Puja evokes sentiments that hold a dear place in every Bengali’s heart, as it did in ours. However, in 2008 we moved to Kuwait, where Puja celebrations were virtually nonexistent.

For seven long years, our celebrations in Kuwait lacked the quintessential feeling of ‘Pujo aschhe’.

Since religious celebrations of other faiths were soft-banned in Kuwait, the Bengali association would manage to rent a school compound every year during the Puja week, and once school timings were over, in the evening, we would gather there to meet. A small puja would be held followed by a cultural programme and dinner, but it kindled no feeling of pujo. Everything had to be held in silence behind closed doors and end quite early in the night. It was an informal gathering of us Bengalis, worshipping a picture of Durga Ma since idols are banned in Kuwait.

Everything changed when we came for our first Durga Puja in Greenwood Park in 2015. My daughter Aheli, who had grown up watching those Kuwait pujas, was mesmerised at the round-the-clock celebrations and activities that started well before Mahalaya.

A younger Aheli performs in 2011 in front of the Durga puja banner that was worshiped in lieu of an idol in Kuwait where idol worship is not allowed. Sourced by the Correspondent

There was a real sense of community and spirit here; it wasn’t a glorified dinner party. The energy was infections as my daughter and I immersed ourselves in Puja preparations — from painting alpona to rehearsing dances for the evening cultural shows that lasted five days, from choosing all the attires we would wear to practising dhunuchi nach for bisarjan, my daughter finally felt the true essence of Puja. (In fact, mother and daughter were part of the dhunuchi dance team that picked up the runner-up prize in the contest at Upasana Ghat in 2018. This year, too, they presented dance items that were part of the cultural programmes that were webcast for Puja.)

As for me, I was elated at finally coming back home and rekindling the old excitement of my youth, and re-experiencing what Puja meant for me.

Piyali Gupta spends her daughter Aheli’s vacation in Greenwood Park. She is awaiting the resumption of flight services to return to Kuwait.