GURUGRAM: On Saturday, fervour mingled with sadness as Pujo festivities came to an end. Yet, while bidding a tender farewell to MaaDurga, devotees were keen to show that faith and ecology can co-exist.
For the second year running, DLF 1 and Sector 56 led the way, showing a reassuring sensitivity to the environment in all Puja activities, secular and non-secular - right up to organising the ecofriendly immersion of the idol, the season's final, melancholy-tinged, act. In this, they were joined, encouragingly, by three other Puja societies, each of Valley View Estate (Gurgaon-Faridabad Road), Suncity (Golf Course Road) and Sushant Lok-1 ready and willing to participate.
"Last year, we faced two challenges - organisational and emotional. Emotional, because we were so used to conducting 'visarjan' in the Yamuna," shared ParthoDey of BangiyaParishad, the society hosting the Sector 56 Puja. This year, Dey added, they're better prepared. And, in spirit, contentedly at one with the environment.
At 8 am on Saturday, on a plot behind the Huda market in Sector 56, and to the back of the Puja venue, two pits were dug by a couple of earth movers. In the early and late afternoon, the late-September sun still blazing down, a handful of tankers filled chest-high water into both pits, and into these ditches - measuring 45ft by 25ft, and 30ft by 20ft (approx.), with a depth of around 10ft - cranes lowered the clay Durga idols, accompanied by impassioned chants to the goddess and the frenzied beats of the dhak drums.
A separate, smaller, ditch was dug so that flowers used in the Pujas were not wasted. Later, non-biodegradable material, like the idols' bamboo supports, would be taken out, to be sold for scrap. By evening, just as dusk fell on Dashami, the earth was returned to how it was found, each pit covered up, Durga in repose.
"We were already booked to immerse our idol in Kalindi Kunj when we came to know about this eco-friendly 'visarjan' - at 1 am in the morning!" shared P K Banerjee, president of the Valley View Estate Sarbojonin Puja Samity.
"But we were eager to take part in this community immersion, and are glad we decided to do so."
Asked if this ecology-embracing gesture represents MaaDurga's grateful devotees returning her blessings by giving back to Mother Nature, Arun Ghosh - president of the DCDP (DLF City Durga Puja) Bengali Cultural Society - nodded in acknowledgment. Faith can, literally, move mountains.
