One of the best things about the Durga Pujas is the interaction with friends and neighbors and CA Block didn’t let the pandemic put an end to that. Youths of the block picked up the mic and conducted chat shows and quizzes that were echoed across their lanes using loudspeakers.

So Snehasis Mukherjee, a businessman and part-time RJ for Saptami, asked listeners to call in and share their memories of the puja in the block. Laxmi Kanto Sukul, the first president of the block (and puja) committee back in 1979, dialed in to share his experiences of raising puja subscriptions in the initial days. “Back then, this was a Herculean task. People would head the other way if they even met me in the market, to avoid paying,” he laughed.

Another RJ, Arnab Sen chatted with listeners who called in to share their experiences of puja 2020 and to explore if they were facing problems following the rituals online.

Souradip Basu posed riddles that attracted not only residents but also pandal-hoppers. “We were really happy with the response. I thought I would have to announce our phone numbers four to five times before anyone dialed in but we started getting calls after announcing the number the second time itself,” said Souradip. “Even visitors to the pandal would call or come and give the answers in person and we would have to tell them that the games are for residents only. But they would wait for us to ask the next question and that really encouraged us.”

Anirban Sinha was one resident who called in to answer enthusiastically. “This puja has been different. We all are experiencing it from our homes through social media and loudspeakers so this was a fun event to take part in,” said Sinha. “And I know it became popular as everyone from my family was trying to reach them over the phone but we only managed to connect once as it was always busy.”

Mukherjee, who was also the coordinator of the puja this year, said the initiative had been taken to involve residents, “particularly senior citizens, so they wouldn’t feel left out in this pandemic year,” he said.

Vijaya meet post-puja, the block celebrated Vijaya sammelani virtually. Little Radhika Banerjee welcomed everyone by singing Sree Krishna Govinda and Nishita Gupta danced to the dandia beats of Chogara tara.

Ankita Roychoudhury dressed up in a red sari and sang Rabindra sangeet — Akash jure shuninu oi baje and Amar nayan bhulano ele while Salouni Das danced to Aigiri Nandini. Anushree Mukherjee sang Kahin deep jwale aana from Chitchor and Alokparna Chakraborty set the perfect puja mood by singing the classical Boro anondo hoy.

“Some NRIs hailing from the block were eager to send in their entries too but ultimately did not manage on time,” said Mukherjee.