Tag: Bablu Lal

Saraswati Puja at shuktara

Saraswati Puja 2020

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Saraswati Puja came early this year – the date varies according to the cycle of the moon but typically falls in late January or early February. This year the puja was on Wednesday 29th January and is the first puja of the year celebrating the goddess of wisdom and learning, Saraswati.

At shuktara this occasion is marked by a statue of the goddess Saraswati on the roof of Anna Bari, usually surrounded by bright floral decorations. Everyone dresses up in their best clothes and the young people from both homes gather on the roof to talk, eat kedgeree (a creamy savory rice dish) and, as seen in the video to the right, dance.

Everyone loves Sunil and we all love watching Sunil celebrate by dancing. Happy Saraswati Puja!

shuktara

Joydeb, our new tutor

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Thanks to your generous donations to shuktara we have been able to fund a tutor for Anna Bari.

Meet Joydeb.
He will be working with Aakash (here), Subhash, Bappa, Bablu and Sumon. But already we can’t keep some of the other boys away!

We were able to find Joydeb through Priyanka who is the girls’ tutor at Lula Bari.

He will come to Anna Bari three times a week on the days the boys don’t have physiotherapy.

shuktara

Vishwakarma Puja

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Vishwakarma is considered to be the divine architect and creator of the world. On this day workers ask him to bless their tools (from a simple hammer to a more complex machine like a computer) and give them safe working conditions, success in their work and a better future.

At shuktara this is usually a small celebration however this year Sunil decided that the statue representing Vishwakarma could be bigger. You can see Sunil in the first video below joyfully banging with a pair of scissors during the ceremony to honour Vishwakarma.

shuktara

Rubel reunited with his family

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Pappu took Rubel yesterday (30th July) to be reunited with his parents who have been found. They had filed a missing person report when he went missing and Rubel was in the system.

They are now heading back over 300km to his home in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, close to the Bangladesh border where he is one of six boys. His father works as a labourer in the fields as a daily wage earner.

Everyone at shuktara will miss Rubel and his infectious laugh.

shuktara homes birthday celebration for Bablu Lal

Bablu Lal’s birthday

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At shuktara we love to celebrate birthdays. 15th May was Bablu Lal’s birthday. We think Bablu is probably the oldest person who lives at shuktara although like most of the people who live at our homes we have no actual birth information. Bablu’s birthday is during the very hot season right before the rains start in June. We’re sure that a piece of Bablu’s cake made the day a real celebration – and possibly for just a few minutes everyone could forget about the soaring temperatures.

Click here to read more about Bablu Lal.

shuktara boys home for young people with disabilities - Anna Bari

Anna Bari

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Although the shuktara girls home is called Lula Bari we've never had a name for the boys home - until now. We think the very best way to honour Anna's memory is to name the boys home after him.

First we had our expert sign maker draw up a design. The photos above show the design and it's creation and installation.

The boys home will always be known as Anna Bari.

shuktara homes for young people with disabilities

Happy Diwali!

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Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights, celebrated in autumn. This is one of the most popular festivals in India which symbolizes the "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance."

This is a favorite night at the shuktara homes as everyone helps with lighting up the house and setting off fireworks.

This year our celebration was a bit more subdued as we all remembered Anna and lit candles not only for the festival, but also for him.

shuktara homes for young people with disabilities

Getting ready for Kali

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In West Bengal we are very lucky because we celebrate two festivals of light - first Kali Puja (dedicated to the goddess of Kolkata, Kali) and on the following night, Diwali (Hindu New Year).

On both nights pradeep (shallow clay vessels with oil) and candles are placed all around the house. The short videos and photos below show preparations for lighting up the house on Kali Puja.

shuktara homes for young people with disabilities

Durga Puja – visiting the pandals

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If you follow shuktara you know that Durga Puja is the biggest festival of the year in Kolkata. All over the city elaborate handmade pandals are created to house clay statues of the goddess Durga and her family who come down once a year from their heavenly abode for a five day holiday.

This year the young people of shuktara visited the pandals on the 1st day of Pujas which was Shashti and 3rd day which was Ashtami. Everyone dressed up in their new clothes, piled in the cars and went pandal-hopping.

(thank you Raegan Hodge for all the fabulous photos!)