Bengalis Celebrate Shoshit Puja in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Someone was calling out in a way that sounded all too familiar to anyone who had stood in a Kolkata crowd, and it was in Bengali. “Eat today, pay tomorrow,” he cried. “Look at the buttery chicken. Mutton is falling apart; come try it; you will not find it in the whole of Hyderabad. And two potatoes with every dish.”

The potato was not an afterthought; that is what gives Kolkata biryani its identity. This was from the Dada Boudi Biryani stall at Keyes High School, one of Kolkata’s most famous Biryani names. For Bengalis, theatrics were hardly needed to draw them in; the name alone was enough. And the crowd around the stall made clear that Shoshti had arrived.

The Shoshti evening began with the two oldest pujas in the city, both inaugurated by Governor Vishnu Dev Varma. NTR Stadium was the venue where Bangalee Samity marked its 84th year of Pujo. Across town, the puja at Keyes High School’s Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha is celebrating its diamond jubilee.

At Keyes this year the pandal was in the style of Jaipur’s architecture, with arches and painted motifs leading to a Durga idol that matched the same aesthetic. The design caught the eye, but it was the sound of the dhaak that brought in more meaning. A troupe of women khakis from Kolkata, rare anywhere, was present, and the youngest barely a teen playing as good as any male drummer.

“I have been playing since I was five years old,” she said. “We wanted to bring in Narishakti, women’s empowerment, this year,” said Abhijeet Bhattacharya, President of Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha and a member of the cultural committee.

The rain in the city in between did not dampen any puja spirit. As the crowd temporarily took their shade wherever they could, they continued once the rain tapered. One can say food and adda kept people from leaving. But that was not it. What makes durga puja, durga puja are the people, and the crowd was full of old faces.

Shyam Rohra, a Sindhi who has lived in Secunderabad for decades, called his sister in Canada to show her the pandal. “I have been visiting for more than 25 years,” he said. “I may not be Bengali, but I lived in Calcutta for years and this connects me back.”

His wife Deepa, a social worker, stood beside him as he added, “We have been married 45 years, and for more than half of that we have come here together.”

Chandan Mukherjee, who worked with the Airport Authority of India, moved to Kolkata in 2014 but still returns every year to meet his old friends, strangely leaving behind the Kolkata puja. Barun Das, now based in Bhubaneswar, comes back as well, remembering his years in Hyderabad before 2008.

Younger folks have also stepped in. Architect Suyash Bose, co-convenor of the social media committee, said, “This Diamond Jubilee year shows how millennials have taken over much of the work from the older members. We have handled the pandal, the digital presence, even the logos.” Online reach has stretched the puja further than ever. Palak Muchhal’s performance reel touched 1.2 lakh views, Fakira’s music reached 60,000, and videos of Rathikanta Mahapatra crossed 50,000.