India, Oct. 1 -- Alice concedes to having arrived at a distinct wonderland. This Alice is from Australia who has "never seen a religious-cultural gust like this." Hopping one pandal after the other - braving the sweltering hot climate - his sister too is mesmerised. "Had I not come I would have missed out on all these," she says thanking his brother for "literally pulling me out of the hotel bed."
True, there is perhaps no puja pandal where you will not encounter a phorener or two jostling in the crowd carrying a sling camera and literally 'devouring' everything that comes their way -from theme decor, intricate art work to the kind and caring eyes of the Mother Goddess, with engaged intensity.
Getting pushed by the crowd from behind Laura...