The place selected near Navkriti Shopping Complex was away from the traffic of the town with lots of trees and a big lawn and the children could be seen playing about while their parents were busy serving food and having a gala time. Atin Chatterjee, the President of the committee said that they have been organising the Mela since 2007 and it has been his baby. He says, “It is important to be connected to our roots and whatever we can do we are happy with that.”

The committee that has approximately 300 members came up with 20 stalls, where the kakimas prepared everything, from meat to sweets to Chinese cuisine. Although there was an array of techniques and food, every dish was made in a Bengali style. Sahana Das, a housewife says, “It is not just a way to know and mix with people from our culture in a foreign land but the coming generation also gets a glimpse of our culture through these kinds of endeavour.” Ms. Snigdha D.Krori (Ghosh), another member of the committee said, “we are just trying to recreate Kolkata’s culture and tradition through our food and songs as we miss them and would like to enjoy them”

The most astonishing part of the festival was that even non-bengalis were seen enjoying the food and the baul geeti presented by a troupe from Bardhaman. People were seen enjoying the Baul geeti after their lunch and many were nostalgic of the years gone by in their home town Kolkata. Bongaiyaparishad plans to organise such festivals on a daily basis so that the Bengali people are able to revisit their culture once in a while.