its that time of the year when city markets are buzzing with activity as puja shopping is on in full swing though the pandemic left the shopping districts deserted for a few months the scenes at some of the most popular markets this weekend prove that the citys festive spirit remains undeterred with kolkata metro resuming services and just one month to go for the biggest festival of the state shoppers are making the most of the puja countdown to make up for the retail therapy they missed out on during the lockdown to gauge the festive mood across the city ct visited three metro stations that are located close to the three popular shopping hubs we met cautious yet excited shoppers who are hailing the metro for making offline shopping possible for them despite all odds heres what they had to shareshyambazar metro station for shopping at hatibagan marketpriya mondal a class xii student who went uja shopping with her mother papiawe were waiting for metro services to resume before starting our puja shopping since we live in noapara metro is the most convenient option to commute due to the lockdown we were not able to buy clothes for regular use so we decided to start with that puja shopping is not a oneday affair so well be visiting other markets especially ram mandir next week though metro is the most comfortable and safe option the prebooked slots dont work for shoppers like us today we came here around 2 pm and booked a slot between 6 pm and 7 pm to return that means we will have to complete our shopping in that duration how can one schedule their puja shopping like thatproma mukherjee an fmcg professionalbefore march i used to regularly travel by the metro and i took a train the day they resumed services earlier this week today is the first day of my puja shopping and i am here to buy an eye makeup kit i am also looking for saris but ill have to come back for that for shoppers like us kolkata metro is the best way to travel not because it is safer and less crowded than a bus and cheaper than auto but mostly because all the important shopping destinations are connected by it tomorrow i am planning to go to esplanade to buy shoes and i will be taking the metro again i have heard many people complaining about the time slot system but i find it extremely useful and easy it is helpful for keeping the trains less crowded and clean this is probably the only public transport system where social distancing is being followed kalighat metro station for shopping at gariahat marketamrita chattopadhyay actressi am on my way to new market to buy makeup essentials from a particular shop that i have been buying from for years now since puja is just round the corner i will treat myself to some silver jewellery too initially i thought this