FESTIVE FERVOUR - Festival pulse in Ananda Mela

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Durga Puja committees here organise Ananda Mela, almost identical to the traditional fair started by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan almost 100 years ago.
The fair for charity -Anandabazaar -is organised every year at Gourprangan in Visva Bharati on the day of Mahalaya, after which the university students go home for Puja holidays.Over 2,000 miles west, Ananda Mela marks the beginning of festivities with fun and frolic on Panchami at Durga Puja pandals in Pune.
The first fair for charity was hosted in Santiniketan on Poyla Boishakh (usually April 15 of the English calendar) -the Bengalis' New Year -in 1917. From 1920 (tentatively) onwards, it is being organised on the day of Mahalaya. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen sat in Annapurna Kavita Bhandar (an instant poetry store) -a stall of Anandabazaar -in 1952.
Cut to Ananda Mela here. It is strictly an all-woman affair. Male members of different Durga Puja committees just extend logistics support to organize the fair -a kind of Bengali food fest. Some organisers use the proceeds of the fair for charity, while a few use it for organising cultural events.
Soma Choudhuri of Aamantran on B T Kawade Road said, “The fair gives women an opportunity to display their hidden cooking skills in public. From starters to main course, the spread includes varieties of dishes. This time, 14 dishes of different tastes are on offer. We try to ensure people can have their dinner at the pandal.“
Echoing Choudhari, Rina Pradhan of Anandam -off Salunke Vihar Road -said, “We have 17 stalls this year. Bengali dishes like Bhapa Ilish (baked hilsa), mutton kasa and baked rosogolla are on the menu this year. We also have snacks like papri chaat on offer. The proceeds of the fair go to the club for organising different cultural pro ganising different cul grammes throughout the year.“ Pune Kali Bari also organised Ananda Mela on Thursday .Biplab Dey , the secretary of the Puja commit tee, said, “Wives of our members prepared Bengali meals for the fair.They are being sold at reasonable prices. It is an opportunity for Bengalis to taste the food of home miles away from home.“
P K Bhattacharya, the president of Banga Bharati Duga Puja and Kali Puja Committee in Pimpri Chinchwad, said, “Women cooked different delicacies at home on Thursday and sold them at the pandal.“