Raima Sen returns to Kolkata for Durga Puja, misses celebrating with grandmother

After two years, actorRaima Senis in Kolkata during Durga Puja. She recalls celebrating Durga Puja at her grandmother’s home when she was growing up. Talking about the festival, “It has a lot of emotion and sentiment attached to it, and for Bengalis, it’s like our Christmas. It is also our pride,” she said in a conversation with HT.

Talking about childhood and her sister Riya Sen, who is also an actor, she said, “We’d bring the idol and decorate it, apply 'aalta' and have food on the floor in banana leaves with all our relatives getting together. We would dress up in sarees, go to our friends’ house and dance.”

She added,“Riya and I were very particular about what we were wearing, and we would make our mother buy us matching clothes. It was all about fun and the best time of the year. But now, I prefer wearing my mother and grandmother’s sarees and jewellery.”

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Sen also talked about how the celebrations have changed since her grandmother passed away. “At home, we don’t celebrate much but my sister comes down from Mumbai, and we spend this festival together as a family,” she said.

According to her, it is now a “bucket list item for non-Bengalis".

Talking about the atmosphere of the city and mentioning recent events, Raima stated things are different this year because of the devastating rape-murder case. She added, “The days have become shorter, two pujas are happening on the same day and now it’s just a three-four dayaffair. We are doing it in a small way now, but we are doing it because it’s a part of our culture and tradition. But the air is not the same as before.”