This Durga Puja, Kolkata sees tussle between caution and celebration
The Hindu
Festivities scaled down as pandemic-forced restrictions are in place
The City of Joy is witnessing a tussle between celebration and caution as the curtain lifts on Durga Puja — a festival it awaits all year and which sees erection of pandals in almost its every nook and cranny — under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there is enthusiasm among people, considering a city accustomed to celebrating its numerous festivals has been forced to show restraint for far too long now, there is also fear and, like last year, there are restrictions in place.
Since pandals have once again been declared as no-entry zones for the public, most of them have been designed in a way that visitors can have a view of the idols from the road, without getting into an enclosure and thus forming a crowd. And the brave ones have already begun pandal-hopping.