Feast of holidays

I can easily bet you haven’t noticed something like this before. It is the trap of too many holidays. Caught off guard? Here is the story.

We all know when the December comes, the entire salaried class, especially those in the government and the public sector, awaits the coming year’s holiday list with bated breath.

This year their smile is wider than ever. Guess why.

In 2008 the Durga Puja starts on a Monday, October 6. Mahasaptami falls on that day, and the holiday starts, that continues up to Ekadashi, a Friday. After Saturday and Sunday, Monday is a working day, but Tuesday is Lakshmi Puja, again a holiday.

Before the puja begins, October 2 is a national holiday, and October 4, 5 are Saturday and Sunday. What does this mean?

This means if an employee takes 2 ‘strategic’ days off on October 3 and 13, he will enjoy an uninterrupted spell of 13 holidays. Even without taking leave the puja-week ensures a continuous stretch of 9 days as holidays.

If this promises a lip-smacking bonanza, the mood is set by the Hatibagan Sarbojanin Durgotsab Committee as it has already invited 5 theme-makers to design next year’s puja-logo and flagged off their fund-raising campaign.

Who says the Durga Puja is only for the autumn? These days the puja is kicking off a year in advance. No dull time eh!

A South Kolkata Puja, 2007