 |
| Bandra Durga Puja 2021 |
Feeling a bit overwhelmed today. And blessed. Got to meet my Durga Pujo ‘tribe’ for the first time since 2019. The folks behind the Bandra Durga Pujo. They conducted the pujo behind the scenes and in closed quarters, fearlessly and sincerely last year. The first year of the Covid pandemic Transmitting the proceedings online through social media for those who wanted to stay connected.
 |
| Bandra Durga Puja committee 2021 |
‘Next year would be different’, we all thought but this year too is a socially distanced affair and the committee members stayed within the ambit of the law. Conducting the festival responsibly.
Seeing how lost I seemed (from my melancholy puja posts), a dm slipped in from a kind lady the committee yesterday inviting me to the pujo.
 |
| Saying a prayer for Didu’s health and for the world to heal |
I excitedly headed out at 1 pm today to the hall where the pujo is being conducted this year. Said a prayer to the goddess. Especially on behalf of Didu, my grandmother, who like countless other didus and thakurmas might not be able to visit a pandal this year. I later phoned Didu and told her about it. She sounded happy to hear about this.
 |
| Talking of thakurma, my niece went out with her thammi and parents to see a puja in Gurugram and that made the news ❤️ |
My mum told me that my brother and sister in law gave anjali online. That’s all thanks to organisers somewhere working hard, like my friends at Bandra were, to get the pujo to our homes.
 |
| Halwa puri channa. Ashtami Punjabi style thanks to our friends the Grovers |
 |
| Bhog cooked by Pratap caterers for committee members to have at home. The same happened at Bombay Durga Bari but there the food was couriered to the committee members |
I was lucky to receive bhog too. We couldn’t eat it together as we do in other years. It was packed to be had at home for Covid norms. I feel fortunate to have come across this wonderful set of people who have ensured that I have my parar pujo (neighbourhood Durga puja) in my adopted home.
May you find your tribe too.
 |
| With my ‘tribe’ at the Bandra Pujo |
PS: The Bandra Puja is not open to public keeping Covid norms in mind. There’s no bhog on other days. Next year is the golden jubilee and we are living on a hope and a prayer that next year will be different. This year was an improvement of over last year after all. This year they managed to find a dhaaki (drummer) again. Last year apparently even getting a purutmoshai ( colloquial for priest) was tough, forget a dhaki!
 |
| The ‘ashol’ pujor bhog. Offered to the goddess first. Cooked by the ladies of the committee at Bandra. |
