Inclusive Durga puja with a social message

The Dakshin Chennai Prabasi Cultural Association (DCPCA), formed by a group of like-minded individuals, was started with a sole purpose in mind — to bring people from all walks of life together to celebrate Durga puja. Started in 2014, they have successfully been organising Navrathri festivities year after year and this time, are doing so with a social message.

The Association’s General Secretary, Sugata Roy, begins by explaining what DCPCA stands for. “We are a diaspora of cultures who have gotten together to celebrate Durga puja every year. Right from Bengalis and Malayalis to Tamilians, anyone who has been exposed to the puja or has lived in Kolkata, is a part of the group. People hailing from the North East, Jharkhand, Bihar, etc. settled in Chennai are also a part of it. This is our fifth year of celebrations and we want to show unity in diversity,” he says.

The committee came up with the idea of making the festival more inclusive this year, by spending time with the underprivileged. “On Ayudha puja, kids from an orphanage in Kelambakkam will be joining us for bhog (traditional lunch served at the pandal), we will be conducting a workshop for them in craft and drawing and have some cultural activities,” says Roy, who works as a Communication Specialist for UNICEF. Not just that, on the last day of Durga puja, a celebration among women known as shidurkhala, takes place. “Traditionally, Bengali women wear a white sari with red border and apply sindoor (vermilion) on each other during this event. Only married women are allowed — widows and spinsters are excluded. However, we want to get rid of these age-old norms that sideline people from the celebrations. We’ve asked all the elderly women to participate in shidurkhala,” he shares.

The puja pandal has been set up on OMR, since it has sizeable population of people from eastern India settled in the vicinity. Sugata says, “It becomes very difficult for us to travel all the way to Besant Nagar or T Nagar to take part in the Durga puja celebrations held there. We wanted to bring the festival closer so we identified a place in Kelambakkam, where we could set up a pandal.” DCPCA has around 100-120 active members, most of whom are employed in the IT sector. “They all have hidden talents though, which you can get to see during the in-house cultural programme — men, women and children of all age groups will be singing and dancing,” he smiles.