As the curtain fell on this year’s Durga Puja, puja organisers and onlookers showed up in numbers on Dashami to bid farewell to the goddess at Visarjan Ghat in New Town.
Due to complaints about latecomers bypassing the immersion queue by taking different routes to reach closer to the ghat in previous years, voiced most recently by Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation board of administrators chairperson Krishna Chakraborty at the Bidhannagar Commissionerate’s puja coordination meeting at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, this year several roads were barricaded and demarcated as no-entry zones for vehicles in order to make the processions follow a designated path.
As the crowd started increasing in number, the ghat area was barricaded by the police in an attempt to control the number of onlookers. Around 5pm, entry into the premises was restricted to reduce crowding. Despite all these efforts, social distancing regulations were ignored and maskless faces were seen aplenty.
The police and the NKDA had made provisions for four different lanes for immersions to take place simultaneously. Lifeboats with divers were at the ready and frequent announcements were made to ensure safety for everyone. The arrangements made the immersion process fast and smooth.
The immersion processions started showing up from the afternoon from all over Salt Lake, New Town and adjoining areas.
The indomitable spirit of the people shone throughout the day, as they gathered with ice cream cones in hand under a scorching afternoon sun. Even a late evening shower did not stop a few devotees from staying back at the ghat to experience the final moments of the year’s Durga puja celebrations.
Various housing complexes and small pujas added their own creative twist to celebrate the occasion. The procession from GLS Ruposi Bangla, in Action Area 1, for instance, displayed some dandiya routines to impress onlookers. “This is our first Durga puja. There are 20 families which came together to organise it,” said Niladri Banerjee, a resident.
Some girls in the team from Loharuka Green Heights, Rajarhat donned identical T-shirts that carried the slogan “bisorjonei suru bodhon”, starting the countdown for next year’s festival.
Despite the prevalent pandemic situation, age was not an obstacle for enjoyment as was evident in the enthusiasm displayed by senior citizens from Spacetown, Haldiram or later by the members of Swapnobhor and Snehodiya, the New Town home for senior citizens, who had jointly organised their third puja. The beat of dhak accompanied the dance in Power Tower’s procession.
An elderly lady was seen sprinkling holy water with a mango sprig on members of Natural Height Phase-1, Haldiram’s, before the goddess’s departure. “We are soaking in the last few moments of Puja,” Sonia Mukherjee, a resident, said.
The cloud of sadness that inevitably looms over immersion was dispelled every time a team took the platform to take part in the dhunuchi nach contest organised by NKDA. Despite having low participation this year due to the pandemic, the event featured several performers. Participants from Bhel Cooperative Housing Society opened the event with their group effort. Madhubanti Sen from Minakshi Housing Complex performed solo and her efforts were met with thundering applause. More performances followed. The dhakis were a crucial part of the event with their tireless performance. Kajol Das, a dhaki from Balagarh, said: “Playing the dhak during the Puja is happiness for us.”
Among the judges was NKDA chairman Debashis Sen. “We chose not to publicise the dhunuchi nach competition much this year to stay in line with Covid-related regulations.” Enthusiasm in people, he felt, was more this year compared to last year’s Puja as Covid restrictions were more relaxed.