The pandal at New Town’s CA Block chose to raise awareness on the LGBTQ community. In its fourth year, the pandal’s colour scheme was rainbow, since the rainbow flag is considered a symbol of diversity by the lesbian gay bisexual transsexual queer (LGBTQ) community. Inaugurating the puja was transgender lady Megh Sayantani.
“What this community needs is empathy, not sympathy. People of this community are having a tough time making ends meet during the pandemic so if you really want to uplift them, come forward and help them find employment,” said Megh, who was born a man but underwent procedures to change her gender. She is a lawyer, a dancer and an LGBTQ rights activist.
“There was such a rush to meet Megh that our pandal was getting crowded during the inauguration and we had to ask many people to step out and watch,” said Bhaskar Das, assistant secretary of the puja. “We are happy that the theme generated positive vibes and helped spread awareness on the issue.”
Das’s wife, Sarmishta Sen Das, is into social work and arranged for Megh to come down. Her boutique Bikikini also sponsored a sari that the block’s ladies wing Doshobhuja gifted Megh. They also launched the block’s puja souvenir.
The theme was the brainchild of Biswadeep Bhowmik and Kakali Majumdar of the committee. “The rainbow theme was bolstered with hand fans, kulos etc around the pandal and these were painted by residents Rathin Majumdar and Debnath Dutta, who is an art college student.
