More than 70 new puja organisers with varied age, budget and popularity quotients have joined a movement that is dozen years old, has 300 members and growing — the CESC The Telegraph True Spirit Puja.

In the true spirit of the movement for a safe, clean and people-friendly festival, the newcomers — from 10-year-old pujas to seasoned 44-year-olds — received their induction briefing at Spring Club on Saturday.

“The CESC The Telegraph True Spirit Puja is not about big idols or big pandals but something else. It is about whether you are environment-friendly or not, whether you are taking care of the pandal-hoppers or not, whether you have taken proper steps for their safety or not,” said Arijit Basu, the deputy general manager for customer relations of CESC, at the first club meet.

The movement started in 2003 with around 70 puja clubs and committees, swelling to 300 participating members in over a decade. The CESC The Telegraph True Spirit Puja judges pandals on three broad parameters:

n Safety measures top the list. Judges look into the organisers’ efficiency in crowd management and their capability in handling crisis situations, availability of first-aid, presence of fire safety measures and more.

n Civic consciousness comes next. Are the pandals following sound pollution norms? Are they eco-friendly? Is their waste disposal system efficient? Are they retaining or restoring public property in the locality?

n Social commitment of the organisers is the final category. Do the pandals have help desks to assist pandal-hoppers and how efficiently are these being managed? What facilities do they offer to people with special needs, like someone on a wheelchair or senior citizens? Do they have toilets and drinking water taps? Are the organisers committed to charity and community engagement?

The Model Puja award goes to the best pandal after two rigorous rounds of judging. A Viewers’ Choice Award has been added this year where pandals with the highest upvotes on the CESC Facebook page will get the trophy.

According to some of the new entrants, the best thing about the movement is that the CESC The Telegraph True Spirit Puja is not about big budgets but encouragement it offers to homely and small-scale pujas, such as the Dakhineswar Adi Sarbojanin Durgotsav O Dol Utsav Samity — in its 75th years this season.

“We don’t have a theme and we cannot compete with the grandeur of other pujas but we are committed to the spirit of the festival and we care about all those who drop in. Everyone is a VIP for us. The awareness this movement is creating is necessary and we fit into the spirit of it,” said Tarashankar Pramanik, the vice-president of the organisation.

Others have other reasons like civic and environmental aspects. For 21-year-old Sankha Ghosh and 18-year-old Ankit Saha of Pallibasi Durgotsav Committee in north Calcutta, the biggest draws are the issues the movement espouses.

“This is the first year our generation has taken the reins of the 44-year-old puja. We felt the need to participate in a movement like this. If we don’t take things like sound pollution, eco-friendliness and social commitment seriously, what will we leave for the next generation?” asked Sankha.

“Ours is a small puja, very homely… but it is the heart of it that counts, not the budget or the popularity,” added Ankit.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Monday – September 22nd, 2014