Little Mrinmoyee Gayen was a picture of poise as she sat still in the chair placed sidewise in front of the Annapurna idol. Kumari puja was taking place in the residence of Aritra Sen in AK Block.

The pandal was modelled on a classic north Calcutta bonedi bari with a facade with fluted columns, pediments, ornate cornices and green shuttered windows and doors, while the interiors resembled a thakurdalan in a long, rectangular hall with two-tiered verandahs, green wooden railings and rows of shuttered doors.

The clay Annapurna idol, crafted by Subrata Mridha, towered over little Mrinmoyee, the goddess of the hour in flesh and blood, as the priest and Sen sat on the floor paying homage to her. Draped in a red sari and floral ornaments, Mrinmoyee had her right palm raised in an act of benediction while her left hand held a Natungram-style wooden owl. Her grandfather and mother kept a watchful eye over the seven-year-old.

As soon as the puja got over, she was given her pick of the lunch menu. While she nibbled at the rest, it was the ice cream cone that she dug into, still in full regalia. “O thakur saajte bhalobashe,” mother Debjani Mallik said, as people commented on her patient stint.

This was Mrinmoyee’s second outing as she had been selected as the virgin goddess last year as well. “Gotobar khide peyechhilo, chokh byatha korchhilo,” she recalled, while nodding in the negative when asked if she had a problem this year.

“Last year, we came too early and she got hungry by the time the puja ended. This time we were asked to come no earlier than 2.30pm. So she could have rice, daal and doi as lunch at home before coming,” explained her mother, who teaches at ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Joka.

There was another reason why Mrinmoyee was in a happy mood this year. “I like red sari,” she beamed, looking at her attire. Last year, she had been draped in a stitched yellow sari. “I wore that later to school in a go-as-you-like contest. I was Saraswati,” she said. “Her mother had made a cardboard veena for her. She came first in the contest,” grandfather Milan Mallick proudly added. “She plays table tennis, skates, draws and dances too.”

Having dressed as two goddesses already, the girl, who will be attending Class II once Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan reopens in the new session, has one more box to tick in her wishlist. “I want to be Durga. I want to hold the trishul (trident),” the AK Block resident said, licking the remnants of the ice cream off her fingers.