A lit-up Kadam Gachh at BJ Park on Saturday.

Little Prajukta Banik of AK Block was too scared to burst crackers herself but longed to see some spectacular fireworks in the sky. So her parents walked her to neighbouring BJ Block for their fireworks display on Saturday.

“The sky is full of colourful lights,” she exclaimed as a ray of light shot high up and burst into a chandelier of blue and yellow colours.

There were also flower pots that sent sparkles up 40-ft high and “Kadam gachh” that was a pillar with branch-like installations that emitted lights when lit up. Some of these “branches” had wheels on the edges that sent lights spinning out in circular directions.

“The fireworks display is much-awaited by our residents so we organise it every year. This year we have increased the budget for the event from Rs 37,000 to 55,000,” said secretary of BJ Block Kali puja committee Anindya Sinha Roy. “Cultural programmes happen round the year but an illuminated sky is a once-a-year opportunity.”

A slight disappointment was the “Sachin baaji” which was scheduled but later cancelled. “This would have been a kadam gachh-like pillar with its edges lit-up by crackers such that spectators could see pictures of Sachin Tendulkar stuck in the middle,” said S.K. Sheik Arshad Ali of Waris Fireworks in Burdwan who had put up the show.

A giant wheel (chorki).	Niagara Falls at AC Park. Picture by Saradindu Chaudhury

The gimmick could not be executed since they could not manage enough posters of Tendulkar. “So we put some random pictures on the pillar and went ahead,” said Ali.

At AC Block, fireworks weren’t the main attraction but a filler in between the music show. So after every few songs by artistes Abhishek and Manisha there would be a few 40-ft high flower pots set off or a display of the Niagara Falls. This was a string of crackers with two ends tied to poles and once lit up, the flames would drop to the ground from each cracker like a glowing waterfall. The fireworks were being set off in enclosed spaces on either side of the stage.

Viewers silhouetted against a cascading burst in the sky. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

“We hold a fireworks show every year but decided to break it up into parts in order to prolong the excitement,” said Rajib Chakraborty, a member of AC Block Yubak Sangha that was organising the event.

“The highlight of our programme was when we illuminated the words ‘AC Block Yubak Sangha’ with crackers on a board pinned to a pole,” said Shekhar Mukherjee of Mukherjee Fireworks that had executed the show.

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Yesteryear Hindi film actress Zeenat Aman and Tapas Chatterjee, chairman of Rajarhat Gopalpur Municipality, inaugurated the 53rd edition of Narendranagar Netaji Club’s Kali puja in Narayanpur on Saturday evening. Local councillor Tapas Malakar (blue shirt) and Subhasish Ghosh, inspector-in-charge of Narayanpur phari, were present on the occasion. “Calcutta has a special place in my heart so I keep coming here. I wish you all a happy Kali Puja and Diwali. Both the pandal and the idol are praiseworthy,” said Zeenat Aman. She sang Dum maro dum in front of the 2,000-plus crowd that had assembled for a glimpse of the Satyam Shivam Sundaram star. Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

The pandal at Nayapatty Aditya Smrity Sangha resembled a run-down house with a garden. Except, at the entrance of the garden was the rim of a huge magnifying glass, through which visitors would appear to be seeing the entire image. So the interior had blown-up butterflies, mushrooms, frogs and flowers. “This is the biggest Kali puja in the area. Last year I had to queue up for an hour to enter it,” said Basanti Khan, a local resident. The pandal was built in the lane opposite Sector V’s Technopolis building. “We chose this theme to teach our children to love nature,” said president of the puja Jaydev Naskar. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Actress Padmini Kolhapure inaugurated the puja in AC Block this year. “I have come to Calcutta several times before and love the culture of the city,” she said, before singing some lines of Zindagi pyar ka geet hai and Tumse milkar na jane kyun from her films Souten and Pyar Jhukta Nahin respectively. Also present were Tollywood actress Subhasree, MLA Sujit Bose, minister Aroop Biswas and civic chief Krishna Chakraborty. Picture by Saradindu Chaudhury

Sukantanagar Sporting Club. (Sudeshna Banerjee)	HA Block. (Sudeshna Banerjee)
Sukantanagar Centre for Culture and Sports. (Sudeshna Banerjee)	CA Block. (Sudeshna Banerjee)