Blended celebrations as Bengalis in Dubai mark Durga Puja
DUBAI — It’s a perfect blend of traditional and virtual celebrations this Durga Puja as many Bengali residents in Dubai have reinvented the festivities amid the pandemic restrictions.
Communities organising Durga Puja celebrations or the Sharad Utsav (Autumn Festival) are adhering to the social gathering norms and have made arrangements for people to celebrate the festival from the comfort of their homes.
Satyaki Sarkar, organising member of one of the Bengali committees, said: “Everyone has been enjoying the puja this year from their homes as we have been sharing the Zoom link and Facebook live sessions with our members and non-members. Several elderly people from India — like our parents and relatives — also joined us this year virtually.
“They offered ‘ anjali’ or prayer from their homes while our regular priest carried out the ceremonies from a venue in Kolkata as we didn’t have the usual ceremonies this year on-site in Dubai. But everyone felt they were sitting right in front of the diety.”
Another organiser Madhulika Chatterjee pointed out: “Cultural functions were held online, where live and recorded programmes by children and adults were shown. Short skits, songs, drawing, quiz, alpana painting and concordance ( shonkordoni) competitions were held virtually in which children and women participated with great enthusiasm.”
All government guidelines pertaining to Covid-19 were being followed even as people come in restricted numbers to celebrate and dine together, pointed out Chatterjee.
“Although we do not have the quintessential ‘ bhog’ ( prasad) this year and no prayer services are held at the venue as those are organised online, Bengali cuisine is on display and everything is offered on a first-come-first-serve basis. A group of local artists called Park Street Band also entertained the attendees by playing several Bengali and non-Bengali songs. That lent a nostalgic ambience to the celebrations.”
Dubai residents, who attended the festivities, said that they were expecting a scaled down celebrations this year. “The call of the conchs and the dhakis (drums) are surely being missed,” said Bengali expat Anirban Nandi.
“The upside of this is that a simple Internet search on virtual Durga Puja 2020 will lead you to a lot of content from festival committees from India and around the world Technology has definitely proved to be a blessing amid the pandemic,” he added.