Demonic’ Sharif invades Durga Puja

This is very true of the one made by Mintu Paul, a young artist. According to one of his assistants, there had been demands from organisers of different puja committees to give a Kargil touch to the idols. So Paul thought of the idea of portraying Nawaz Sharif as the demon. He said the organisers had liked the idea very much and since then the artiste has been flooded with requests to make Durga idols withdemons resembling Sharif. Along with the demon idol, other idols resembling Pakistani soldiers will also be made by the artiste and displayed at the pandals.

However, several artistes belonging to the old school are not ready to deviate from tradition. Debasish Paul, a 25-year-old artist, told this reporter: “We will make the idols of demons as well Durga and others in the same way that my grandfather first did 100 years ago.”

Idols are not the only ones that have changed. In the decoration of pandals and lighting arrangements all over the city, Kargil will be depicted in a major way, according to organisers of many community pujas.

Says Abhijeet Banerjee, an official of the Shanti Kunja Sarbojonin Durga Puja Committee, Dum Dum: “The victory in Kargil gave us glory and pride in ourselves. By our lighting arrangements we will depict scenes of combat in Kargil. We hope it will attract large crowds to our pandal.”

In garments sales too, Kargil has become a major sales gimmick as shoppers are lookingfor dresses with a Kargil brand name. The garments selling as Kargil dresses don’t have any motif as such on them which can distinguish them as “Kargil dresses” but what the shopkeepers are doing is setting out some garments with garish design and selling them under the name “Kargil dresses”.

Some people are looking for Kargil dresses so we have to cater to their demands,” Subhas Majumder of Jagattarini Bastralaya at Shyambazaar in north Calcutta told this reporter. “In fact, it is in women’s garments where Kargil has made a major impact,” he added.