Durga Puja 2010
This year's Durga Puja was a grand fun! It had perfectly organized rituals, great food, sit-n-colour, cultural programs, dhunuchi dance with dhak - what not. There were raffle draws, and one of our sponsors Commonwealth Bank kept children happy with loads of gas balloons. 
Saturday morning we had Pushpanjali presided by Pratish da and Mouli da. Chandipath was done by Ray da. Following Pushpanjali, children  participated in a sit-n-colour, colouring beautiful pictures of Ma Durga, her children, and their carriers. Everyone participated got a prize - a very nice backpack!
The lunch was an excellent Bengali khichuri-bhog, with plenty of sides. And sweets too!
Evening’s cultural program gave a nostalgic feeling of a genuine Bengali evening, showering a spectrum of Bengali culture. It started with a beautiful song sung by Sumanta da (Aye aye re aye, notun diner gaan). This was followed by a hilarious Shruti Natok, played by Honey and Hochi. Rintu di took the mood forward with a beautiful Rabindrasangeet, sung in the praise of rain. Shibram Chakraborty’s hilarious child education disaster was next enacted by Debashis da and Deep. Tapas da and Baisali performed a beautiful enactment based upon the deeply spiritual Najrulgeeti “aruno kanti ke go”.
The finale of the evening was the mighty play “Mahishashur Mardini” by Mitali, Jarita, Neelanja, Anindita, Madhurima, Anindita (Mimi), Runu and Joyi.  The program ended right on time, and was followed by an excellent and well-managed dinner. With the dinner we had the first raffle draw. Little Rhitt helped Victor to draw the winning ticket, and Ray da won the beautiful suitcase sponsored by Samsonite. Next morning children felt very excited seeing the pictures coloured by them displayed on the wall.
The two day journey ended with a marathon 3-hrs long Dhunuchi Naach and Dhak followed by "Misti Mukh" (distribution of sweets). Famous Bengali writer Suchitra Bhattacharya came to join us in the celebration.
Wholehearted participation by community members all along the two days made the puja this year a big success. Everyone enjoyed, everyone had a good time!
Clich here to see the Durga Puja Picture Gallery (galley opens in a pop-up)
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