Offering anjali from home while listening to mantras over Facebook may be a thing of the past but the last two years have taught committees a thing or two about conducting pujas, pandemic or otherwise. So despite the Covid count being lower than in previous years, most blocks have retained some aspects of pandemic festivities, making Puja 2022 a hybrid puja of sorts.
Anjali online
Such were the precautions over pushpanjali the last two years that people joked it was coronanjali! Live streaming of mantras while devotees offered flowers to pictures of Durga at home, time slots for those wanting to go over to the community hall for anjali, rings drawn outside the hall within which people had to stand for the ritual…
Besides streaming anjali on Facebook, CG Block had installed a 12ft x 14ft LED screen outside their hall for those who wanted to be close to the idol. This year they haven't done away with the screen. “We shall still have a screen but it won’t be as big as last year’s. It won't be necessary as the idol will be bigger and placed in a pandal outside the community hall,” says the block’s general secretary Sankar Prosad Deb. “But at the same time the screen will allow a degree of social distancing.”
Alaktika Housing Complex in New Town will stream rituals on YouTube and request their local cable channel to do the same so that “even if the threat of Covid is low, residents who are infirm or living out of town can tune in,” says puja president Arabindo Adhikary.
AJ Block is keen to celebrate with precautions too. “The last two years we had time slots for anjali. This year slots do not seem necessary but we shall try to regulate crowds and maintain a minimum level of distancing,” says the puja’s media convenor Moinak Dutta.
Cultural shows to stream
Residents of Alaktika complex rehearse the play Babuder Dalkukure. (Right) HB Block children being taught to enact Makaibarir Bhoot
The jury is out on whether or not to webcast cultural programmes. While residents are showing overwhelming enthusiasm to participate as well as go to the pandal to watch puja functions, some committees are continuing to stream the shows online.
“It’s after streaming online shows that we realised what a following we have among residents of the block living abroad,” says Deb of CG Block. “Shows will be on stage this year but they will be streamed too. It may have taken a pandemic for us to wake up to the digital revolution but now that we have, it’s irreplaceable.”
CD Block puja treasurer Arunabha Hazra says NRIs want to see their parents perform and so there is a request for online streaming of shows. “But the focus will certainly be on offline performances. We shall record the same and upload them later when we have time. Live streaming will be too hectic,” Hazra says.
DA Block ladies practise for their matri vandana music show on Sashthi
No takers for virtual shows
There are also committees that are doing without online streaming and the reasons are varied.
At DA Block, puja secretary Mousumi Chakravarty says that their predominantly senior citizens are unable to jostle in the evening crowd and go pandal-hopping. “So they come to our pandal and watch every show from Sashthi to Navami. It makes no sense for us to go online this year,” she says.
At CJ Block, cultural convenor Sangita Saha says the novelty of online shows has worn off. “We put up online shows with much gusto over the last two years but no one but the family members of performers watched them. In this era of minute-long reels, audiences have no patience to sit through even three stanzas of poetry or songs online,” Saha says. “We shall, at most, stream rituals.”
Adhikary of Alaktika complex cites the cost of live streaming as a deterrent. “The last two years we got away with it since residents performed in their homes and sent us recordings. But to shoot a stage show in poor evening light and from a distance will require professionals and we don’t want to jack up our budget,” Adhikary says.
Other than that, their anandamela, sindur khela, dhunuchi dance during immersion are all back on track. “We attended the puja meetings conducted by NKDA chief Debashis Sen and the one in which the chief minister’s address was shown. Both assured us it was safe to bring back festivities and we are following their guidelines,” says Adhikary. Their puja was one of winners of the NKDA Covid Safe Puja in 2020.
HB Block had not even held online shows the last two years. “We had floated the idea but got tepid response from even the culturally-minded residents so it wasn’t worth it. There’s no question of going online this year and everyone is eager to watch the shows at the pandal,” says the block’s cultural convenor, Partha Sarathi Upadhyay, who is also knows as “natok jethu” in the block as he directs plays children’s plays.
BK Block residents rehearse for songs together
Food packets to stay
Despite the temptations, those like DA Block are not reverting to the sit-and-eat format.
“We shall continue with sending home food packets. Not only will it be easier logistically as we are short on manpower but it will also be a safeguard against Covid and dengue, that seems to be a bigger threat this year,” says Chakravarty, the puja secretary.
CG Block is keeping both options open. “Residents can eat at the venue or, if they find the place too crowded, take home a food parcel,” says Deb.
Alaktika has announced buffet and parcels but have kept the sit-and-eat option on hold for now. “That’s a call we’ll take in the last minute based on the latest Covid count.
Similarly, hardly anyone wears masks these days but if cases rise, we’ll have to enforce them at the pandal too,” says Adhikary.
While most people are looking forward to eating with neighbours, “food packets must continue for the ailing and aged who are unable to make the trip to pandal,” says Dutta of AJ Block.
Digital subscription
CD Block’s Hazra says that while online payment of puja subscription was started to ensure distancing during the pandemic, it is being continued for convenience. “Yes, there are senior citizens who are prefer paying cash but it is simple for those who have adapted to the technology,” he says.
Adhikary of Alaktika claims majority residents are paying online this year. “It is also convenient for NRI residents. How else would they make their contributions?” he asks.
CJ Block residents, it seems, are requesting the online payment option for a different reason altogether. “People have lost the habit of paying subscription. Some want to pay even less than 2019 rates but the puja budget has risen and we have no option but to seek more,” says Saha. “So residents are looking to pay online to avoid confrontation with chanda collectors.”
Considering the state of the economy during the pandemic, BK Block had not even sought subscription the last two years. “This year we are asking for Rs 2,000 and residents are gladly obliging. Most are happy with the door-to-door collection option as we get to meet one another but the online option is also open,” says cultural secretary Chandrasekhar Bag.
How much of Covid-time practices will you retain this Puja? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in