Giving 'routine' a break

Bhashaner naach, new shoes and blisters, pujabarshikis, mum���������s luchi and sooji... Mimi Chakraborty shares these secrets and more from her Puja diary with TOI
FAVOURITE PUJA Kolkata is all about Durga Puja around this time. There are so many beautiful pandals all over the city, from north to south. I quite like the eco-friendly pujas this year. But when it comes to idols, I like the traditional ones.I am from North Bengal and we used to have a Puja just opposite our house. It will always be close to my heart ��������� from bringing the idol to the mandap to dancing bhashaner naach on Dashami, I was part of every ritual.
FESTIVE ROUTINE For 360 days a year, it���������s only routine and discipline for me. So these five days, I chuck the word ���������routine��������� from my dictionary. It���������s only adda and jomiye khawadawa. My friends come over to my place and we spend hours chatting. We go out in a group and taking a giant-wheel ride and shooting balloons with an airgun at one of the parks are must-treats for me. Through the year, I have to wake up early to reach the studios. But the Pujas are about lazing around ��������� I wake up late and lie in bed reading the pujabarshikis. I make it a point to watch sandhya arati; it���������s a divine ritual. Asthamir anjali is a must with ma and I always wear a new sari. I also love to watch sindoor khela on Dashami.
TUCK TALK I can survive on bhog and labda on the four Puja days! My para guys know that I love bhog, so they make it a point to send it to my house every day. This Puja is also unique since I am having chicken after ages. I stopped eating chicken when I was in Class V. This year, ma was hellbent that I start eating it again and trust me, she is making some yummy dishes and I am loving it. Phuchka with lots of jhaal and tok, egg-chicken roll, roadside biryani and ghugni with lots of chillies are on my ���������must-have list��������� during Puja. Breakfast is luchi, aloor tarkari, chholar daal and sooji. The chef? My mum.
DRESS CODE I love wearing cotton saris, be it dhakai or south cotton. And I team it up with beautiful designer cholis to give the dress a festive feel. I also buy jewellery for the Pujas ��������� big, matching earrings. Shoes are something I can���������t resist buying anyway. So new shoes ��������� and the blisters that come with them ��������� are common for me every Puja. This year, I am also wearing lovely anarkali kurtas with churidar.
BEST PUJA MEMORY These will always centre around my para puja in North Bengal. I shared some of the best times with six of my cousins. All of them are there now and I miss them a lot. We would crowd together in a room to dress up. Inevitably fights would break out, with heated arguments about who was hogging the mirror! ���������Ebar tui aina chhar!��������� someone would scream out. I still remember ma, mashi and pishi cooking bhog on Ashtami. We kids used to help them, cutting the vegetables and getting the spices ready. We also had a cultural programme where the para kids used to participate. There used to be a night-long soiree on Dashami, where we used to dance.... What fun we had!