Defiant crowds throng puja pandals

Tanvi / TNN / Oct 7, 2008, 00:00 IST

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Putting behind the recent gory blasts that seemed to have taken the fizz out of the festival season, people turned up in substantial numbers to puja pandals on Mahasaptami across the city.

NEW DELHI: Putting behind the recent gory blasts that seemed to have taken the fizz out of the festival season, people turned up, if not in large, then substantial numbers to puja pandals on Mahasaptami on Monday across the city.
While CR Park, the hub of Bengali community in Delhi, was buzzing with young and the old going pandal hopping, other parts of NCR too, from Faridabad to Vasant Kunj, saw crowd swelling up by evening.The morning was spent looking forward to the `Bhog' and the afternoon in waiting for the evening arti.
Nilanjana Bhattacharjee, a class IX student who stays in CR Park, said: "This is a fun time and I look forward to it the entire year. I and my family are going from one pandal to the other. The Durga Pratima looks stunning in all the pandals here.''
The excitement was not only high among the youth, but the old seemed equally enthusiastic and devoted to the pujas. There were many who came to the pandals with a walking stick in hand or even sitting on wheelchairs. Mamata Das, who is 72 years old had come with her daughter-in-law to the Mela Grounds puja. She said: "Though I cannot come everyday, I also cannot afford to miss the puja altogether. We have to come to offer our prayers to the deity. It is also a good social gathering which I look forward to.''

Somewhat surprising but, nonetheless pleasing, is the level of participation of non-Bengalis in the festival. "We have been holding this puja for more than 10 years now. The participation of other communities has grown tremendously. I can say this year there has been an involvement of over 60% non-Bengalis,'' said Tuku Bose, a member of the Charmswood Village puja, Faridabad.
Rita Jha, who had come along with her two daughters to the K-Block pandal in CR Park, became nostalgic about Kolkata, where she lived before moving to Delhi. Rita said: "We used to be heavily involved in the puja activities in Kolkata. Though, the pujas in Delhi cannot match up to those of Bengal, I feel extremely happy to visit the pandals and appreciate the massive Pratimas.''

The concept of Parar Pujo (neighbourhood puja) has led to most people participating in the festivities at the pandals and not organizing something grand at their homes. "This is the closest to our home and is our `Parar Pujo' (neighbourhood puja). The entire family has come out to celebrate and spend time together here itself,'' said Monami Sinha, a Delhi University teacher who had come to CR Park's Pocket 52 puja which takes care of M,N,O and P Blocks.
The security concerns, however, did bother many people. "It is a huge factor in the present conditions. Everyone wants to ensure their family's safety first, while attending an event of this magnitude,'' added Sinha.
Three-year-old Agrima Ghai was probably one of the very few, however, who was completely indifferent to these worries and thoroughly enjoyed the evening at Mahamaya Mandir in J-Block, Saket.
tanvi.k@timesgroup.com

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