My Puja Celebration - By Ryan Banerjee

 

The pandemic has changed the way we celebrate festivals. Avoiding large gatherings, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing is a must to avoid getting infected with coronavirus. So the very essence of celebration is lost but we did not let the pandemic deter our festive spirits. This year the Durga Puja celebration was also very different but by now we are somewhat accustomed to the new normal way of life. Many popular pandals had restricted and blocked the entry and instead put up giant screens outside, where we could see the idol of Goddess Durga and the interior of the pandal.  I along with my parents went to the less popular pandals which had no crowd and prayed to Goddess Durga there. We mostly stayed inside the car and enjoyed the view of the pandals from the road and also the lit up streets. But I could not meet my extended family and was feeling rather sad.

 

So to compensate for this, my parents took me to Taj Bengal in Ashtami evening. There were Dhakis inside the hotel lobby and few women clad in red and white sari danced to the rhythm of the dhak with dhanuchis in their hand. Also they had lit up many dhanuchis for the customary arti offered to the idol of goddess Durga placed inside the lobby. It was a wonderful sight as the smoke with coal infused smell filled the lobby. We then went to the cafe inside and had food there. The food was very delicious and I enjoyed some happy time with my parents. After we had our food we headed home. On our way back we took the route through Park street and enjoyed the lightings all the way.

Dashami was also well spent as my mother cooked mutton biryani in the afternoon and around evening, we went out in our car and got glimpses of different beautiful idols of goddess Durga being carried in

different vehicles for immersion. I also had a take away hot chocolate sitting inside my car. I was very glad and thanked God that in spite of this pandemic, I still enjoyed the Puja and also managed to stay safe.