A safer Kali Pujo night
Cotton clothes, water and sand, and one person in charge of lighting.
Tubri, chorki and rongmoshal
The three things every Kolkata Kali Pujo night begins with.
Ask anyone who grew up in north Kolkata about Kali Pujo and they will name three things before any rocket: tubri, chorki and rongmoshal.
The tubri is a clay pot, turned on a potter’s wheel, filled with a mix that throws up a fountain of gold and silver fire. Ours come from potters’ villages south of the city, who make them between Durga Pujo and Kali Pujo. A good tubri burns evenly for about 45 seconds and does not crack.
The chorki is the ground spinner, light enough to whirl across a courtyard floor. Light it on hard ground, never on grass or near the edge of a roof, and keep feet and saree hems well away.
Rongmoshal is the coloured torch, red or green, lit at the start of the evening. It burns slowly and quietly for a minute. Hold it by the paper handle, away from your face, and drop it in a bucket of water when it finishes.
