A couple of weeks back, with poila boishakh (the Bengali New Year) just around the corner, I found myself in the midst of an enormous crowd of people, all trying to cross the Gariahat Road crossing from the Ekdalia side to the Anandamela side. It makes me happy to see so many thronging to Gariahat shortly before poila boishakh because that implies (optimistically) that at least so many are not inside South City Mall at that moment. Traffic control had taken over and there were young interns (probably) who were trying to contain the crowds to the footpath by holding up these thick ropes while traffic flowed down the street. This is a technique commonly seen in use during the Pujas. I sensed someone whose spirit was clearly soaring above the crowds, jostle busily towards the said intern. He tapped him on the shoulder and in the same business-like manner asked, "দাদা, একডালিয়ার পুজোটা কোন দিকে?" ("Dada, which way is the Ekdalia puja?") I suspect he didn't make himself too popular with the policeman.
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