Time for dhak-n-dhol

She might be one of the boldest actresses of the West Bengal film industry, but Tollywood diva Rituparna Sengupta is a traditionalist at heart. Dressed in a signature red and white sari, Rituparna, who's the brand ambassador for the Sarbojanin Pujo at DN Nagar, Andheri, gets nostalgic about the festival back home in Kolkata:


WHO: Rituparna Sengupta
WHAT: Decked up in her puja finery
WHERE: On her film set in South Mumbai

Old is gold
When I was a kid, we had the concept of a para (locality) puja, there was no corporate flavour to it. We used to wait throughout the year for these five days of merry-making. There was no cooking at home for four days as we had the bhog for lunch. In our times, the pandals had a different charm. The clay idols were brought from Kumortuli and given the finishing touches at our para pandal. The artistry was amazing. Today, we have singers and artists performing at every locality, which wasn't the case before. We organised our own cultural shows.

Pandal-hopping competitions
The build-up to the Pujas was as exciting. We used to rush out to our balconies at the first sound of the dhak (drum). It meant that the Goddess had arrived. I remember the pandal-hopping I used to do with different sets of friends every day. Mornings were spent with my friends from the Chitrangshu art school, while evenings were meant for frolicking with my school friends. We'd compete with one another as to who would visit the maximum number of pandals. Believe it or not, most of us touched a minimum of 100 in those five days!

When I was in my teens, my then-boyfriend and now husband Sanjay Chakraborty had a red Maruti car. My friends and I used to squeeze into that car and tour Kolkata. And we were vain enough to wear new shoes daily to match our clothes. By the time we returned from our pandal-hopping, we'd be limping with shoe bites!

Dressed to the hilt
Our shopping trips began a couple of months before the actual festival. At school, we used to discuss the number of outfits we bought and what was in fashion. And return home to badger our mothers and aunts to take us shopping. This year, I haven't shopped anything as yet. However, you'll find five new sarees in my wardrobe anytime of the year. My husband Sanjay will also have something in store for meu00a0 (smiles). It can be anything from books, DVDs, jewellery to even classical music instruments.u00a0

Family time
I grew up in a joint family, and we used to have relatives from Delhi, Jabalpur and Kanpur visiting us during this period. Durga Puja was also a time to forget petty squabbles and rebuild ties. So, gifts used to be exchanged by the dozen. This year, I'll miss receiving a gift from my father who passed away two months back. Every year, I used to take a break during Puja to spend quality time with him; I will miss him terribly. And to keep my mom company, I'll be flying back home this year.

Whenever I'm in Mumbai during this time, I love visiting Abhijeetda's (singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya) Puja at Lokhandwala Complex. My cousins live in Thakur Village, Kandivli, so I visit that pandal as well. The idols at New Delhi's Kalibari are beautiful. And of course, I love my childhood puja pandal Shureet Shongo at Rashbehari Avenue, South Kolkata.
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