Paer dhone ke saath saath haath bhi sanitise karenge: Denizens ready to welcome kanjaks home
With the fear of Covid-19 looming large, many refrained from inviting young girls home for kanjak puja last year. But now, Delhiites are in no mood to let the pandemic dampen their spirits further, and are confident of bringing home the little angels, this Ashtami and Navami, to seek the blessings of Maa Durga.
“Ashtami marks the beginning of festivities in true sense, as number of Covid-19 cases is finally reducing. This has given us an opportunity to resume worshipping young girls as avatars of Goddesses, by not just delivering prasad to their homes, but by actually inviting them home, like how we used to during kanjak puja earlier,” says Samridhi Verma, a teacher from Kalkaji Extension, who is armed with “face masks and sanitiser bottles”.
Most Delhiites celebrated kanjak puja virtually until now,
We will not call all kanjaks at the same time. We will keep the plates with prasad ready, invite them separately and give it to them. Of course, we’ll be masked and will sanitise their hands. GEETA VERMA, Delhi-based businesswoman
when all adult family members in the house have got at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Some have even planned celebrations keeping social distancing in mind. “Is baar paer dhone ke saath saath hands bhi sanitise karenge kanjaks ke, entry ke time,” says Manisha Verma, a school teacher from Malviya Nagar, adding, “We’ll be masked all the time, since we are aware that kids aren’t vaccinated, and it’s our responsibility to ensure the safety of those coming to our house. We’ve made seating arrangements in a way that they will sit apart. Also, we’ve decided to distribute only dry packaged snacks as prasad, because some parents might still be a bit reluctant to let kids eat food prepared at someone else’s house, due to Covid-19 concerns.” Parents of young girls, too, seem confident to send their daughters to houses close to theirs, for kanjak puja. “Now, kids have started stepping out to play, so we are comfortable sending our daughter, Meher, for the puja. But, we’re only allowing her to go to houses close by. In fact, I have spoken to the members of that house. They assured me that they are taking all precautions and are calling only a limited number of kanjaks. I won’t be surprised if Meher comes back with a bottle of sanitiser alongside sweets and chhole puri (laughs),” says Aparna Rastogi, a homemaker from CR Park. And Geeta Verma, a businesswoman from Patparganj, shares how they have staggered the time of puja, by calling each kid separately. “We will keep the plates with prasad ready, invite them separately and give it to them. But, in case someone isn’t willing to send their daughter, we don’t mind going to their place to hand over the prasad to them,” she explains.