The Pujas are here..... time to enjoy!!
It's just 14 days to go for the Durga Pujas, that time of the year when the Bengali goes ballistic and the normally torporic Kolkata swings into action. Elegant pandals come up beside decrepit roads, the beautiful smiling face of Maa Durga looks down upon us from every nook and corner, and the city goes into its biggest carnival season. It’s a carnivorous season, too, going by the amount of non- vegetarian food consumed during these days; people from other metros fail to understand how non-veg food can be consumed during a Puja, and we Bongs say with a smile- “Well, that’s how it is in this part of the country- you guys will never understand us!” I can see the pandal coming up near our house- shaped like an alien spaceship. Pandals in all shapes and sizes are coming up in other parts of the city. Each caters to a different “ theme” . I remember the time a few years back, when the “ theme “ for our neighbourhood Puja was Egypt, and the idols ( Durga,...