Shraddhanjali Apartment — Local services in Kolkata

The park in itself is a pleasures place,with a lot of space and very enjoyable. I used to study at Aakash institute next to it,so know the place well. This park also uses eco friendly Solar energy to power its lights.

The durga puja at this place...well, earlier,it was a very welcoming,warm and homely puja. But ever since the 2015 puja of the world's tallest Durga idol, which earned it a lot of fame,it has become less and less homely and more overpowering. Nonetheless,the craftsmanship in their pujas is excellent and a beauty to behold. Provided you don't mind being shouted at and shooed away by the security for standing to rest or to look properly for a second. Earlier,they would have multiple entrances,was very kid-friendly,and pleasurable to the elderly. Also had wheelchair access. And there would also be a fair, and "srutinatok" and other events during the pujas but now..well... let's say all that changed after 2015,and there's only rush now. They won't even let you see their beautiful pandal or idol properly,and forget wheelchairs,the elderly will be out of breath, having to walk for a ridiculously zigzagged path to the pandal. Not very kid friendly now, either. . . All that being said,the rest of the year,the park is a great place for people...

Snippet of Durga Puja (Panchami) 2017:

“As the film team approached the main pandal after meandering through detours which spanned over a good 2kms, and then the barricade maze within the campus of another 500m or so, we could finally understand what the person who has been howling on the loudspeakers for the past 1hr as if his life depended on it meant, “cameras and phones might be confiscated if used within the premise” The “might be” was a scary thought, but we had a mission. On reaching the front of the exorbitantly white twinkling pandal (it is no recreation of Wat Rong Khun a.k.a Thailand’s White Temple, trust me!) I asked the cop if anyone is allowed inside the actual pandal, because out of the flood of screaming pushing and cursing people, I could see a few individuals inside actually enjoying the pandal. The immediate reply I got from the cop is “Apni ke (who are you)?” My name, Aveek Mukherjee, didn’t quite cut the cake. So, just I was about to pull out my Aadhar Card to prove him my identity, I was asked for some other card; a VIP card.

I really wish I could have been a little more important for him; I left...

Deshapriyo Park is a playground of South Kolkata, having Rash Behari Avenue on one side and Sarat Bose Road on another. Different games like Cricket, Football, Tennis etc. are regularly played here by professional and amateur players and locals. In the playground one of the biggest Durga Puja is organized. The Priya cinema is located beside this playground.

As of June 2012 the park was shrinking day by day. Firstly it was encroached by a club and then a public toilet and a restaurant. Bonani Kakkar, a green activist reacted– "Deshapriyo Park has been grabbed several times in the past. The forms of permanent constructions vary, but encroachment never stops. Now fresh encroachment is allowed in the form of a stage". The stage and sculpture was however inaugurated by the chief minister of West Bengal , Mamata Banerjee on the event of Language Day. On Feb.12, 2015 Mayor Sovan Chatterjee inaugurated Kolkata's first Grid Connected battery-less Solar Power street lighting system at...