If it is the Christmas time, and you have not yet decided to visit Park Street this time, then do not be disheartened. Lake Town is all geared up to offer you dollops of fun, merriment and delicacies as part of its Christmas and Poush Parbon carnival starting from 25th December 2016. The entire street from V.I.P road Lake Town to Golaghata has been adorned with chains of lights, colourful streamers, and paper lanterns, which celebrate the birth of Christ and proclaim world peace. Honourable Member of Parliament and a resident of Lake Town, Shri Sujit Bose inaugurated the carnival. In his introductory speech, he articulated how this carnival brought together people from all over Kolkata, and strengthened the cultural bond among different communities.
The carnival had a kick-start with classical vocal music, recitations, Indian dance performance, and many other cultural programs that mesmerized the audience who thoroughly enjoyed different flavours of the celebration. As reported by one of the members of the local cultural committee, “there has been a terrific response from people since last year, and now the footfalls have increased manifold.”
The Christmas carnival was a potpourri of events. Right from terracotta and wooden handicrafts, to colourful earthen lampshades and wall hangings, there was no dearth of variety for those who wanted to have a glimpse of everything that is truly, madly and deeply Bangali. One part of a children’s park was decorated with small fiberglass figurines that were installed to narrate the story of Christ’s birth, with green pastures, small sheep, Mother Mary, and the gift of the Magi. To add icing to the cake, there was a huge Santa statue with a gift-box, which was installed on the side of the road. Children were overjoyed to click selfies with Santa, who promised them loads in the coming days.
Branded eateries like Haka, Arsalan, the Gokul Banquets, Goutam’s, Domino’s and many more, set up small stalls that sold some of the most mouth-watering delicacies. Local handicraft stores sold kurtis and small jholas or pouch bags made of colourful gamchhas, or Indian cotton towels. Balloons, candy floss, Jesus’ story on LED screen, and an insurmountable wave of people who wanted to celebrate their Christmas in pure desi style all around the Big Ben clock tower – it was a symphony of sounds and a kaleidoscope of myriad images at Lake Town Kolkata.