This is my second year as judge for CESC The Telegraph True Spirit Puja. This year I was on an entirely different route, along the narrow lanes of north Calcutta. The traffic conditions and width of the streets is perhaps the reason why the pandals in this part of the city are smaller than the ones in south Calcutta.

First stop: Kashi Bose Lane Durga Puja Committee, which portrayed humanity shackled to technology. As tempting as it is to discuss the theme with the enthusiastic artists and organisers, we were here with a different purpose. Though there were bottles and bottles of drinking water to be handed out to everyone who visited the pandal, I did feel that the emergency exit might be too narrow for the crowds in the evening. The fire extinguishers could have been fixed somewhere so they were easily located. They did have provisions for a feeding room for babies, which is a very good idea.

Next stop: Halsibagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav. Here the pandal was made of wood and projected the theme of learning by putting out ancient Indian scriptures and classic texts. Here, too, the space was very limited and the doorways were narrow. Provisions for the bathrooms were made in the adjacent lane and a hefty fire extinguisher was at hand.

Third stop: Sammilita Lalabagan Sarbojanin. I found the puppet theme very interesting. Alan Gemmell and I tried our hand at some puppetry. There was more space in this pandal, and their extensive medical set-up was impressive. Across the road was a high platform that was reserved for medical emergencies and it came equipped with a bed!

Last stop: Beliaghata 33 no. Palli Bashi Brinda. This pandal was arresting since it was entirely made with taxis that were more than 15 years old! They seemed to have a better handle on managing the crowd here and the exits were broader. I took the opportunity of sinking into one of the sofas reserved for elderly people on the road, and pronounced it comfortable. The medical set-up here was evident as well.

The grey skies looming with unwanted rainfall make me wonder if the Pujas in Calcutta will be reminiscent of the Oktoberfest in Munich this year that saw less people because of the unexpected rain. Or perhaps nothing can dampen the spirit of the Pujas, not even the rains!

The TSP judge is the German consul-general in Calcutta and went on the North route

Reporting by Arindam Chatterjee, Chandreyee Chatterjee, Chandreyee Ghose Dutta, Malancha Dasgupta, Ramona Sen, Ratnalekha Mazumdar, Rwitoban Deb, Samhita Chakraborty, Saionee Chakraborty, Sudeshna Banerjee and Trina Chaudhuri

Pictures by Arnab Mondal, Bhubaneswarananda Halder, Pabitra Das and Shuvo Roychaudhury