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Inclusivity and Unity reigns in Toronto’s Durga Puja

Inclusivity and Unity reigns in Toronto’s Durga Puja

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | 30 Sep 2017, 11:39 pm
Toronto, Sep 30 (IBNS): The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) celebrated Durga Puja in different pockets of the city, with numerous Bengalis, Indians, or just a mix of Asians flocking together.

The four day festivities was marked with a lot of pomp and vigour, as people queued up from far and wide to enjoy the festival with their families. Although the Puja happened in the normal hours of the day, following the traditional Bengali calendar time, yet the attendance was commendable.

Samir Dey, a member of the Toronto KalibariDurga Puja Committee, explains, “It is the spirit of the Bengalis and the love for Ma durga that brings them here in the temple, irrespective of the time or day. When it is Durga Puja, Bengalis become Bengalis in the true sense, nothing can hold them back.”

Subhra Dey and her friends enjoying Durga Puja at Bangladeshi Hindu Temple

It is not only at the Toronto Kalibari that the footfall was commendable, The Bangladeshi Hindu Temple, located in Dohme Avenue, also was heavily crowded. And it is not only Bengalis in Toronto who make it for the pujas in different parts of the city. The city gets an additional footfall of Bengalis coming from different parts of Canada to celebrate the puja.

Suchitra Halder married to Iqbal Sheikh lives in Denmark’s Copenhagen and have just received their Permanent residency status in Canada. An elated Suchitra says, “We do not have many pujas in Copenhagen, therefore, we thought it is the best time to come to Canada, especially Toronto to validate our PR and then make a final move to the country later on.” Her husband Iqbal adds,  Getting a chance to see Ma Durga among my other fellow Bangladeshi friends here was just ecstatic.”

Shubhra Dey became a permanent resident of Canada and moved to Toronto earlier this year. She is ecstatic that she could get a slice of Kolkata during Durga Puja in Toronto. “ I did not know where the celebrations were taking place, and was sad that I would miss it. However thanks to my friends who helped me reach out to the different venues where the auspicious celebration is taking place. It's a feeling that cannot be expressed in words. My parents and in-laws back home are also happy and relieved seeing us enjoying the festival here with our friends.”

“I always knew Durga Puja as a homecoming festival every year, as my aunt used to come back from UK to India during this time,” recounts 29-year-oldKakoli Das. “However this year although i could not make it to Kolkata to participate in the big family celebration, owing to the birth of my little boy. I am happy that my slice of Kolkata my parents and my in-laws are at least here with me today and we are celebrating it together as a family.”

Durga Puja is all about inclusion. It is not only a festival of Hindus or Bengalis alone. Fariha Sheikh, born in Bangladesh, a Muslim by religion, says, “We come to East York every year ever since we moved to Toronto. Although we do not have any religious significance with DurgaPuja, we love it as we have grown up among Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh and have Bengali Hindu neighbours too here in Toronto. We equally celebrate the four days of the festival with our friends here.”

“Even after a tiring day in office, I was excited in the evening to see some different tradition and meet my friends,” explains SmitaChitkeshwar, who moved to Toronto from Pune years back on an official assignment with her family. “When we entered the temple, I felt very spiritual. It was my first time in a Bengali puja in Toronto and i was spellbound. I just felt it was Sanjay leelaBhansali’s movie set with beautiful Bengali ladies moving in traditional sarees and jewellery.” Smita adds, “I loved the opportunity to shop beautiful sarees, salwars, jewellery on display.”



“It was a nostalgia ride”, recounts Nandita and Prashant Pathak. “We had witnessed severalDurga Puja celebrations being born and brought up near Jamshedpur. But getting a chance to recall the childhood celebrations and be a part once again in Toronto is unbelievable. We loved the festive ambience, the mouth-wateringKhichudiprassad, and the beautiful idol of the Goddess here at Kalibari.”

However, Prashant adds, “It would have been a real cherry in the pie if there were some street side food stalls selling egg rolls, phuchkas, ghugni, and more like the way we have it back home during Pujas.”
 

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