CE Block residents gathered at their community hall on the eve of Kali Puja for a number of festive contests and events.
One of the most popular was rangoli-making. “I have wanted to create a rangoli for a long time but it never really managed. So when I got the chance today I was all up for it,” smiled Dipannwita Roy, who had signed up with her friend Rupa Majumder. Together, they made a diya-shaped rangoli that won second place in the contest. “We had chalked out the design earlier, but once we arrived at the pandal we realised that the table we were required to fill up was rather large. So we added some designs on the periphery.”
Mousumi Ghosh had prior experience of making rangolis but again, not on such a large scale. “Nonetheless, I had fun today. I also included a message ‘Jalo antarer aalo’ on top of our design ,” said the lady.
“This is the first time we are having a rangoli competition in our block,” said Debashis Sen, president of the puja. “We have these in New Town and wanted to organise one here too. Everybody is enjoying it!”
They also had a lamp-lighting ceremony, where residents came together to light 100 lamps. “We had a firework show and all the crackers were green,” Sen added.
Children were the most excited with the fireworks. “There are so many crackers and they all look so different! I have never seen a show like this before. I am only allowed to light charkis and phuljhuris at home but this is beautiful,” exclaimed a wide-eyed seven-year-old visitor Rishi Bhattacharya.
