India, Oct. 13 -- Festivals, they say, have the power to turn strangers into family, and nowhere does that feel truer than during Durga Puja in Gurugram. Over the years, this city of migrants has transformed the five-day celebration into a mosaic of faith, nostalgia, and belonging. This week, as I moved from one pandal to another, my notebook filled not just with details for a story but with emotions that words could barely contain.

The morning began in DLF Phase 1, where the air was alive with the rhythm of dhaak (traditional Bengali drums), conch shells, and the fragrance of incense. Women in red and white sarees, their faces glowing with devotion, offered flowers to the goddess, while children tugged at their mothers' hands, impatient...