Diplomats awestruck with Puja ‘carnival’ in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Some likened Kolkata during Durga Puja to Disneyland while some called the festival an incomparable carnival. Durga Puja celebration has wowed diplomats, from the subcontinent and the West, stationed in the city. Soaking in the spirit, they have got into the groove with pandal hopping with friends and family. Many of them have been drawn into the festivities with pandal inauguration.
US consul general Craig L Hall arrived in the city a little over two months ago. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” he said after pandal hopping.
He has visited more than a dozen pandals. “Some of them are incredible. The smaller ones are nice in the way they involve the community,” said Hall. While speaking to a friend in the US, he likened Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrations to the “Disney World’s electric light parade on a much bigger scale”.
His 19-year-old daughter is mighty excited about pandal hopping. “Fortunately, the office is closed for the next few days. My daughter also has a street food plan and I’ll just follow her,” said Hall.
The nagging traffic snarl has not escaped his notice. “Even in traffic jams I saw people with smiles on their faces,” he said.
This is Bangladesh deputy high commissioner Zokey Ahad’s first brush with Kolkata’s fabled Durga Puja celebrations. He was looking forward to enjoy with his family, but, his daughters are down with dengue. Despite the anxiety, he has attended pandal inauguration ceremonies across the city.
It reminded him of celebrations in Bangladesh. “Puja or Eid have a universal appeal in their spirit of oneness and co-existence. There are more than 29,000 puja mandaps in Bangladesh. It is a mahotsav back home. In Kolkata, of course, the scale is much bigger,” said Ahad.
Nepal consul general C K Ghimire, too, has been on a pandal-inauguration and pandal-hopping spree. His focus was on pandals with Nepal’s heritage, tourism and even the disastrous earthquake as their themes.
“Kolkata’s Durga Puja is the world’s largest celebration. It’s incomparable. It reminds us of our special connect with Bengal,” said Ghimire. He admired the way the celebrations brought people from different walks of life and beliefs together.
He called Durga Puja the “festival of crowd and celebration of lights, food, arts and creativity”. The quintessential Bengali hilsa and posto figure in his festival menu.
The Durga Puja celebrations reminded Alliance Francaise Du Bengale director Stéphane Amalir of Christmas in Europe. The creativity on display has awed him. He has been out pandal hopping with his family. “It’s a carnival on the streets like Rio maybe. There’s something for everyone here,” said Amalir.
In the next few days, the diplomats will celebrate along with rest of the city with as much gusto.