I was at ground zero just this past Tuesday. It was 2 am when I became part of a mass that I can no longer call humanity. I imagine a drone view of this crowd must have looked like a surreal painting, with arms and legs sticking out of an unrecognisable blob crawling like a prehistoric animal.Every moment, I feared that my asthma would be triggered by the sheer trauma of claustrophobia. I kept slithering along with my fellow citizens, as I could find no escape hatch and, secondly, because I am a Puja addict. The artist Susanta Shibani Paul must have had a weird sense of creativity to create this bizarre iron maze to pack thousands of people in and give them a ‘unique experience’.For the past couple of years, I have been writing and giving television interviews on why Puja organisers must do away with the VIP entry culture, which shrinks the passage for humbler citizens and creates choke points.I had also suggested that mega Pujas in narrow alleyways should be discouraged, as they could be a disaster waiting to happen. The Fire Brigade should not allow such tiny spaces to host Pujas on this scale.Thirdly, I had recommended an Asian Paints Sharad Sanman award for experience management, which would prompt organisers to consider how the cattle class could have an enjoyable experience. As I stood in the thick of this mass, I could not help thinking of the yawning gulf of economic inequality that plagues India. This is Kolkata’s darkest hour of shame. I am no longer posting Puja pictures this year.While Durga Puja attracts a global audience for its creativity, which has earned it the UNESCO Intangible Heritage label, the darkness beneath the glitter often goes ignored. A celebration on such a mega scale, which has ranked it among the world’s largest open-air installation art festivals, cannot happen without political patronage. Though the newly elected BJP government had promised that its ministers and leaders would stay away from the Pujas, the temptation to harvest the millions thronging the pandals for political purposes was too hard to resist. There was a huge attempt to milk public sentiment.A particular Gujarat-based business group, often known as the corporate face of the BJP, or vice versa, entered the fray with its own bouquet of awards for artistic excellence to rival the four-decade-old Asian Paints Sharad Sanman awards. Politics and big business always create an interesting cohort.Nevertheless, what the political administration could not deliver was the exemplary crowd management experience for which Kolkata Police has had a reputation since the Pujas went mega-scale around three decades ago.The tragic event, which has claimed at least 19 lives so far and left hundreds critically injured and battling for their lives, also exposed cracks in the healthcare system. A tertiary government hospital once reputed to be among the best in Asia lacked basic trauma care facilities when the dead and injured were brought in, according to junior doctors who addressed an impromptu press meet.Kolkata Police at the site after a stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal, in Kolkata on Saturday, October 17, 2026. ANI photoThere would be finger-pointing in the coming days, and the blame game would begin. But it would be unfortunate if, in the eagerness to fix responsibility, the baby were thrown out with the bathwater.Kolkata’s Durga Puja, an economy estimated to be worth anywhere between Rs 32,000 crore and Rs 40,000 crore, provides livelihoods to thousands of farmers with artisanal skills, who arrive in the city after their harvest is over to supplement their income through creative work at the pandals.Huge crowds are what make the Pujas such an inspirational platform for creativity, economics and social connection. What is needed is modern crowd management, administrative guidelines on space requirements, and more professional management of organisational capabilities.Kolkata’s Durga Puja has evolved organically from a small-scale operation into a mega-sized corporate affair. What is now needed is corporate-style efficiency to manage the scale and deliver a delightful customer experience to the millions of visitors.