Author: shuktara

shuktara

Weekend in Mandarmani

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Last weekend Pappu took the girls from Lula Bari to the seaside resort village of Mandarmani.

This is a good time of the year to visit the beach because the weather is sunny and the monsoon rains have usually finished. Everyone enjoys the beach and the fresh sea air is a welcome change from urban Kolkata.

Sunil went also because no one likes a holiday more than he does.

shuktara - Muniya, Prity and Puja Bagh

Lula Bari goes to Mandarmani

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There was a lot of excitement yesterday evening at Lula Bari.

The girls had just received a bundle of winter clothes from a local supporter and were frantically choosing which outfits to pack for a short two-day trip. Moni was busy in the next room catching up on some last minute homework with Priyanka. A neighbour was celebrating his son’s first birthday by delivering food packets to everyone.

Prity wanted everyone to see this photo of her and Puja (on right). It’s not often we are able to capture Puja because of her stimming, but in this moment, Prity asked us to click quickly!

After the madness of last night this morning Pappu and the girls are happily on their way to Mandarmani for a beach weekend.

shuktara - Diwali

Happy Diwali!

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For 20 years now we’ve been celebrating Diwali on the roof of shuktara. Diwali is celebrated with fireworks and crackers all across India. In Kolkata Kali Puja signifies the end of the puja season and usually takes place the night after Diwali. This year both festivals were on the same night so everyone set off their fireworks together.

Sunil loves pujas but this is perhaps his very favourite one because it involves extremely loud noises he is able to hear despite being profoundly deaf. Pappu took him to choose the fireworks and the choices were overwhelming – just take a look at this shop selling only fireworks (below).

Last Sunday (27th October) at dusk small clay containers were filled with oil and a wick and placed all around both homes. As darkness fell the lamps were lit and the feeling was absolutely magical.

Then the firework show began with rockets, pinwheels, fountains and sparklers. All over the city colourful lights and sounds continued for most of the night.

Happy Diwali from all of us at shuktara!

shuktara - lamps on Diwali
shuktara - Chaturdashi

Chaturdashi – the evening before Kali Puja

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Lighting of 14 candles at Anna Bari

Chaturdashi is observed on the night before Kali Puja. Fourteen lamps were lit and placed around the house to remember 14 generations of those who have died.

In the video Sunil is lighting the candles around Anna Bari.

VIP Guests at the Kali Puja Inauguration

On the same evening Pappu took Guria, Prity, Aakash and Bappa to a Kali Puja inauguration where they were VIP guests and Pappu was able to speak to the audience about the work he does at shuktara.

shuktara - Anna remembered

Remembering Anna

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Anna died on Sunday 21st October 2018.
He had been in hospital for one week during the celebration of Durga Puja here in Kolkata and on the last day of the Pujas, which is called Bijoya and is the day that the goddess returns back to her heavenly abode, we received news from the hospital that Anna was coming home the following day.

He came home and died the next day surrounded by the shuktara family.

According to the Hindu calendar his first year death anniversary and the rituals around it were held on Thursday 10th October which is when all of these photos were taken at Anna Bari, his home, named in his memory and during the course of the day Pappu did the the rituals for Anna’s final shradh.

It included lots of fire and very significant and meaningful moments, like walking outside the house with his favourite food, leaving it by the pond – walking away and not looking back.
Painful, but one more lesson in letting go.

Everyone came to Anna Bari, the girls all came from Lula Bari and the two older boys who are now married and living independently, came with their wives and daughters.
It was an exhausting day for everyone but important in so many ways to honour the memory of Anna who meant so much to us and along with Sunil were the first boys and the beginning of shuktara.

Shuktara Trust (UK)

Changes at Shuktara Trust (UK)

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Shuktara Trust (UK) - Mike Tungay
Mike Tungay
Mike Tungay has been Chairman of Shuktara Trust (UK) since 2006, soon after the Trust was registered in November 2005.

This means that Mike has been a Trustee for 14 years and Chairman for 13 years. Earlier this month on 18th September at a Shuktara Trust (UK) Trustees Meeting held in London Mike expressed that it is now the right time for him to step down as Chair and suggested that Adam Thompson takes over the role. Adam confirmed that he was happy to do so.

Adam Thompson first visited Kolkata back in 2001 and has been involved in all things shuktara since then, including being a trustee since 2005. In February, earlier this year he visited again with his son Frankie and you can read his description of the visit here:
Adam’s visit to shuktara

Adam Thompson

Mike will of course continue to be a Trustee and we thank him for his commitment over the years and look forward to working with him and socialising with him and Sue much more – now they have more time.

We are all also grateful for their promise to support Adam as he takes over this important role.

We welcome Adam as Chairman and all he can bring to shuktara in this role. His care and love towards the young people at Lula Bari and Anna Bari that we witnessed in February brought a smile to everyone’s face.

Thank You Mike Tungay and welcome to the role of Chairman Adam Thompson.

Some words Adam wrote on his return to London from his previous visit seem just as relevant today:

“I like to imagine myself in another twenty years, grizzled, perhaps lame in one leg and once again drinking tea on the roof of shuktara as the sun goes down. If this shuktara of the future has fostered even half of the love it has shown over the past twenty years we will all as supporters, feel incredibly proud of the work that David, Pappu and the team have done. I don’t bet (much), if I did, my guess is that all the right foundations are in place for a home of much happiness for many, many years ahead.”

shuktara - Guria

Gift Aid Awareness Day

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shuktara - Guria and her physical therapistGift Aid allows UK charities to claim back the basic rate tax already paid on donations by the donor (only UK donors are eligible). This means we can claim back from the government on your behalf 25p for every £1 donated, boosting the value of the donation by a quarter.

We are grateful for your donations, both the one-off gifts and the standing orders that you have set up.

This extra money makes so much difference in Kolkata, it means we can do things like pay for more physiotherapy classes for Guria, who has cerebral palsy and lives at Lula Bari.

If you are a supporter of shuktara and haven’t filled up a Gift Aid Declaration form please think about it.

It’s really easy and all the information is available here:
shuktara.org/donate/
So, if you pay Income Tax in the UK your donation can go much further if you take a few minutes and fill out the form.
Thank You!

shuktara

Mahalaya and a Birthday Weekend at shuktara

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On Saturday 28th September we celebrated Mahalaya, this is the day that Durga comes to earth and the beginning of the celebration of Durga Puja which starts when her face is unveiled on the 4th October.

28th September is the day that Subhash celebrates his birthday and also a day when visitors come to shuktara with gifts for everyone because of Mahalaya and the forthcoming festival.

This year we had a lot of gifts – clothes, food, umbrellas and blankets and a promise of a water filter machine for Anna Bari. Pappu’s friends Navin and Rajesh filled up a car with food (see photo) enough for both our homes.

When everyone found out that Guria celebrates her birthday the following day, on the 29th September, our guests rushed out to buy cake for her, to be kept in the fridge. So Guria ended up with 3 cakes on Sunday including the one that Pappu had organised for her.

Nobody arrives at shuktara with a date of birth. But everyone has a birthday that they choose or is chosen for them if they are unable to do so.

Thank You to all our friends and supporters here in Kolkata, India and around the world.

shuktara - Bablu Lal and Rahul

Meet Rahul, Pappu’s new assistant

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Pappu, chairman of shuktara, got to the point where he realised he needed help with the piles of administrative paperwork including staff attendance sheets, daily expenses, current accounts and catching up on a backlog of last month’s papers to digitise.

Everyone appreciates Pappu and how much he does for shuktara, but the work load is too much for him alone.

Rahul was one of three people that Pappu interviewed and has a background of commerce and accounting.

Meet Rahul – here at Anna Bari with Bapi.