Families across Kolkata and Pune bond over virtual pandal hopping

Pune: Pandal hopping, gorging on street food and meeting friends for a round of adda may not be possible this Durga Puja, but most of the fun can still be have online.
Noirita Bhowmick, a homemaker, is excited about going on a virtual pandal hopping with her family. “I live in Pune with my husband and children, but our parents and grandparents stay in Kolkata.We have decided to meet our relatives online and watch the broadcast from popular pandals in Kolkata and Pune. We will dress up in new clothes and have darshan of idols on screen,” she said.
Saptadeep Roy, a restaurateur, said, “Virtual pandal hopping gives youngsters a chance to bond with their families. Teenagers usually go for pandal hopping with their friends, but this year they can watch the pujas by various prominent pandals from Kolkata and Pune, and across the country, online. I have been viewing cultural programmes online and getting darshan of idols at popular pandals of Kolkata, such as Swabhoomi, Dum Dum Park and Lake Town,” said Madhumita Ghosh, vice-president of Bangiya Sanskriti Samsad.
“The Durga Puja at Congress Bhavan is one of the most awaited events of the year. This year, we will have a small idol at Bhosalenagar and only pandits will do the puja with a maximum of 20 people, mostly youngsters, in attendance. The Puja will be live streamed. Another attraction of the Puja is Anondomela, where ladies prepare authentic Bengali delicacies and sell them to raise funds for charit. This year, the ladies will narrate how this event started and share interesting anecdotes from previous years. We will also have a virtual adda session, which will include the members of the committee as well as artists who have regularly performed at our programme. Many prominent pandals are live streaming their Pujas and other cultural events online, and it will be interesting to watch them from the safety and comfort of our homes.”
She added that thousands visit Congress Bhavan for the Pushpanjali on Ashtami morning, and this year they are expecting some of that traffic online.
Abhishek Bandyopadhyay, assistant general secretary, Bengali Association of Pune, is taking poor network issues into consideration and preparing for the Pujas accordingly. “We plan to have a Facebook Live of our Puja right from 6.30 am. We were planning to put it up on YouTube as well, but it all depends on the network conditions that day,” he said.
Anup Dutta, general secretary of Khadki Kalibari, said, “Durga Puja is incomplete without pandal hopping. This year, people will move around digitally visiting various pandals. We are strict about maintaining social distancing norms and will not make any exception to allow people into the basement of the pandal, where the idol is kept.”