Durga puja every year is not just a festival. It’s a feeling. Pujo brings about a fervor for doing away with the dark, gloomy negatives and welcoming the positive. But banishing the gloom and doom, we have to do ourselves.

If you depend on externals for help, that’s not going to happen. So what exactly am I up to this year? Last year, my mom suddenly fell ill, and it was my sister, brother-in-law, and a husband who managed the crisis. My job was praying hard and manning the 8-year-old. Luckily by the Mother Goddess’s blessing, my Maa is well, and I feel blessed. Last year Durga puja was like a whisper. This year it’s a celebration of the human spirit. Sharing pictures from Kolkata, Malda, and Darjeeling.

There’s a saying in Bengali –

“Janmo,mrityu, bibaho bhagobaner hatey”.

It means that birth, death, and whom you marry is somewhat destined. You have no control over where and to whom you are born. There is no control about how and when Death will visit, nor do you really know whom you will marry. Even if you plot, plan, and blueprint it. What happens happens. But you need to do your work because God helps those who help themselves.

Keep trying and spread joy this festive season.2021 is the strangest ghost year when we seem to go three steps ahead and two back. The point is to pray, pandal hop but stay safe; wearing the mask in a crowded space is a good idea. Gathering friends and family outdoors in the open air or in large spaces without a crowd is best. Let your hair down, feel the breeze, run in the grass, do controlled pandal hopping. The binge thing is entirely up to you. But moderation is the key.

I am sharing a few Puja Snapshots from Malda, Kolkata, and Darjeeling.

A very Happy Durga Puja and Navratri to all of you. Writing this for MyFriendAlexa with Blogchatter

Check out our experience for the lunch buffet at Grand Market Pavillion -ITC Royal Bengal