“I had a big desire to feed people just like it happens in Vaishno devi. It is Her grace that I am able to conduct a 10-day Bhandara with dal, chawal and bhaji. Ek shakti hai jo kaam karti hai," shares Mohammed Tahir, a labour contractor who has been organising Durga Puja pandal and feeding people over the 9 festive days of Navratri

It all started when Zubeda had a dream that made her realise that Goddess Durga had a message for her. When she shared that dream with her husband, he motivated her to visit the Devi temple in Chembur and worship the deity. With their devotion deepening, the couple even went on to organise Durga puja pandal in their area and replicate a bhandara just like they saw at Vaishnodevi

This durga puja pandal in the heart of Mumbai stands as one of the prime examples of religious harmony. In fact, numerous people come forward to support this initiative by Tahir and Zubeda and Zubeda states this as pure Durga’s grace on them.

But this road to devotion hasn’t been easy for the couple. In a world where, their devotion might be mistaken as an act of religious infidelity, Zuebda and Tahir were once attacked with swords by a group of Muslim and Hindu men and beaten to the extent that Tahir had to undergo more than 200 stitches on his body and Zubeda got her fingers mutilated

“But that incident only increased our faith in Goddess Durga. She is the one who gives us the courage to do what we do," says Zuebda