City of Joy in City Beautiful

Banhisha kundu

There’s another Bengal; residing at the centre of the City Beautiful — Chandigarh, where the Bengali community has constructed its very own City of Joy. 

The journey started many decades back and no one could have foretold the significance of the Bengali Kalibari in Chandigarh’s Industrial Area Phase – II which it has cultivated throughout these decades. With the collective determination and unparalleled devotion of a few, the dream to establish a Kali temple in a foreign land was fulfilled in the year of 1970. “Kalibari and Bangiya Sankritik Sammilani are the two prominent Bengali clubs in Chandigarh and have maintained the Bengali traditions and culture,” says, Anjana Chatterjee, former school teacher of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. She had arrived in Chandigarh in the year of 1979 after getting married and stayed here ever since. “The clubs come together to celebrate festivals like Durga Puja and cross-culture festivals like Holi and Diwali,” she says. The Bangiya Sanskritik Sammilani started with a small rented space in Sector 35 . The locality of Sector 35 and Sector 44 looked identical to any other sectors of Chandigarh.  And, it wouldn’t be unfair to call this place as mini-Bengal. “I am residing here for the past forty-five years and this city has given me all the love and acceptance that I needed. I was a fifteen year old boy when I moved here with my parents,” says K. Mukherjee, now a retired serviceman. 

 The tricity has a Bengali population of 15,000 approximately till date. Isn’t it a wonderful coincidence that lots of Bengalis are married to the city’s local community? Pallav Mukherjee, private architect, who resides in Sector 11 with his lovely Punjabi wife. “I have been married for the past thirty-four years and my wife is a Punjabi. Neither her side or my side of the family had any problems,” says Pallav. 

“The clubs have started performing on Bollywood songs on all the Bengali occasions, as the crowd has equal number of Punjabis as well. Which, I think is a good thing,” says K. Mukherjee. When asked about how difficult is it to retain one’s culture in a distinct land, he says, “Change is the only constant. It’s not possible to retain anything in its entirety in a different place.”  People finding solace and being able to create a place to call it ‘home’, is invigorating. True unity lies in diversity.