Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

The Bengali Durga Puja Festival lasts for  five days as compared to the nine nights of Navratri.The main puja for the Goddess starts on Mahasaptami.Today is Maha Ashtami,the next day.We visited the Mahalakshmi temple,then the Ekviradevi Temple and finally the Bengal Club Durga Puja. It is the 77th year of its celebration.The place was vibrant! We were in time for the Anjali.Several people from other communities also come here so I landed up explaining it to the Punjabi lady standing next to me. Maa Durga and Kalimata are both avatars of the Goddess Parvati.  Pandals offer Bhog first to the Goddess and then to all that come.This is mostly Khichuri made of rice,lentils and vegetables.Here the drums played while the Goddess was covered and offered the food. I was quite keen to try it today but the line was oh-so-long!!! In fact this happens globally.My friend Pree told us that the Toronto Kali Bari Durga Puja was super long too ...

         I am half Bong so have been going for Durga Pujo since childhood....the one in Bandra and Shivaji Park.Last year Finely Chopped wrote a beautiful piece on Notunpally and gave us a new perspective.I had no idea that Durga Pujo was the biggest festival for Bengalis.I spotted Samudra Sen,one of the organizers of the Pujo,thanks to the post.Mon Basu,I know for years and years.He used to be a pilot.He is in his eighties but you just can't guess that looking at his boundless energy and enthusiasm.He dresses in saffron robes for the Pujo.        This year,I learnt more about Kolkata Pujo through friends@Sushobhan and @Sudhakanago who posted pictures of all their Kolkata pandal-hopping.The pandals are usually made of cardboard,cloth or bamboo and there was one made on painted jute and pith, shaped as a 19th century mansion.You can see this and others in aqua theme and as a 1975 North Calcutta neighborhood on their Twitter accounts. Fin...

I have visited Farmers' Markets in USA and have been floored by them.There are stalls and stalls of fresh fruits and vegetables and some with meat and cheese.I have read about the ones in Mumbai but had never been to one.When I saw the announcement on Mumbai Ready Reckoner, it said it would be held at Maharashtra Nature Park at Sion-Dharavi,a place I had heard good things about.That's how I got down to visiting it this Sunday.It's the brainchild of Kavita Mukhi,someone I met years ago when I did the Orchid Finishing School Course and she was on the faculty.Those days she was just as passionate about organic food as she is today. Recently I came across the concept of "Community Supported Agriculture" which entails subscribing to a season's local produce and getting a fresh supply every week without knowing what's going to be in the box.That has yet to start in India. We arrived by car and entered the last gate (Special Entry for Parking) which ...