Ace shooter Manu Bhaker, a double bronze winner at the Paris Olympics, was at the Sreebhumi Sporting Club puja on Saturday, resplendent in a lal paar sari.

“This is the first time I am seeing Durga Puja in Kolkata. I don’t understand Bengali. The only two things I understood were an Olympic gold and Kolkata’r rosogolla,” Bhaker said, prompting a roaring applause.

A while earlier, Sujit Bose, president of the Sreebhumi Sporting Club and also state fire and emergency services minister, had urged Manu “to win gold in the next Olympics”.

Most Calcuttans have seen Manu, the first Indian athlete post-Independence to win two medals in the same Olympics, in shooting gloves, jackets, glasses and blinkers. On Saturday, she was in a red-and-white sari draped in classical Bengali style.

Manu was accompanied by her mother.

The shooter said she came from Dubai, via a stopover in Haryana, her home state, which voted on Saturday. “I have cast my vote,” Manu said, raising her inked finger.

She reached the Sreebhumi pandal on VIP Road, one of the top draws among big-ticket Durga pujas in Calcutta, a little before 5pm. The theme for the pandal this year is the Venkataswara temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

The puja was inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday.

A steady stream of visitors has been thronging the pandal ever since. But the crowd
was kept at bay when Manu was inside to prevent a stampede.

Manu looked at the pandal and the idol in awe. She paid floral tributes to the Goddess and was gifted a miniature replica of the Tirupati temple.

At the felicitation that followed, minister Bose told Manu about her “illustrious predecessors” from the world of sports who had visited Sreebhumi in the past.

“You will be thrilled to know that Maradona and Ronaldinho were among those who graced this same stage,” Bose said.

“Manu is our pride. She has made the country proud on foreign soil. Please stand up and applaud her,” Bose told the crowd.

In her speech, Manu urged youngsters to follow their dreams.

“You may have different dreams — to become an IAS officer, a scientist or a sportsperson. Follow that dream, Don’t let distractions affect you. The coolest thing is to have a dream and realise it,” she said.

In Paris, Manu won a bronze each in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event — where she had paired with Sarabjot Singh — to script Olympic history for India.

Bose gifted Manu a gold-and-diamond-studded pendant. “This is on behalf of the state government and our chief minister. She has sent you her best wishes,” Bose said.

There was also a gold-plated pistol and several other mementos.

But what made her flash the widest smile was the jar of Calcutta rosogollas.