Durga Pujo keeps railway’s Bengali employees in city connected to roots

Nagpur: The history of the Bengali community in Nagpur is almost as old as the Motibagh Railway Colony Durga Pujo, which entered its 81st year this year. The Motibagh Sarbajanin Durga Pujo was started by the employees of the then Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) in the early 1940s, most of whom had to shift to the city from West Bengal for their coveted ‘railer chakri' (service in the railways).
Though the BNR, formed in 1887, was taken over by the Govt of India in 1944 to become South East Central Railway (SECR), the legacy of the Pujo by the ‘Probasi Bangali' at Motibagh remained alive, beholding the sentiments of the community who had moved away from their native lands but refused to disassociate from their roots.
The Ajni Central Railway Institute's Durga Pujo started by the Bengali employees of CR's Nagpur Division also has stepped into its 45th year now.
Biswajit Dey, SECR's divisional cashier and general secretary of the Motibagh Pujo, said that the Pal family of West Bengal's Shantipur has been sculpting the idol of Maa Durga for the last 50 years. "Kshitesh Chakravarty conducted the Pujo for almost 50 years, which was followed by JK Majumdar," said Dey who is conducting the Pujo for the last 21 years.
"The same committee conducts five socio-religious festivals in a year like Durga Pujo, Kali Pujo, Laxmi Pujo, Saraswati Pujo, and Dol Kirtana, which are all key occasions in Bengal too," said Dey.
Ajni Central Railway's chief convenor, Debashish Bhattacharya, said the Pujo helped the Bengalis come together as an extended family during the festive season. "Our next generation too comes forward as we show them the path to continue with our rich cultural heritage and tradition. Even our children from abroad come down, contribute, and enjoy Durga Pujo," said Bhattacharya, adding that Central Railway's divisional railway manager Manish Agarwal and senior divisional commercial manager Aman Mittal too had attended the Pujo.
Central Railway's Shankar Prasad, also associated with the Ajni Pujo, stated that Pujo had once offered great solace to the homesick Bengalis who had long left their homes but could not forget the aura of the land.