Out of the plethora of festivals celebrated with grandeur in India, Durga Puja is the most anticipated one for me. It might be because the magnificence of Goddess Durga is awe-inspiring to me, generating an impression of her existence amongst us. It is equivalent to a never-ending era of celebration over ten days. It is that joyful time of the year when people leave behind their anxieties and congregate as one to celebrate every moment. For the last two years, due to this pandemic, events were generally low scale. This year, my exams were also scheduled in the same week as the Puja, but later they got postponed and I must admit, I was extremely delighted as I knew I could attend the celebration without worrying about my exam preparations.

Normally in a pandemic-free year, we would visit the Puja venue on Saptami, Ashtami, and Navami, the seventh, eighth, and ninth day respectively of the ten-day-long Puja. Our friends would gather in the Puja pandal dressed in their best and choicest attires. We would enjoy lots of delicacies (Bengali sweets and Panipuris to be precise) and would have long conversations, parallelly trying to decipher our parents’ conversations. This year, however, due to COVID, it was decided that we would visit the Puja venue only on Saptami. Em and I were very excited as after an unbearably long time, we had an opportunity to wear our new traditional attires. I wore one of our traditional dresses (Anarkali) to the festival gifted to me by my grandma.

As I entered the Puja venue, I observed that the enthusiasm of people was less profound than what it had been the previous year. There were designated zones for visitors to worship the Goddess. Many officials were present to monitor the crowd and they reminded us to follow the regulations. However, the idol of the Goddess was shaped to perfection, an epitome of divinity and grace, her eyes blazingly serene. The scent of the flowers, the offerings, and the mellifluous chants brought back all the happy memories and I felt elated. A weird question crossed my mind “Does Covid exist only on earth?” How would the divinity have dealt with this demonic virus?

We spent almost 30 minutes inside the pandal, collected the prasad, and then left. We met a few friends and briefly exchanged greetings and good wishes. Although the visit was very short, it evoked a lot of happiness and ignited hope for a fun-filled year ahead.

Happy Dussehra to everyone!

Signing off…