in Decatur. Despite rainy weather on two out of those three days, hundreds of people participated in this auspicious occasion to celebrate the victory of good over evil (Ma Durga destroying Mahisasur, the demon). The celebration that started in someone's garage in 1979 by just a few local Bengalees of that time, now attracts a large number of people, not only from this state, but from neighboring states like Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, etc. and this year was no exception. About eight hundred participants came to take part in this year's puja celebrations. Local talents spent hours to decorate the idols and the stage, and this was appreciated by all who were present.
As soon as we entered the school Friday evening, we found a large number of people visiting the stalls put up on the hallways by local businesses. The rainy weather outside could dampen the spirits of neither the sellers nor the buyers. There were stalls selling salwar suits, saris, dhoti-kurtas, ornaments, CD-DVD-VCD-cassettes, and all kinds of things. There were flyers-posters-banners announcing upcoming desi programs, satellite dish companies announcing availabilities of Indian channels, and such. Right there, we also found the yearly literary publication by BAGA, their magazine named "Paratichi - The West". Upon browsing through it, we found the letter wishing success for the puja written by the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Ronen Sen. On the contents page, we found familiar names from India from the fields of literature, movies and sports. There are contributions from local talents too. One interesting thing we found in that magazine is that the youngest contributor is five years old, while there is an article written by a ninety-eight year old retired scientist - amazing!
On Friday evening, the first phase of the puja started. After it was over, dinner was served. It was followed by the first part of a multi-part cultural program. There were songs and dances, and a play presented by local talents based on a story written by a famous Bengali writer. Although people went home quite late that night, the next morning they all gathered again early in the morning to take part in the puja for that day. There were dhak-s and dhol-s, and dances during the arati-s, it was enough to bring back a lot of memories from back home. After lunch there was another segment of the cultural functions, and in this phase, the three main attractions for the afternoon were performance by a local Bengali Band, a group performance by local children, and a variety program by local talents depicting the changes and evolutions of Bengali culture since India's independence. After the evening arati-s and dinner, a guest artist from Kolkata, Ms. Somdatta Basu, performed Bengali songs - old and new - and the audience was enthralled with her rendition of these songs. On Sunday, the last part of the pujas were performed. It was followed by "sindur-khela" where married women took part in wishing one another a long and happy married life. The festivities concluded with the final segment of the cultural program where a famous Bengali Band group from Kolkata "Chandrabindoo" performed. Groups of people, young and old alike, danced on the floor to their tunes. All in all, this was a memorable puja to remember for all who attended BAGA's puja this year.
On behalf of BAGA, best wishes are conveyed to all the readers of "NRIPulse.com" on the auspicious season of Durga Puja, Deepavali and Ramadan.
