{"id":14964,"date":"2023-10-14T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-14T17:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogbox.indianeagle.com\/?p=14964"},"modified":"2023-10-15T13:57:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T18:57:43","slug":"santa-clara-durga-utsav-by-womennow-tv-in-bay-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/santa-clara-durga-utsav-by-womennow-tv-in-bay-area\/","title":{"rendered":"This All-Women Durga Puja Celebration in Bay Area Proves that Indian Culture Knows no Borders"},"content":{"rendered":"
No matter how familiar the beats of dhaak<\/em>, the fragrance of shiuli<\/em> flowers (Nyctanthes arbor–<\/u>tristis), the taste of festive food, the ambience of festive evenings, the feeling of sacred flower offering, the significance of Sandhi Puja<\/em> and the joy of sindur khela<\/em> are to those living abroad, they strongly feel drawn to home this time of the year. They brave the odds to come home and go on a celebration spree in the neighborhoods where they have grown up. Undeniably, Durga Puja is not just an annual festival but a homecoming occasion for NRI Bengalis. So strong is their umbilical cord with the roots that many Bengalis in the Indian American community book last-minute flights to India<\/a><\/span> out of an overwhelming urge to get together with the family, friends, and relatives back home during the festival.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n On the other hand, there are those who have never been away from home during Durga Puja. They wonder how Durga Puja is celebrated abroad, how culturally different the celebration is, how authentic the rituals are, how joyous the festivity is, if young Bengali NRIs flaunt traditional fashion, etc. A women-only group from the Indian community in the San Francisco Bay Area has the answer to all these. Ena Sarkar, the founder and CEO of WomenNow TV, a trend-setting South Asian talk show in the Bay Area, shares nitty-gritty of their all-women Durga Puja celebration<\/a> <\/span>in Santa Clara with Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading Indian American community portal.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Initiated in 2015 by the WomenNow TV team, the Santa Clara Durga Utsav is one of the best Durga Puja events in California<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. The women-only group is prepared with a better and greater plan for the celebration which has become one of the most awaited Indian events in the Bay Area. Ena Sarkar and her team of women from different walks of life pull all stops to make various arrangements for four days of the festival<\/strong> from buying the idol to shopping for puja-special things to organizing cultural functions to making culinary offerings for the Goddess to distributing Prasad<\/em> to managing the gathering of visitors in the marquee.<\/p>\n