Calcutta Rescue Fund  

Health, Education and Hope

Sharad Utsav Festival

It was the biggest festival of its kind in London that anyone could remember, and Calcutta Rescue Fund UK was absolutely delighted to be part of it.  For some time we have been looking for ways to engage the UK Bengali community.  All the charity's permanent staff are Indian  and in February it appointed its first chief  executive, Dr Gazi Mohibur Rahaman.  We are very keen to ensure that the Bengali community here feels that this is their charity and gets fully involved in all aspects of the  UK support group. 

London Sharad Utsav (London Autumn Festival), held for the first time in Ealing Town Hall in late September provided the perfect opportunity to do this.  It was the brain-child of a dynamic group of people who wanted to bring the rich cultural, social and religious life of Bengal and India to London.  The festival was timed to coincide with Durga Puja, which marks the triumph of the Goddess Durga over the demons. This has been celebrated with gusto for hundreds of years in India, especially in Kolkata, as anyone who has been there at that time of the year will remember. 

The organisers put a huge amount of effort into the four-day event which included food, fashion and cultural festivals alongside the religious festival.  They flew over from Kolkata, at considerable expense, a huge carved frieze of Durga which formed the centrepiece of religious devotions, plus a number of performers including top Bengali rock band the Fossils.  The organisers also wanted to do what they could to help Calcutta Rescue's work.  So, in addition to providing a free stall where we could sell handicrafts and artworks right next to the place where free food (bhog) was given to visitors, they included an article about the charity in the festival programme and allowed us to address the audience during the cultural festival. 

To our delight a number of visitors with strong links to Kolkata expressed a desire to help the charity both in the UK and in India – and we are looking forward to working with them over the coming months.  The charity even featured on Bengali TV thanks to an interview with Star Anand, an important 24-hour TV news channel. For CR volunteers it was a wonderful reminder of life in Kolkata, with thousand of Bengalis dressed in their finest clothes taking part in the puja and enjoying the music, dancing, fashion and food together.  We are very grateful to the organisers of London Sharad Utsav for all their support and are hoping we will be invited to take part in future events.