Durga puja chanda- the right use.

Its puja time folks and the air is rife with all the accompanying puja talk-how many dresses one bought, what are the big plans for the big 4 days, where would one give the traditional anjali, but with all the goood enthusisam and happy-talk around, one black spot is omnipresent- chanda, or the "voluntary" puja subscription (which is hardly "voluntary" anymore) and this is the only negative aspect (barring the lead contamination from the paints and the noise pollution from the neighbourhood loudspeaker) that is bound to find a place in any of the dailies from the region. And its not an odd incident now and then, chanda collection is a full fledged industry now. From being the humble voluntary yearly contribution for a neighbourhood celebration to being a industry worth crores, chanda collectiion has come a long way. Clubs even go to the extent of hiring professional "collectors" for  the job. According to some estimates, the 10 biggest clubs in the Kolkata region collect more than Rs. 40 crores in the lead-up to durga puja alone, and then there are others like Kali puja, Viswakarma Puja, Kartick Puja, Ganesh Puja and so on. The list can be endless. And this is not an isolated scenario. The scene in the small district towns is not much different.

So the question that comes foremost to the mind is- where does this money come from? In this age of high living costs and even higher inflation, when most of the so-called middle class barely manages to scrape through, who has so much spare money to pay for the extravaganza? The answer is a single word-FEAR. We bengalis are very afraid people. It doesn't mean we are coward, we seldom fail to raise our voice against anything that we fill is unjust but when things get physical, we shy away from confrontation. We are afraid- afraid of the local strongman, afraid of the guys from the club, afraid for our peace, for our family, for our life and everything else. And they take advantage of it. They force us to submission. Whenever one of us raises a voice, he is "taught a lesson" and instead of supporting him, we remain mute spectators and try to avoid the same fate ourselves. Everyone knows this forcible almost ransom-like extortion is both illegal and punishable under the law, but then again, the local police are sometimes worse. So we end up as cursing the organisers to death behind their backs, while putting up a brave, happy face on the outside. And this is high time we take control. I don't ask to stop paying chanda and pick up a brawl, that might not be a very sensible move, but we can surely tell the neighbourhood puja committee to put aside a portion of the collections for some social work. Their can be health camps in co-ordination with the local hospitals, or a free-food-for-all session  for the downtrodden, or even some clothes can help.  These are just a few suggestions and i am sure there can be many more depending on the everyday problems faced by the region. While this move will in no way help save the hard-earned money but at least at the end of the day, one can spare a smile thinking there was a good cause, however small, to which one contributed. And considering the number of clubs and number of pujas held every year, if even half of them commit for a cause, the scenario in entire West Bengal can change and then only the pujas can become really the festival for all.