Durga Pujo With a Twist? IVF Reaches This Pandal in Kolkata

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Imagine going inside the womb of a mother-to-be. Sounds weird, doesn’t it?

A puja committee in Kolkata has chosen the difficult subject of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) as its theme this Durga Pujo, and has been receiving acclaim from all quarters.

Purbalok Sarbojanin, currently in its 23rd year, has been creating themes around their puja for the last two years, and this time they wanted to be socially relevant. The core committee, consisting mostly of men, zeroed in on the IVF theme this year and did lots of research before presenting its pros and cons.

We found out that IVF will be the biggest business in the country within the next five years and Kolkata will be its hub. So, it is important to raise awareness on this method and we decided to do so through our puja.

Abir Sanyal, Public Relations Officer, Purbalok Sarbojanin

The pandal depicts DNA structures in a lab at the entrance, travelling sperms towards the uterus in the next few panels and finally, shows the idol of Goddess Durga cradling a baby in her arms. The asura is interestingly seen coming out of a test tube.

We tried to focus on the pros and cons of IVF. Though the process gave hope to childless couples, IVF is still considered taboo. Also, it’s true that if the treatment is done repeatedly then it will harm the woman’s body. And unfortunately, at times, some medical practitioners see it as a business proposition. Hence, people are a bit hesitant about it.

Abir Sanyal

Located on EM Bypass, the pandal has been created with over 5,000 pieces of lab equipment like beakers and flasks and has won 10 awards already. The committee members are seeing huge footfall this season and they are leaving no stone unturned – from distributing pamphlets on the subject to having a few prestigious doctors grace the venue, Purbalok Sarbojanin has devoted itself to the cause wholly.

(Runa Mukherjee Parikh has written on women, culture, social issues, education and animals, with The Times of India, India Today and IBN Live. She is currently struggling to make sense of her Bengali-Gujarati lifestyle in Ahmedabad)