Came back a while ago from a personal cab tour of other Durga pujas in Delhi. Not much really. Had gone to the Kalibari at Kalibari road, and at the Minto road Kalibari. The crowd at 1 a.m. in the night needs to be seen to be believed. At Minto road, traffic police was still needed at 1 a.m. to keep the roads motorable. Hundreds or people milled around the deity and the mandir – still gorging on snacks etc. at that time of the night.
However, time and again, Delhi police kept spoiling the show by coming into the pandal, first at our I.P. Extension puja, then at Kalibari road one and then at the Minto road., demanding that everything be shutdown because of “rules”.
Time and again Delhi Police have kept on showing why we are a third world country yet. In every developed country, the city does not sleep, as the DP would like to happen in the capital of India. They were at the forefront in opposing chief minister Shiela Dikshit’s attempt to extend restaurant and market timings. The excuses given were that crime would increase if that is done, or that they are under-staffed.
I have nothing against these excuses, but I feel sick about the attitude of DP in this regard. I believe that the attitude should not be – “we are under-staffed, and therefore we will shut down the city when we cant cope with it”. The attitude should be – “We would like the city to be open round the clock. We have a staff problem. However with the target of ultimately keeping the city open round the clock, lets try to solve the problems in reaching this target”.
And yes, I dont even want to rake up the issue of Ram Leela fairs being open till late night without the problems that Durga Puja ones face. 
