By Sudeshna Banerjee

A Mao has done what comrades in Bengal wouldn’t want to be seen doing — inaugurate a Durga puja. The man in question is, of course, not Chairman Mao Zedong but Mao Siwei, the Chinese consul-general in the city, who accepted invitations from two Salt Lake pujas this year, one of which he inaugurated for the second time.

The consul-general is so impressed with the festivities that he has turned into a strong advocate for Calcutta being called the “cultural capital of India”.

“I compare Diwali, which is Delhi’s biggest festival, with Durga puja, which is the biggest in Calcutta. Here I see many more people participating and much more creativity,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of China’s national day celebrations on Tuesday.

The consul-general, who returned to Calcutta just before Puja after a vacation, said he was “deeply impressed” by what he saw as he toured “around five-six pandals”, spending the maximum time in the two blocks of Salt Lake where he works and stays — EC and CD blocks respectively.

“What moved him most last year was the community lunch served at our pandal,” recalled CD Block’s puja secretary Sutapa Chatterjee.

Mao said: “The poor and the rich, the servant and owner of the house were eating food from the same pot. This has sociological implications.”

The diplomat fights shy of being showered with attention, though. “He is simple man and asks us to treat him like a neighbour,” said Chatterjee, who stays opposite the Chinese envoy’s house.

Seemanto Roy, the secretary of EC Block, recalled how last year a man had driven a car up to the pandal site around 2pm to check where the inauguration would be held that evening.

“On speaking to him, we realised he was the consul-general himself.” No wonder the EC Block organisers invited him again this year to inaugurate their puja.

Among Mao’s duties as chief guest at the EC Block puja was distributing blankets among the block’s security guards and handing over prizes to meritorious students.

At CD Block, he will give away prizes to the block’s children at the Vijaya Sammilani gathering on October 4.

Mao’s monetary contribution earned praise, too. “In these recession-hit times, everyone in our block reduced their chanda. He is the only one who paid double of last year,” beamed Chatterjee.

“We went to the consulate and pleaded that they raise the subscription amount to help us tide over the shooting market. In the consul-general’s presence, an aide said he knew how potatoes cost Rs 18 a kg in place of Rs 8 last year and they increased the subscription by Rs 10,000,” said Roy.

Ask Mao whether he is going against Communist norms by being part of Puja and he comes up with a straight-batted reply. “Durga puja is not only a religious festival but also a popular cultural and social event.”

He backed the argument citing the themes of some of the pujas he visited — one pandal was on the common features of Hinduism and Buddhism, another on the origin of writing while a third depicted Mayan civilisation, from far-away South America.

Participation in Puja, Mao said, had helped him forge stronger ties with his neighbours. And in reaching out to his neighbours and being a part of Puja, Mao might even be seeking a boon from the Goddess — of happiness.

He quoted surveys that claim that Indians are the happiest in the world. “I think one of the reasons is that Indians enjoy more festivals and holidays than people in many other countries. From this point of view, the Chinese are less happy.”

（Courtesy: The Telegraph, September 30, 2009）