The Bengali Association’ Celebration of DURGA PUJA in Birmingham
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Durga Puja in Birmingham England A chronological history of the evolution for the Bengalis in Birmingham and progression associated with ‘The Bengali Association’ Celebration of DURGA PUJA in Birmingham Bengalis in Birmingham www. bengalisinbirmingham.org.uk Third Edition 2020 Priya Bala Sarkar 1921 - 1995 This Booklet is dedicated to Priya Bala Sarkar. She was the glue that bound our Bengali Family. In the early days, she pro- vided Bengali Cuisine at our gatherings as we did not have our own com- munity centre. She cared deeply about creating a happy family for Bengalis in Birmingham. She was also the Great Mashima/Jathaima performing ‘Puja rituals’ when we struggled to find a Priest for our religious ceremonies. She encouraged and supported many of our Brahmin Friends to become a ‘Pujari’. Her presence in the ‘Puja Hall’ contributed to the successful continuity of our religious celebrations. During our Puja Festivals, she was always one of the last to leave our ‘Puja Hall’ making sure that no one went without ‘Prasad’ as people visited our ‘Puja Mandap’ at any time of day from far and away. Many children from our community (now in their 50’s) still remember the love and the sweets from nany and adopted her as their ‘Super Nanny’. Her contribution was invaluable to our community and the journey of the ‘The Bengali Association’ Durga Puja 1969 at Allen Knox Memorial Hall Aston Cross, Birmingham, England. Mr. G. Sarkar, the organiser arranging a tableau of Goddess Durga and her attendants for the Hindu festival “Durga Puja” 1969 at Aston Cross, Birmingham.. Published by “The Birmingham Post & Evening Mail” -------------------------------------------------------- 2 Bengalis in Birmingham Celebrated Durga Puja since 1969 We are proud and privileged to have been actively associated with Durga Puja in Birmingham for 50 years in 2018. This first Durga Puja brought all the Bengali families in Birmingham together and made us feel at home. This was the pre-destination for the inception of our glorious “Bengali Association” in Birmingham, U.K. We are thankful to every one who helped in this endeavour directly or indirectly to make the Puja success in 1969. It was a great effort by the community. In 1970 Lord Luis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India attended the Durga Puja in Birmingham. 3 The Tagorian in Midlands Birmingham has been a place for Bengalis since 1935. First and foremost we are talking about Calcacian Bengali (from Calcutta now Kolkata). We have integrated with the host community in Birmingham, but from the beginning we have tried to maintain our unique food, lan- guage, culture and identity, because we wish to be identifi ed as Bengalis. The Bengalis in India are the champions of social and cultural heritage. Often, we pride ourselves being ‘Tagorian’ as the world famous Poet, Playwriter and Nobel Laureate ‘Rabindra Nath Tagore’ was born in this part of West Bengal, India. We wished to continue on this Bengali Cul- ture in Birmingham. According to our knowledge one Bengali Drama “Rajsingha” writ- ten by another giant of Bengali literaturer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was staged (in English) in 1948 organised by Late Dr. Sudhir Ranjan Dasgupta which was graced by the guest audience of V. K. Krishna Me- non (Ex-Defence Minister of India and a prominent leader for Freedom Fighters of ‘India League’ in London). Our predecessors tried to establish a Bengali community since they arrived in Birmingham. One such noble man was the Late Dr. S.K. Sen. He felt for the Bengali people so much that he used to celebrate ‘Saraswati Puja’ at his own home, Dr. S. K. Sen but needless to say it was a daunting task to unite the Bengali People. As our respect and admiration goes to the local Bengali prede- cessors, our memories come fl ooding back from many years ago. It was midsummer in 1968, a group of Bengali people from Wolverhampton organised a coach trip led by Dhiren Ghosh and assisted by Kanchan Mitra. A major breakthrough for the Bengali community was the celebration of “Durga Puja” in Wolverhamton in 1968. Dhiren Ghosh 4 with G. Sarkar The success of the Puja in Wolverhampton inspired us (the Bengalis in Birmingham) to seek a path to promote cultural events in Birmingham which we often used to discuss in “The Witton Arms” at weekends.Towards the end of July 1969, a coach trip to Llandudno was organized by G. Sarkar from Yewtree Road, Witton in Birming- ham . It was a tremendous success. The food and entertainment were unforgettable, we still remember the joy of dancing and singing while travelling along in the Coach. This trip was not organised in the name of any association. It was the confirmation of enthusiasm and a strong conviction for the Bengali community. This was the most successful event ever. This memorable Coach Trip gave us the evidence of the need to form a community for the local people to preserve the heritage and Culture of Bengalis. A meeting was called by G. Sarkar for Durga Puja (1969) at 120 Yew Tree Road, Witton, Birmingham. The news of the meeting spread rapidly. Several letters were received from interested people who wanted to join the meeting. Among them Dr. S.K.Sen from Walsall - who was a most distinguished person in our communities. A group of people from Small Heath led by Brojen Basu and Mrinal Chowdhury. Also other attended people were Rakhal Kar from Edgbaston and lo- cal people P.K. Das, P.K. Chanda, Jagadish Halder, Arup Bhowmick, S.K.Dutta, Mahaprobhu Paul etc. etc. Dr. S.K.Sen was asked to take the chair for the day as he was one of the elderly respectable persons with active connection to the community. Dr.Sen was also The President of The Geeta Bhawan Mandir. As the meeting was in progress, suddenly an uninvited guest stormed through the door with two of his supporters. It was Late Mihir Gupta, a local Bengali School teacher and a part time Politician, who was also the Chair-man of the Birmingham City Privy Council (Ethnic Group). In the past Mihir Gupta and Dr.Sen were rivals in the election of the ‘Indian Workers Association’. A heated and unnecessary ar- gument took place between these two gentlemen. The meeting was disrupted. Despite several requests Dr. Sen walked out with his two supporters Rakhal Kar and P.K.Das. 5 The meeting continued at Yewtree Road and a committee was formed called ‘Midland Asian Hindu Society’. Mihir Gupta was elected as Chairman, P. K. Chanda was Treasurer, Allan Knight (BBC) - was Stage Designer. G. Sarkar was the Chief Organiser for the entire programme. Protima was flown from Calcutta (Kolkata) with financial help from Mrinal Choudhury and the Puja took place at Allen Knox Memorial Hall, Aston Church Lane, Aston Cross, Birmingham B6 To our dismay, in secret, another Puja Committee was formed By Dr. S. K. Sen with P.K.Das, Rakhal Kar etc. and Puja was held at ‘Geeta Bhawan Mandir’. The Puja at ‘Geeta Bhawan Mandir’ was overwhelmed with a massive crowd, the people from neighbouring areas poured in from Leicester, Derby, Wolverhampton for Devi Darshan. Bengali people did not have a chance to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, some even did not get the opportunity to enter the Mandir. The Puja at Aston Cross took huge publicity due to the political attitude of Mihir Gupta. The event was published in all the local media and appeared in the news in T.V.News. The road was patrolled by Police and the Fire Brigade was in stand-by, the Health and Food department came to inspect the food at G.Sarkar’s residence at 120 Yew Tree Road, Witton etc. etc. 1969 was glorious year of the Bengali community in Birmingham with great success of Durga Puja but it concluded with four separate divisions among the Bengali community. The unity of the Bengali com- munity was completely shattered. There were four separate Puja Groups among the Bengali community in the Midlands - The Midland Asian Hindu Society (Birmingham), Midland Indian Association (Wolverhampton), Asian Hindu Cultural Association (Wednesbury) and Geeta Bhawan Durga Puja (Lozells). This predicament due to the divisions in the community was the predestination of the glorious inception for The Bengali Association. The passion and the powerful expression of desire to promote Bengali culture could no longer remain dormant. An account was opened in the name of ‘Bengali Association’ with T.S.B.Municipal Bank (Lloyds TSB) at Witton, Birmingham for £9.10sd (shillings). Although a constitution was drafted with the help of the Bank Manager appointing a Chair person (Sikha Sarkar) and a secretary (G. Sarkar) to open the account; but there was no association or any committee, only the intensity of commitment for the unity of the Bengali Friends and Families. 6 One evening in 1970, it expressed itself impromptu as a Musi- cal Entertainment and Children’s Party organised by G. Sarkar. The forum being “Bijoya Sanmelani” at Youth Club in Witton, Birmingham. The programme was extremely successful because the generosity of the Bengali Community. This helped enormously to bring the community members closer together. This was the inception for the hope of ‘An acorn today - the Great Oak tomorrow’, for which a handwritten leaflet was distributed and it read these great words... Organised by “THE BENGALI ASSOCIATION” This was followed by regular monthly meeting at ‘Dr. Johnson- House’, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF; with the hope to promote Bengali culture. A series of hall bookings and advance payments was made by G. Sarkar before introducing membership fees to raise funds. This continued for many years without any committee or constitution.