‘Cornasura’ Slays India’s Durga Puja Economy

Arpita Bhattacharjee, an art schoolteacher by profession, used to splurge on apparel, shoes, cosmetics, etc. worth Rs. 20,000-25,000 every year. But this year, she chose not to spend such a whopping amount as she is quite apprehensive about her future.  “As we are teaching from home these days, the necessity to buy new clothes is not there. Furthermore, I am not actively into makeups these days as we are wearing masks when we are outdoors. Moreover, I have cut down my expenditure as my salary was also deducted post lockdown. So, it is better to conserve some cash until the vaccine is available,” Bhattacharjee told BW Businessworld recently.

Dr. Bhavna Saha, Content Head & Concepts for corporate event industry, does occasional shopping for clothes, accessory, jewellery, bags, etc., from various street markets and shopping malls. But on the traditional festive occasion this year, her shopping budget was paltry at. Rs. 13-15K (approx) and that too for gifting her family members. “On a broader spectrum, to sum up the reflection, this time Durga puja shopping verses every year would be 1:3 ratio,” stated Saha. 

Arpita and Bhavna resonate the doom and gloom that is palpable amongst millions of Bengalis who celebrate Durga Puja every year across the country and more specifically in West Bengal. But this time it is due to being attacked by an invisible demon called ‘Coronasura’ in Bengal’s parlance. As Abhishek Addy, Manager- Supply Chain, Walmart India Pvt. Ltd, puts it succinctly, “Goddess Durga has come with all her pomp and glory to her maternal home, but all she finds here is a state of rising corona cases, job losses and economic downturn. With loss of income of so many people, pre-festival shopping has certainly dampened. And this is a vicious cycle, reduction in sales means less earnings for the sellers, who will themselves buy less.”

Photo by: Belighata 33 no. pally Puja Committee

Given the onslaught of Covid, and the subsequent lockdown, business in almost all forms has taken a big hit all over the country, including West Bengal. Festivities are no exception. Durga Puja, and the spending around it, accounts for a huge chunk of the West Bengal GDP. And this year, as the pandemic still rages on, Puja celebrations have certainly taken a hit.  With the High Court judgement of not allowing people inside pandals, this will also affect the street vendors who set up stalls outside the pandals. 

So, what are the estimated losses accumulated by the Durga Puja economy due to the Corona-induced slowdown? Atanu Biswas, Professor (HAG), Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) maintains,” Durga Puja economy will be severely hit – no doubt about that. First, millions have lost their jobs. And, overall, the earnings of many people have been reduced. This would certainly impact upon their purchasing power also. The accumulated losses might be tens of thousands of crores of rupees – it might even be more than one lakh crore (i.e. one billion) rupees or so.”

Multinational brands, across industry verticals, have piggybacked on the Puja sentiment through a mix of above-the-line and on-ground activities and this, interestingly, isn’t an industry-specific phenomenon. But this year, most of the brands pulled out.  Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 Communications is of the firm view that Durga Puja advertising has been badly affected by Covid-19. 

“Festival related ad spends on certain general entertainment channels may be as high as 75% of last year’s spends—surprisingly good, under the circumstances—but out of home advertising and on-ground brand activations which are normally huge have taken a drastic hit. There is no pandal branding. There are few takers for outdoor media space and what little of it is sold is at heavy discounts,” revealed Chattopadhyay, who is also an ad guru.

Simultaneously, many Puja committees have also reduced their budget, given reduced corporate sponsorship on the basis of less visitors. For instance, Beliaghata 33 No Pally Durga Puja Committee, slashed its budget from Rs. 58 lakh last year to Rs. 14 lakh this year. Sushanta Saha, secretary of the committee, said 50% of the earmarked amount will be given away as charity to shopkeepers who are unable to sell their wares due to covid restrictions.

Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee from North Calcutta, which is known for running one of the most opulent pandals in the country, has scaled down its previous year’s budget by 50% from Rs. 1.2 crore to Rs. 55-60 lakh. Out the said amount, the protima (idol) cost was cut down by nearly 50% from Rs. 3.5- 4 lakh last year to Rs. 2.5 lakh this year.  Sajal Ghosh, General Secretary, Santosh Mitra Puja Committee stated, “Since the general public ais strictly prohibited (due to covid protocol), Corporate sponsorships have also backed out this time around. As a result, we have deployed the whole amount from the proceeds of last year’s earnings.”

With Puja committees downscaling of their Pandal decorations, the income of labourers, performance artists who work at the pandals, idol makers and sundry professionals have also taken a major hit. For instance, Ghanshyam Bodhoi, a third generation dhaki (a traditional drummer) from Midnapore, was comfortably getting Rs. 10,000-15,000 (excluding travel and accommodation expenses) to perform at a prominent Puja Pandal in Delhi. But now he is struggling to get even Rs. 10,000 from a Puja organiser in Delhi. 

Likewise, Calcutta-based music band Paridhi, which used to perform at numerous cultural events in Delhi, NCR since 2015, used to comfortably quote Rs. 50,000 (excluding food and lodging) per show. But now, the whole band had to reinvent itself by resorting to digital concerts (due to travel restrictions) at 45-50% of the previous rates. Souptik Mazumder, Multi-instrumentalist from the band revealed, “This is one genuine time of the year when we actually make money from live stage shows. Post the lockdown, we are now thriving on funds that we have created through our past earnings. In the interim, we are doing digital concerts for Durga Pujas in the Calcutta, and even for US. But definitely, what we are receiving is just 40-45% of the amount we used to earn during physical events. We have to compromise that much to keep the show running.”

Potters and artisans, who make customised idols, are also fending for themselves. Not even Puja organisers have apprised the potters the reduced the height of the idol (due to Covid protocol), but are also hankering for heavy discounts due to strained resources. 

Kanchi Pal, an artisan who runs a Pottery studio in Kumarotuli, reveals that she had bagged an order of 60 mega idols from across the globe. But this year, the studio is struggling to make even 20 idols and that too for the domestic market. Another eminent artisan, Madhu Pal, maintained that he couldn’t hike the prices of the idol even though the product’s input costs have gone up manifold post the pandemic. To add to his woes, his export orders have also dropped by 70%. 

“Those who are working within Kumortuli are also not paying adequately because of shortage of capital.  So naturally, an idol worth Rs. 1 lakh was brought down to Rs. 50,000. In these times, they are selling idol for even Rs. 20,000. Apart from the government’s directive, another reason for this is that larger idols need more labourers to carry, and there is a shortage of skilled manpower this year, “reveals Prof Arup Ratan Acharjee, who has also made documentary films on potters.