Composing theme songs for Maa Durga

Kolkata: In Kolkata, with less than a week to go for Durga puja celebrations to begin, organisers are commissioning Bangla bands to compose theme songs for them.

One such band, Jowar, has made a mark by capturing contemporary issues in their songs and now the band members are busy recording songs for puja pandals (tents).

The band members are quite excited about this new trend, which is a deviation from the usual practice of belting out popular numbers. It's also a very interesting way of making social statements, which so far were made only through the decor of the pandals or the idol or both.

"Themes have been a part of Bengal's pujas for the last one decade. But, you see, theme songs - which are in these days - are actually going along with the celebrations. It's in that way we have considered things. It's the first time in Bengal that we trying to present something, which is not in line with bandwagon," says a band member Debmalya.

So far, three puja committees have commissioned Jowar for pandal songs. It's a small beginning, but Jowar is confident of setting an example.

The mellifluousness in this greeting of the ten-handed Goddess Maa Durga is something, which is new even to her.

Thanks to some smart thinking on part of the puja organisers, the cliche of themes in pujas has now expanded to the realm of theme songs in Puja pandals.