The four-day long Durga Puja —celebrated with much fanfare in Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Bihar and Odisha — will formally begin on Sunday, the seventh day of the lunar cycle.

But, Rubel and his friends Seikh Raju, Md Halim, Siddiq and others at the Mukti drug rehabilitation centre have begun celebrating Puja — or Pujo, as the Bengalis would say – on Friday, a day in advance.

‘The Sonnet’, a Star hotel in Kolkata’s IT district of Salt Lake, offered them an opportunity to meet their favourite musicians from ‘Lakkhichhara’ — one of the most popular Bengali bands in the city. And, to make the day more memorable, they were invited to a sumptuous lunch at the hotel.

Ritualistic no more

For more reasons than one, Pujo is no longer a religious festival in Bengal. More precisely, it’s a festival where religious rituals take a backseat to music, literature, food, travel etc.

It’s unique for any festival when the entire city or the State takes the shape of an art gallery where everyone, irrespective of their class, creed and religion, are welcome.

The participation is not merely limited to whole-night Pandal hopping or gorging on fuchkas or attending the cultural shows. People of other religious beliefs too play a prominent role in organising Pujas.

Firhad Hakim — the State Urban Development Minister and a trusted aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — for example, is the organiser of Chetla Agrani Sangha’s Puja celebrations.

Extended Holidays

For many, the biggest attraction of Pujo is perhaps the prolonged holidays and the scope to engage in endless Adda. The scope of Adda has particularly increased this year, as the State Government has been generous in extending the holidays to a record 10 days beginning October 20.

The only unfortunate ones are the ones manning essential services. Police for example will remain busy in taking care of millions who will flood the city streets from tonight. For them, it is simply the busiest season of the year.

> pratim.bose@thehindu.co.in

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