Virtual Diwali <i>puja</i>

E-commerce traders in different parts of the country, taking their cue from brick-and-mortar counterparts, offered puja for their online stores on the occasion of Diwali. At the headquarters of the Confederation of All India Traders in New Delhi, priests chanted mantras as they switched on the organisation's e-commerce portal, e-lala, which will be launched later this month. Instead of worshipping idols of Ganesh and Lakshmi, the e-commerce traders worshipped images of the gods on computer screens. And instead of account books, they paid obeisance to laptops, mobile phones and WhatsApp.