"Campuses Come Alive as Freshers Return for Saraswati Puja; Schools Hold Anjali in Batches"

Kolkata: In colleges across the city, Saraswati Puja infused life into campuses that have been de- serted since last March. Though some faculty members have be- en attending college, it was only on Tuesday that students step- ped into the campus after a year. In schools, restrictions on junior kids continued, while classes IX to XII, who had been allowed to return to the campus, attended the puja in batches.
It was the colleges, where the excitement was palpable as stu- dents at Asutosh, Maulana Azad, Seth Anandram Jaipuria, Basanti Devi and South City, ar- rived in festive fineries. In fact, first-semester students got the chance to step into the campus for the first time. "Students were allowed to offer prayers in small batches. We packed the bhog and handed it to students," said Ro- hit Sonkar, a student at Jaipuria College.
Physical classes are yet to open in colleges but the govern- ment let stu- dents organise Saraswati Puja following all dis- tancing norms. The rituals were also livestrea- med for students and teachers who could not come to campus.
Biplab Bhattacharjee, Amit Moulick
(Left) Students arrived at Sanskrit College for the first time since March; (right) only students' council members were let into DPS Ruby Park campus for the puja
At J D Birla Institute, arrange- ments were made by the tea-
FESTIVE FERVOUR
ching and non- teaching staff, while the ses- sion was livest- reamed for stu- dents who were not allowed on the campus. Videos of students' performances were also shared.
"Teaching and other college employees were dressed in orange and yellow. They also ma- de the arrangements for the pu- ja. After the rituals, everybody had khichudi but we missed the students," said JD Birla princi- pal Deepali Singhee.
Schools prepared rosters for students of classes IX to XII to vi- sit campuses for anjali. At Jadav
pur Vidyapeath, a big mobile to- ok the centre stage with the the- me being Shikshar Nabarupay- an, an ode to online learning. "No one can stop education from overcoming a hurdle. We have survived, thanks to the virtual mode," said Somsuvra Dasgup- ta, teacher who brought the puja alive with a few students. "It was such a relief to be here despite the restrictions," said Arnab Manna of Class XI. Girls from a neighbouring school turned up at Hindu School to offer anjali as no puja was held at their school. Principal Subhrojit Dutta allo- wed it after ensuring distancing
measures.
The live streaming of the DPS Ruby Park puja had hund- reds of visitors as only the stu- dents' council was called to the campus. Even former students logged in.
"Fruit sanitisers were used and only whole fruits were given as prasad, along with packed bhog," said vice-principal Indra- ni Chattopadhyay.