Maa Is Coming Home With Four Children. Fifteen Hosts Are Getting the House Ready.
Bengalis do not think of Durga Puja as a goddess descending. We think of it as a Daughter coming home. Once a year Uma leaves her husband's mountain and visits her parents' house for a few days, and she does not travel light. She brings all four children: Ganesh, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kartik.
Anyone who has hosted a married daughter and four grandchildren knows what that week takes. Someone has to get the house ready, someone has to think about the children, and someone has to make sure everybody looks presentable by Ashtami morning.
This year Maa has a new address to visit: Oitijhyo Sarbojonin, at Sitai Banquet Hall in Hinjawadi Phase II, from 16 to 21 October 2026. It is a first-year house, and it could not have received her alone. Fifteen businesses came forward as hosts. We have seated each of them beside the family member they would get along with best.
Beside Ganesh, Who blesses every first step.
No Bengali trader opens a new ledger without Ganesh. He is Siddhidata, the one you call on before a beginning. A pujo in its first year is nothing but a beginning, so the two partners whose names lead it sit with him.
Future Market Insights, Title Sponsor FMI is a market research and consulting firm, headquartered in Delaware, USA, with its global delivery centre in India and clients in more than 150 countries. Its analysts forecast where industries will stand ten years from now. Ganesh, who is fond of people who think before they leap, would approve.
Landcastle, Co-title Sponsor Their logo is a house and their line is "Land of dreams, built like Castle". They put their name on a pujo that had no previous year to show them, which is a first step of their own.
Beside Lakshmi, Who keeps the house
In Bengali, the highest praise for a well-kept home is to call it Lokkhi. She looks after two things, the house and what glitters inside it, so five hosts sit at her side.
Livara Homes. A Wakad interiors firm with over eight years of work on homes and offices. They build modular kitchens and sliding wardrobes, and handle painting, vinyl and wooden flooring, waterproofing and office interiors. They offer a free home visit and design consultation.
Rekha Interiors. An interior design studio. Their full website is still being built, so Instagram is where to see their work and ask for a quote.
A1 Degine (Bhawna Enterprise). You will know them by the gold crest with an armchair. Lakshmi likes a guest who brings a good seat.
Senco Gold & Diamonds. A gold and diamond jeweller from Kolkata with a legacy of more than 85 years. Of all the hosts, this is the one Maa already knows from home.
Earrla. A 925 sterling silver jewellery brand with its shop at VJ Happiness Street, Hinjewadi Phase 2. It carries pieces for women, men and children, and silver coins and idols for gifting.
Beside Saraswati, Who sits with the books
Every Bengali child's first letters are written in front of Saraswati. Three hosts do her work on every other day of the year.
Educon International School. An ICSE school, affiliated to CISCE, running from Nursery to Grade 12. It has campuses in Baner and in Hinjewadi Phase II, near Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park. It calls itself a "living school", one that works on a child's emotional, physical and creative growth along with the academic.
Sunshine Playschool & Daycare. A playschool and daycare, for the years before big school and for parents whose office day runs longer than the school day.
PDCA, Poonam & Deepak's Commerce Academy. A commerce academy whose line is "Building future commerce leaders". Saraswati has the arts covered; she will be glad someone is minding the accounts.
Beside Kartik, Who never arrives underdressed
In Bengal, "Kartik" is what you call a young man who is a little too well turned out. He is the handsome son, he travels on a peacock, and he would not be seen at the pandal with a crease out of place. His three hosts understand him perfectly.
Shear Xperts. A unisex salon for hair, make-up, nails and hair patching. This is Kartik's first stop.
Laundrywala. A laundry and dry-cleaning chain with more than 150 stores in over 75 cities, Hinjawadi and Wakad among the areas it lists. It washes, dry-cleans and irons, cleans shoes, curtains and carpets, and picks up and delivers at your door. Six days of new saris and panjabis will keep them busy.
Car Cupid. A Pune car-care business whose line is "Personify love for your car". Kartik has his peacock. The rest of us have a hatchback, and it deserves to shine too.
Beside Maa Herself
One of Durga's names is Durgatinashini, the one who ends suffering. The last two hosts sit closest to her, because they do a little of that work.
Sahayog Pathology Laboratory. A pathology lab whose line is "Helping you to get better". They are bringing the lab to the pandal: a free health screening camp at the venue on 17 and 19 October, with CBC and uric acid tests.
Uma Jakhauli Foundation. A charitable foundation, and a happy coincidence. Uma is the name Bengalis use for Durga when she is the daughter coming home. A foundation that carries her name, at the pujo that welcomes her, needed no seating plan.
After Dashami
On the afternoon of 21 October the procession will leave, and Maa will go back to the mountain with her four children. That is the part of the story nobody likes.
The hosts do not leave. The school is still down the road on Monday morning. The lab still opens, the laundry still gets collected, the jeweller is still there when the wedding season starts. A pujo lasts six days. The family it gathers is meant to last the other 359.
So to all Fifteen: you were not asked to sponsor an event. You were asked to help receive a daughter, and you said yes. Welcome to the Oitijhyo Sarbojonin family. Asche bochhor abar hobe: Next Year, Again.
If your business would like to be a host next time, the sponsorship page explains how, or call or WhatsApp the committee on +91 89560 47464.
Sources
- Oitijhyo Sarbojonin: home page, schedule and sponsor list, and its events page
- Sponsor websites read for this article: Future Market Insights, Educon International School, Livara Homes, Rekha Interiors, Senco Gold & Diamonds, Earrla, Laundrywala