Once the fragrance of Shiuli (Har singar) flower wafted through the autumn air, the word was around that Durga Puja is round the cornor. We, the fun loving Bondhus decided to enjoy Durga Puja celebrations in full throttle.

But then there was a big question mark – how to go ahead with Puja celebration. The beginning was quite cautious as the Bondhu Mahal was not sure whether to start Puja of our own or wait a year or two before taking a direct plunge.

`Ma’ had  something different stored for us. The Bondhu Mahal got an offer from Shri Sai Sewa Ashram to celebrate Puja with them. The offer was lucrative but still we were undecided. A meeting was held. There were some voices of dissent but majority said that we should go ahead and celebrate Durga Puja with Shri Sai Sewa Ashram.

The Durga Puja was held at Ma Durga Park, sector 13 Indira Nagar.

The decision brought a zeal among Bondhus. “Yes, we will go for Bhashan (immersion of Goddess) this year,” said Abhijeet.

“I will work in mandap,” Sachin Wantoo said. Jayanto Paramanik, commonly called Babu, too volunteered to work in mandap.

The work was distributed. Different committees were formed and members of Bondhu Mahal were given responsibility. Chanda (fund) collection began and within no time the members collected enough funds to show the worth of Bondhus.

As usual the lion share of support came from Daya Shankar Patwa. Helping hands came in form of support from N.N. Srivastava. Saurav Wantoo sponsored bhog of Saptami while Vinod Singh, S.C. Rastogi and Tushar Bhaduri gave their contribution for the Ashtami bhog. The Navami Bhog of Pulao, Paneer-mattar, chatani and Rasagulla was a joint effort of Bondhu Mahal and Sai Sewa Ashram.

After a day’s had work the Bondhus went for Pandal hopping – in the evening moving from one pandal to another. It usually started at 8 pm and continued till 1 at night and next day members were back at work at dot 8 in the morning. The last day – On Navami – the Bondhus went to Break Point to have a dinner and stayed there till 1.30 am.

The Dashami came – it was the sad moment for us because today Ma depart. The women played sindoor with Mother Goddess as a mark of farewell. In the evening the Bondhus went to the river Gomti dancing at the beats of dhaak with prayers in their lips.

Then everyone broke in a jig and shouted: “Aaste bochchor aabar aisho” (Come next year too).

Glimpses

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