So, happy with the fact that this year not many people were out Pandal Hopping and the fact that we didn’t have to drive thanks to the two TATA Sumos, Day Two began a wee bit later. A little confusion of whether to get the food home, or to have it at the club, with the party jumping in and out of the cars as the plan kept changing by the second, finally got us all to the dining room at The DI (Dalhousie Institute) Club. Some new faces were on board for today’s roller coaster ride to North Kolkata and some of the ones from the day before had gone. Actually to keep count, there were two down and four on board to take their place, which meant the party had just gotten bigger!
The corner table ( which had all the drinkers! ) kept us a bit longer after we had indulged ourselves in some Haka Noodles, Fried Rice, Chilly Chicken and Mixed Vegetables as they were still knocking back some large ones. Somehow this year I just didn’t have the urge to drink. So it was going to be non-alcoholic Pandal Hopping for me.
We finally hit the road by about 10ish for our Day Two - Ashtami of Pandal Hopping and headed straight to Bag Bazar, which was the first one on our list. I was hoping to see many more Pujas and was quite disappointed with Day One’s dismal performance of only 5 Pandals even with two factors in our favour; no crowds and chauffeur driven cars, eliminating the problems of parking. Anyway once we crossed Sealdah, our worries began as we got stuck in traffic. It took us nearly two hours to get to Shyambazar Crossing from where things again started falling in place. Bag Bazar was the first and then we headed on to Kashi Bose Lane. The next one was a treat as we were witness to the “Anjali” and other ceremonies being conducted by the Pandits. Hatibagan Pandal itself was really nice. From there, after a bit of confusion we went to Darpanaryan Tagore Street followed by Ahiritola after which we called it a night. I was again disappointed as we headed back and I was recollecting last year’s visit to the north as we were driving by innumerable Pujas on our way back.
We finally got home by 3.05am. Tomorrow, come what may, I was going to see more of them, even if the group didn’t want to.
Pictures
01. Bag Bazar
02. Kashi Bose Lane
03. Hatibagan
04. Darpanarayan Tagore Street
05. Ahiritola
The corner table ( which had all the drinkers! ) kept us a bit longer after we had indulged ourselves in some Haka Noodles, Fried Rice, Chilly Chicken and Mixed Vegetables as they were still knocking back some large ones. Somehow this year I just didn’t have the urge to drink. So it was going to be non-alcoholic Pandal Hopping for me.
We finally hit the road by about 10ish for our Day Two - Ashtami of Pandal Hopping and headed straight to Bag Bazar, which was the first one on our list. I was hoping to see many more Pujas and was quite disappointed with Day One’s dismal performance of only 5 Pandals even with two factors in our favour; no crowds and chauffeur driven cars, eliminating the problems of parking. Anyway once we crossed Sealdah, our worries began as we got stuck in traffic. It took us nearly two hours to get to Shyambazar Crossing from where things again started falling in place. Bag Bazar was the first and then we headed on to Kashi Bose Lane. The next one was a treat as we were witness to the “Anjali” and other ceremonies being conducted by the Pandits. Hatibagan Pandal itself was really nice. From there, after a bit of confusion we went to Darpanaryan Tagore Street followed by Ahiritola after which we called it a night. I was again disappointed as we headed back and I was recollecting last year’s visit to the north as we were driving by innumerable Pujas on our way back.
We finally got home by 3.05am. Tomorrow, come what may, I was going to see more of them, even if the group didn’t want to.
Pictures
01. Bag Bazar
02. Kashi Bose Lane
03. Hatibagan
04. Darpanarayan Tagore Street
05. Ahiritola
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