Spiceland
The guards at AK Block had a tough job at hand. There were spices of many kinds all around at the pandal, many exhibited in heaps on a centre table inside. While the visitors walked with detachment by the Vasco da Gama paintings outside that chronicled the start of the spice route to India, their expressions changed on walking in. “We are having so many women bending down to sniff or trying to dip their fingers in the spices to check if they are original. We are having to stop them as soon as they take a decisive step forward,” said a guard.
A child was heard asking his mother: “Is this pandal Ma Durga’s kitchen? Why are there so many spices?” The mother responded in the affirmative. “Ma Durga has to cook for Ganesh. You have seen on TV how much food an elephant eats, haven’t you?”
While initially the puja committee had decided to donate the spices to individuals, the logistical challenge of the distribution made them change their mind. Now they are looking for organisations who might want to buy up the Rs 4 lakh booty, at a discounted price. Till such time, the pandal is staying boarded up, with all that spice inside.
Isolation time
In BK Block, for some reason, Ganesh and Kartik were placed in separate glass boxes with wooden frames. Their sisters were free, standing one level above. That perplexed little Aryak Sarkar. Perched on his father’s lap, he asked why Kartik-Ganesh were locked up and demanded that his favourite elephant god be set free at once. The father had just that moment to come up with an answer. “They got Covid. Remember the time when we were locked in our room?” Aryak was full of sympathy and assured Ganesh that he would out in no time.
Bowls & bangles
JC Block’s pandal full of utensils pasted all over did not suffer casualties at the hands of the curious, possibly because they were not pasted on the sides of the entry. One uncharitable visitor had an unusual interpretation. The woman in her 30s, visiting the pandal with her family, was overheard saying: “This pandal has a bhikksha (begging) theme. Look, there are begging bowls all over!”
The broken glass bangles which adorned the walls of the sanctum sanctorum were the cause of a discussion among some young lasses from Duttabad. They debated whether the bangles were originally damaged or intact ones were broken for the purpose. The second possibility broke their heart.
Acting fishy
There was a fish tunnel show at FD Park where a range of ornamental fish was kept on display in aquariums. Those walking in on the first night were faced with a strange sight of all the fish huddled in a corner of the box. Some insensitive visitors, including one who his security guard said was an MLA from Purulia, banged on the glass wall to make them move.
But one visitor knew exactly what the matter was. “The fish are nervous in the new environment. They are unsure about the light. Give them 24 hours and they will swim around in the tank,” smiled Rakesh Shaw, who has five aquariums at home and had come to the pandal with his little son.
Missing daddy
A child was disappointed not to find a full-fledged idol of Shiva with Durga and the four divine children. So he asked his father: “Baba, where is Shiva? How did Maa Durga come without him? When we travel you always travel with us!” The father thought for a while and responded: “Remember that one time when I had office work and joined you in Purisome days later? Shiva has work too. He will come with Ma Kali.”
Off with plastic
This is one conversation that anti-plastic campaigners would be pleased to overhear. At the AE (Part2) community lunch on Saptami, a resident asked a catering employee: “Bhai, what chutney are you serving today?” The youth responded: “Today we are serving plastic chutney.” The resident quipped: “Plastic is banned and you are serving us plastic chutney! So the chutney will stay in my body long after my body has decayed!”
