Like every year the major events of Sarathi in 2006 included Durga Puja celebrations, Lakshmi Puja, Diwali and finally Saraswati Puja (2007).
Durga Puja is the biggest socio-cultural event for the Eastern part of India. The popularity of the Durga Puja has transcended the boundaries of Bengal and Assam and now it's a part of the cultural ethos in many parts of India. Durga Puja is no longer a Bengali celebration. People from different parts of India take part in it, which is more of a cultural extravaganza now spanning across 5 days. For a place like Bangalore, where the life is just too hectic, it gives a space for relaxation and acts as a healing panacea.
The Durga Puja celebration in 2006 was very unique for us because we're, for the first time, able to execute the entire event in the most professional manner. The involvement of the corporates in social events in a big way has been popular in Bombay and Delhi for quite some time. We also wanted to adopt similar practice. Our main objective was to provide quality fun and entertainment to all people for all the 5 days of the Durga Puja. We aspired to get some famous professional artistes/bands on multiple days. Also we wanted the entire event to be packaged very aesthetically, complete with glamour and filled with sanctity and tradition. All that required enough funds which can't be raised through individual subscriptions. Hence we wanted to involve corporate houses. This not only added the touch of professionalism in the entire event, but also helped us to achieve what we'd aspired of.
The Durga Puja was inaugurated by Lok Ayukta Shri Santosh Hegde. We'd popular Bengali band Paras Pathar performing on one of the days of Durga Puja. Bhoomi, one of the most popular contemporary Bengali bands, performed on Diwali. Apart from these, there were back to back entertainment in Bengali, Hindi and English on all the days catering to almost everyone ranging from kids to older people.
There was a food court consisting of some of the most popular food joints in Bangalore.
Apart from the Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations Sarathi also celebrated Lakshmi Puja and Saraswati Puja (2007) in a modest way.
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