Let me share with you my exercise in Project management outside of work this year, during Durgapuja. Durgapuja is one of the most significant festivals for Hindu Bengalis. While in other regions of India, the Goddess is worshiped for just nine days, Bengalis focus on rituals from the sixth to the ninth day. We all come together to celebrate Vijaya Dashami on the tenth day, marking the triumph of good over evil. When explaining Durgapuja to my German colleagues and friends, I often describe it as my “five-day Christmas with ten times the fun,” or “mein fünf Tage Weihnachten mit zehnfacher Spaß.” Living away from home, this festival allows me to reconnect with my roots, share a piece of my culture with my daughter, and give my husband a taste of Indian festivities.

The cultural events and social interactions revolve around the central act of worshiping Goddess Durga, which is the most challenging aspect to organize. Authentic ingredients that are often hard to find in Germany must be sourced, and the rituals require purity of intent and purpose. All materials must be readily available as needed for the worship rituals. I had the pleasure of orchestrating the entire ceremony from the ground up, and this blog post shares my experience managing this intricate project.

Today, I will discuss the preparations leading up to the actual five-day event and the project management techniques I employed.

 Role Assignment / creating Work Breakdown Structure

Durgapuja is a colossal undertaking, and active participation from every member is essential. Therefore, clear role assignments are crucial. Although we have a loose hierarchy, the voluntary nature of contributions creates an agile environment.

At the top of the structure is the overall event management team, responsible for coordinating the budget, venue, rituals, catering, crowd control, decoration, cultural activities, and cleanup.

Role Assignment for Puja

The most significant sub-project involves organizing the rituals and related activities, which I liken to a large R&D project. I will focus on this aspect as I oversaw it. Worship is the central element, and a substantial portion of the budget is allocated to it, although we must remain mindful of costs.

Within the Puja group, volunteers are assigned the following tasks:

• Assisting the priest with the rituals
• Bringing home-cooked offerings for the Goddess
• Creating garlands
• Preparing sweets and savory snacks for the Goddess and guests
• Distributing offerings after the puja
• Post-puja cleanup, which overlaps with the main cleanup team’s responsibilities.

Overview of other Teams

• The venue is typically decided a year in advance in collaboration with the city of Erlangen.
• The catering team is responsible for providing lunch and dinner for all members, volunteers, and guests over the five days.
• Managing a crowd of up to 250 people each evening is no small feat, and dedicated members handle that as well.
• The event management team also includes a small decoration and cleanup team, responsible for decorating the altar, transporting the idol to and from storage, and ensuring environmentally friendly cleanup.

Tools and Methods used

 All members and volunteers donate their time amidst busy schedules, making effective communication essential. We primarily use group chats on popular social media platforms for communication. For detailed information, we maintain a Google group for emails and data management.

Event management and duty rosters are created in Excel, which is the simplest way to share information. I prefer to upload the Excel sheet to OneDrive and create a shareable link. Last year, I also utilized Google Sheets based on majority preference.

I make an effort to personally reach out to as many individuals as possible when assigning tasks. Building personal connections fosters trust and creates lasting relationships, in my opinion.

Organising the Ritual

Sourcing outside Germany

The Durga idol we worship in Erlangen was procured back in 2016. It is a fiberglass idol that we reuse annually and store in a locker for the rest of the year. We plan to purchase a new idol soon, as we have been using the current one for nearly a decade.

The sourcing process for other materials begins around July and August, coinciding with school holidays in Germany when many members return home. Certain items are only available in South Asia and can be too costly or complicated to obtain in Germany. Various members assist in bringing the following items:

·       New sarees for the Goddess and other female deities

·       New dhotis for the Gods

·       A saree for the Nabapatrika, the tree Goddess

·       Washcloths or gamchha for the Goddess

·       Small jewelry specially made for the Goddess

·       Pre-mixed and pre-packed items needed for religious rituals

Thanks to the tremendous contributions from each member who either returned home or had a relative visiting, I was able to source all necessary materials. I maintained a list of names and their contributions, coordinating the pickup of items. In my professional life, I have colleagues who handle procurement, but here, I act as a one-woman army.

Sourcing within Germany

A second category of materials must be procured within Germany. This includes packaged food items such as rice, various lentils (daals), ghee, mustard oil, sugar, sugarcane juice, coconut oil, and coconut juice. We organize these as bulk orders from an Indian supermarket.

• Water from the River Ganges is another essential component for the puja. Thankfully, many supermarkets now deliver it for our puja needs.
• Additionally, we require perishable items twice daily for the rituals, including:
• Five different types of fruits
• Five different types of vegetables
• Extra vegetables like potatoes as a backup
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Honey
• Flowers for daily rituals, offerings, and garland creation..

Pre Preparation for the Rituals

Once the summer vacation concludes and members return to Germany, we hold a meeting at one of the seminar halls to collect all items. This day also involves sorting the items according to their daily requirements and packing them into individual boxes.

The rituals consist of four evening worship sessions (days six to nine), four morning rituals (days seven to ten), two additional rituals on the eighth day (Sandipuja), and a Hom or fire ceremony on the ninth day. Each day’s rituals have specific requirements, and preparing materials in advance saves time and ensures a smooth transition of responsibilities between different members assisting the priest.

This is classic project management, task planning and anticipation as taught in project management.

None of these events can occur simultaneously, making the timing of handovers crucial.

Deployment / Event

With preparations completed, the project is set to commence. This year’s Durgapuja took place from Wednesday, October 9, to Sunday, October 13. It was a whirlwind of five days filled with intense joy and celebration. I will share more details about the festivities in the heart of Erlangen in my next blog post.

Cross Posted in DanceofChaos Blog