For actor, dancer and content creator Sreenanda Shankar, Durga Puja is all about good food, family time and the feeling of being in Kolkata. Recently, over a lunch at Kenilworth Hotel, she spoke to My Kolkata about her Pujo plans, childhood memories and food preferences.
“I don’t like to go anywhere where it does not feel like Pujo. In Kolkata, the whole city becomes Pujo,” she said, explaining why she tries not to miss the festival in the city, even after spending more than 25 years in Mumbai.
A relaxed Pujo at home
Sreenanda’s Pujo plans have become more relaxed over the years. While she once enjoyed pandal hopping, she now prefers spending time at the Puja near her home, visiting close friends and enjoying the familiar rituals.
“From morning to evening, I am at the puja near my home. I love that Bari Puja atmosphere. I know when to go down for the arati, come back and nap in the afternoon at home,” she said. She also visits friends for lunch on Saptami or Ashtami.
Her childhood memories remain closely tied to family rituals and food. “In the morning, I used to wake up and eat sada torkari and luchi.”
The festive food trail, however, extends beyond home-cooked meals. Sreenanda enjoys street food throughout the year and has a particular fondness for Kolkata’s roadside chowmein.
“The chowmein in the stalls with the sauce on top, I love it. And with a lot of ketchup. If it is made with mustard oil, people will go, yikes. But I love it,” she said.
Food, cooking and the sound of the dhaak
'I like tasty food. You give me tasty vegetarian food, I will eat that too,' said Sreenanda
Sreenanda sampled Aroma’s Durga Puja special menu, which included chicken tikka, masala puri, cholar dal, hilsa, Dhakai mutton and aamshatto pulao, followed by Bengali sweets.
Asked about her favourite festive dishes, she said she enjoys a variety of preparations, from mutton and fish to khichuri and luchi. “I like tasty food. You give me tasty vegetarian food, I will eat that too. You give me tasty chicken, mutton, fish — I like anything. I think it’s all about how it is prepared.”
Cooking, she added, has become a passion since the pandemic. She finds it relaxing and regularly shares cooking videos.
For someone visiting Kolkata during Pujo for the first time, Sreenanda recommends experiencing different kinds of celebrations, from traditional north Kolkata pandals such as Bagbazar to Bonedi Bari Pujas and smaller household celebrations.
And her favourite sound of the festival? It is not a Pujo song. “For me, the sound of Puja is dhaak. I play kansha. When I go to my friends’ house, or for a Puja, I play the kansha.”
Her three all-encompassing thoughts about Durga Puja are grand, a festival unlike any other, and emotion. Summing up the adda, Sreenanda had a message for My Kolkata readers: “Have lots of good food. Be with your loved ones. And just make sure that you have four days of complete happiness. Shubho Sharodiya.”
