Tag: Pappu

shuktara

Jagadhatri Puja

Posted on by shuktara

Because Durga Puja was a quiet affair this year and none of the shuktara young people were able to leave their homes, Pappu decided to celebate Jagadhatri Puja at Anna Bari on Monday 23rd November. We held it on the ground floor, at the side of the house, using our garage as a place to keep the Goddess in an open space and accessible for all. This meant that we were able to conduct the puja with different groups of people from our community coming in during the day at different times.

And for the afternoon and evening session the girls came over from Lula Bari.

To see videos of Jagadhatri Puja please click here.

shuktara gives back

Shuktara distributes 200 food packets

Posted on by shuktara

Due to increased demand from people who live around shuktara and because of your generous support, last week we increased our distribution to 200 packets of food.

The first 100 bags contained 2kg rice, 1kg potato, 500gm onion, 500gm salt, 250gm dal and 4 eggs. The next 100 bags contained an apple and a banana instead of the eggs.

This will help those unable to work during lockdown, particularly the daily wage earners who have no income and little access to food.

Everyone receives a shuktara ticket to say they have picked up this week’s provision bag and Pappu will continue this distribution throughout the month of May.

Thank You for supporting his initiative to help people in the shuktara neighbourhood during this difficult time.

Update to shuktara gives back

Posted on by shuktara

A few days ago we posted about shuktara giving back to the local community – as shuktara has enough Pappu decided to share what they have with people in the locality who have nothing. These are daily wage earners, pavement dwellers and families he has been told about who are struggling because of the lockdown in Kolkata.

Pappu started distributing packets of food last Monday (27th April). 50 more packets were given away on Friday (1st May) – each packet contained 2kg rice, 1kg potato, 250gm dried peas, a packet of biscuits and 500gm of mustard oil.

This distribution will happen every week on Wednesday during the entire month of May. Each week they will add different contents to the bags to vary nutritional value. Each packet costs about 250 rupees.

If you are in India and would like to support him:

Account name – Shuktara
Account number – 3187000100033787
Punjab National Bank
IFSC – PUNB0008500

Or call/text Pappu, Chairman of shuktara
Nagendra Mishra (91) 9830760087
Instagram @shuktara_homes

Saraswati Puja at shuktara

Saraswati Puja 2020

Posted on by shuktara

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

Weekend in Mandarmani

Posted on by shuktara

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 - Chaturdashi

Chaturdashi – the evening before Kali Puja

Posted on by shuktara

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

Mahalaya and a Birthday Weekend at shuktara

Posted on by shuktara

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

Posted on by shuktara

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.

shuktara - Pappu and Ashok

Donations to shuktara, Kolkata

Posted on by shuktara

On Tuesday 27th of August 2019, Pappu (chairman of shuktara in India) received the news that shuktara, Kolkata now has permission to receive donations electronically from outside India. 

This is the news we have all been eagerly awaiting for the last four years.

We have managed to keep both our homes running and we have been able to do everything we wanted to do over the last years, but are now looking forward to being able to do so much more for the future of the young women at Lula Bari and everyone at Anna Bari, our boys home.

Thank you all for sticking with us, supporting us and helping us out when we needed it most.

If you now wish to donate directly to shuktara, Kolkata please use the details here:

Swift Code: PUNBINBBDCA
IFC Code: PUNB0008500
Account Name: shuktara
Account No.: 3187000100080165
Bank Name: Punjab National Bank
Branch Name: Kolkata Ballygunge
Branch Address: 18/1 Gariahat Road, Kolkata 700019, West Bengal, India

shuktara - Pappu and Ashok
Nagendra Mishra (Pappu) with Ashok who was the first to hear our good news!

Our general running costs, staff salaries and expenses including school and tuition fees will still continue to be paid quarterly by Shuktara Trust UK.

If you live in the UK and pay tax then donating through Shuktara Trust UK is the very best way to donate. If you’re a UK taxpayer, Gift Aid increases the value of your charity donations by 25%, because the charity can reclaim the basic rate of tax on your gift – at no extra cost to you.