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<a href="http://ethnomediallc.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/niramishasi_web.jpg"><img src="http://ethnomediallc.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/niramishasi_web-300x198.jpg" alt="Vegeterian" title="Niramishashi" width="300" height="198" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-212" /></a>Pujo contribution or Chaanda (as we fondly call this concept) is always an issue with the average Bengali. Be it in India or in USA, Bengalis have the feeling that this is an unjust extortion in the name of a festival that we all like to attend. It should be free for all of us. Where the organizers get their funds is not for us to bother about. Since, most of the Pujo organizers make it a point to ensure that each and every attendee pays their contribution, we'd like to get away with the minimum amount that helps us to claim a stake in the festival. But the Pujo organizers these days are smart, they make the contribution amount quite obvious by displaying it in bold font. To justify the specified amount, the organizers will cite different components of the cost incurred to hold a festival of this magnitude, like goat meat, Mumbai and Kolkata performers - etc etc. This cartoon raises a legitimate question - why not an a-la carte system for Pujor Chanda? Sounds fair to me!
 