Tag: Sunil

shuktara home for young adults with disability - Pappu, Pinku and Rajesh at a Durga Puja pandal

Enjoying Durga Puja

Durga Puja is one of the most famous and important festivals in West Bengal. This ten-day Hindu festival celebrates the victory of goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura.

This is a time for everyone, no matter what religion, to dress up in new clothes and go out with family and friends to enjoy the celebration. The young people at shuktara eagerly await this holiday. They love to go out visiting the magnificent pandals that house the Durga sculptures, complete with her lion mount and her ten arms wielding ten weapons.

The boys and girls go out together in two big vehicles over two days. The older boys go out again later on both those nights. This means that Sunil, who absolutely loves the Pujas, gets to go out four times!

shuktara home for young adults with disability - Ashok and Sanjib

Sanjib’s birthday at shuktara

September 23rd was Sanjib Shaw's birthday and he decided to share his day with the young people at shuktara.

He brought chicken, Indian sweets, chocolate and cakes as well as one sack of rice!

Pappu Mishra (chairman of shuktara) is really happy when local people develop an interest in shuktara.
Sanjib heard about us when he started visiting our locality.

So we say thank you and Janamdin Mubarek (Happy Birthday) to Sanjib!

shuktara home for young adults with disabilities - 2016 September - Sunil flying a kite

Sunil flies a kite – and Puja Season begins

You can feel it in the air - Puja Season is definitely coming to Kolkata.

17th September is Vishwakarma Puja followed soon after by the famous Durga Puja and ending with Kali Puja and Lakshmi Puja.

Instinctively Sunil just seems to know, finds a kite, flies it and starts making those very excited Sunil sounds.

For more about Sunil please click here.

shuktara home for disabled youth - 2016 August - Ramesh, Rajesh, Bablu Lal and Sunil

Accidents happen

We obviously prefer to give you good news and happy stories but the reality is when you are caring for a large number of young people living together accidents do occasionally happen.

About a week ago Rajesh damaged one of his fingers by slamming it in the kitchen door. He spent the night at hospital where they bandaged his finger.

A few days after his overnight stay he was taken back to the hospital for the dressing to be removed. The medical staff decided to keep him there for a few days so that his finger could be operated on. Clearly his finger needed slightly more attention than we originally thought.

Rajesh came home from hospital August 3rd - still bandaged and he says in a little pain - but home!

Read more about Rajesh...

Colours of Holi

Happy Holi!

According to Wikipedia:
"Holi (होली) is a colourful and happy Hindu holiday celebrated primarily in India on the last full moon of the lunar month of Phalguna at the end of the winter season. It falls in either late February or early March. It is also known as the Festival of Colours."

At shuktara Holi has a long history - every year everyone at shuktara throws coloured powder and liquid colour in bright, vibrant hues at each other, the staff and friends who come by. For days afterward the colour is still visible on faces, hands, and clothes as it slowly fades. Holi is a wonderful holiday, one that everyone participates in and completely enjoys.

shuktara 2015 Durga Puja - Sunil

Celebrate Durga Puja 2015 with shuktara!

Durga Puja is the biggest and most extravagant festival in Kolkata. For weeks everyone watches the pandals (temporary, fabricated structures) being slowly constructed. The one aspect common to all of them is a huge elaborate sculpture of the Hindu goddess Durga. During this Puja everyone at shuktara goes "pandal hopping" to view and enjoy the creative depictions of the goddess and her temporary home.

Sunil is never happier than when there is puja going on – and the biggest and best puja of all is DURGA PUJA!

Ashok
Pappu and Ashok
Pappu with Bapi, Ipshita and Rajesh
Ashok and friends
Lali with Minudi and Tamina
Prity
Ramesh, Sunil and Tamina with two of our mashis - Minu and Sabita
Ashok
Ramesh
Ashok
Rajesh
Lali