Durga Puja of 2020

There is no denial of the fact that this year’s Durga Puja is not celebrated in the usual manner that we are used to. There are several restrictions; laws have been enacted to restrict free movements of devotees. The High Court has ordered the Puja committees to ensure that social distance should be maintained in the temple premises. Wearing mask has been made the most essential factor, other than that the puja committees are also constantly making announcement to safeguard the visitors and to ensure that the law and order remains active in all ‘puja pandals’.

People have been advised repeatedly not to unnecessarily put their lives on risk while visiting the pandals. The government is trying desperately to put things under control but, it is expected that the number of Covid patient will rise in an unprecedented level immediately after the puja. Police are also being instructed to take extra measurements so that the condition never goes beyond their reach.

Notwithstanding, all such precautions of government, the general public failed to grasp the essence of the fact. They are too busy to abide by the restrictions for their own safety. Young boys and girls are roaming around on the road without mask and disobeying all the protocols of government; they are busy in celebrating puja. On the day Ashtami, the most surprising fact was ‘a care free approach in all public as well as in puja committees’. The local puja committees arranged for ‘Anjali’ (Worship) and ‘Prasad’ distribution for the general public, ignoring all the orders given by the court and government. Besides, initially the evening of Ashtami, which attracts most visitors, appeared quite empty, however as the night fell the rush of people increased, literally showing thumps down to all government’s restrictions for puja, they set off to pandal hopping.

Now, what seems to be really scary is that if the prediction of experts turns out appropriate about the increasing Covid-19 cases in West Bengal; how would the government respond to that crisis. Already things are going beyond the control of government and now the boom in the number of Covid cases would certainly make the situation worsen. As the conditions looks to be worsen in the coming days we can only be optimistic that god would save us from any further cruel impact of the disease. And follow the general instruction to develop our immunity power.