Durga Puja courtesy Rajani.

Lekha and me are indeed fortunate to have picked up a few good friends over the years. Rajani is a second generation Bengali who's born and brought up in Kerala. Her father was a businessman(he'd migrated to Kerala quite a while back in pursuit of his banking business and if I were to borrow his words, fallen in love with the 'green country') and she's the wife of a successful businessman - these are Bengalis who've beaten the mallus at their game, as I put it to pull their leg! They've a lovely villa at Kochi and the entire family- their two children, especially - can speak Malayalam fluently and can beat many of the mallus at that!

It was on Rajani's insistence that we went 'pandal hopping' and boy, wasn't it an experience? She took pains to explain the nuances and introduced us to many of her Bong friends to ensure that we never felt out of place. The universal Bengali fervour in celebrating Dussehra was very much in evidence and we couldn't help from getting sucked into the celebrations, the related bonhomie!

The Durga Puja, this year, was indeed a memorable event for Lekha and me. Thanks, Rajani for making it special!

PS.

I always end up stuffing myself silly with the 'bhog' that's at once mouth watering, delicious and sumptuous. This year was also no exception!!