The countdown has begun. 9 more days to go for Durga Puja!! This is that time of the year when the whole of Bengal has shed all pecuniary inhibitions and queued up in showrooms which had felt extremely extravagant during the rest of the year. Markets are overflowing with eager customers. Salary accounts have seen an annual phenomenon- the 'Puja Bonus'.
Every drop of thing has to be new! Shopping lists are segregated into: ‘Oshtomir’ outfit, other outfits, gifts for children & relatives, jewelry, cosmetics, shoes and lingerie. Overworked tailors have stopped taking orders a month ago. Some people are considering bigger investments, like re-painting their houses or buying a new car. Not to mention the amount of cash every housing community has shelled out in making the magnificent Puja ‘Pandals'.
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| Her eyes gleaming with power and intellect
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As much commercial as it may sound, Bengali culture has very little to do with extravagance.
Look at our weddings for that matter. Yes I admit, there is a whole lot of gold involved, but on the other hand, money spent on infrastructure, catering and all the jazz is nil compared to our North Indian counterparts. I love north Indian weddings, the ‘larger than life’ feel to it. All the amazing outfits, scrumptious food, mehendi, dance. (I hate that bengali weddings have no alcohol!!!)
But there is something very special about Bengali weddings. They are simple, neat and soulful.
So is Durga Puja.
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| The craziness of Pujor Bazaar |
We manage to put it up every year with the same fervor, passion and love. The love affair of a Bengali with Durga Ma is as fresh as the dew-kissed 'Seuli' which finds its way on almost every Bengali terrace at this time of the year. The love affair is passionate, consuming.
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Immersion of the idol post celebration.
Maa Dugga's holiday is over. She has to go back to the Himalayas!!!
Last year, our mothers lovingly filled her mouth with ‘Sondesh’, colored her forehead with vermillion, before we misty-eyed bid adieu to the beautiful goddess. We dropped her at the river which sails her to her husband in the Himalayas. There, she lives with her two daughters, two sons, and husband, two of his favorite acolytes- Nondi and Bhringi and her pet-the leo.
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Since that time she left us last year, when we hummed “Asche bochor abar hobe”, we held-up, lived our share of life, and waited for this time of the year to come back when for four whole days a bengali’s life comes to a pause. Pause at the climax!
Feels like there is beauty and romance in everything and everywhere. Nothing else felt this magical. Its like falling in love all over again. We Bengalis have a name for this feeling in our jargon. Even pronouncing it invokes a certain amount of happiness in a our heasrt. We fondly call it the 'pujo pujo' feeling.
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| There won't be any bong kids who haven't collected these !!! |
Maa Durga bears a striking resemblance with our mothers. Our mothers, if they had thick, permed black hair and were a little more into fitness!! Her eyes are big, dreamy, gleaming with power and intellect. Her face, kind and composed. She is the ultimate personification of woman empowerment. She was born when the finest of male tactics to defeat evil failed. The most formidable men put together all their powers to create the omni-powerful, the ten-handed Mohishashur-mardini. She can see the truth of life with her third eye. The mightiest have bowed before her.
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| Maa Dugga in the form we are most familiar with!!
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| Without the sound of Dhaak can be no Puja
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It is the ultimate celebration of womanhood. I mean just look at the image. A mother of four children, beautiful, feminine, hell bold, standing tall in 'Abhay Mudra' (fearless posture) and riding on a lion.
Her ten hands holds diverse almost contrasting objects. Conch shell symbolising sound, thunderbolt indicating control over elements of nature, weapons like bows & arrows, chakra, kharga, trishul symbolising her warriorship and valour, the fully bloomed lotus symbolising acceptance and most essentially her hand blessing all to succeed.
Mythology has it that she has incarnated in various forms. Sometimes a fierce Kali, mad in anger and sometimes a gentle, firm and righteous Sati.
We love her spirit. We relate to her. She is what we see in our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters.
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| The awestruck Mohishashur |
I have a soft corner for Mohishashur- The bad guy.
His dedicated and persistent penance won Bramha’s heart and he granted his prayers by making him immortal. "no living man can kill you", said Bramha. The male chauvinist he was, Ashur totally forgot about the species called 'femme fatale'. He went on in glee abusing all his powers.
Try looking at him closely during 'Shandi Puja'. It is a ritual which is done in the odd hours of the 2nd night of the Puja. That is when she killed him and marked the end of evil.
The silence of the night married to the aromatic smoke of incense and the occurring beats of ‘Dhak’ creates an occult ambiance. It is the time when these idols seems to come to life.
Maa Durga has overpowered the mighty Ashur, nailed him with her 'trishul', while he is so enchanted by her beauty and power that he stares at her face in awe. There is no pain in his face, just surrender in admiration.
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Nature's way of welcoming Dugga Ma- Kaash Phool |
Nature has its own way of celebrating 'Shorodsav'. The bright blue sky decked up in white cumulus clouds dances to joy. The tender 'Kaash' flowers are all over.
Durga puja is about fun. Here are few things without which we cannot imagine Puja.
New clothes, that distinct smell of recently dyed fabric. Bengalis start shopping for the occasion months ago.
Incessant ‘adda’ sessions in the adjacent puja pandal. My Irish friend loves this word. Wikipedia calls it an intellectual exchange among members, who were originally of the same socio-economic strata! Adda is an integral part of bengali community. It just means talking and talking and talking (intellectual or not) without thinking how long it went. Mostly is accompanied with 'Cha' and ciggerate.
Food-Bengalis never shy out when it comes to food. Remember the 'fish test' from Vicky Donor? It's true, we do judge people by what they eat.( For eg, While for others "What's your poison' refers to his choice in alcohol, for us, it implies one's choice in fish- prawns or hilsa)!!! Puja is a carnival for foodies. Egg-roll, phuchka, cold drink, chicken kosha, biryani, dimer devil, mochar chop, luchi and bhoger khichuri. Just name it. Bengalis are not very big on expensive dine-outs. We like it humble and tasty.
Hope-Puja brightens up the entire geography, literally and figuratively. This is that time of the year when all let their hair down. Even the relatively lower middle class pools in all his money, rents a cab to take his family around ‘pandal hopping’ and buys them dinner. And there is 'happy feet' treading all around.
The singles put on their best dress hoping to bump into the special someone!
And in the hope that Maa will grant all our annual wishes, we too, fast on Oshtomi (3rd day of the event) mornings!
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'Tomar choke ki?'
'Kajol'
Recognise this scene from 'Apur Sansar'? |
And romance- the married, otherwise sans ‘spark’ couple, find their quite moment while accidently holding hands in the crowded pandals.
And the hopeless romantics like me, hopes to find him somewhere in the multitude of people flogging the Pandals. The knight in the shining silk ‘Fabindia’ kurta pajama.
Remember the jingle from the Coke ad?
"Soptomi te prothom dekha
Oshtomi te haanshi
Nobomi te bolte jaowa tomay bhalobashi
Doshomi te hothat keno aakul holo pran
Pran protima tumi ebar jabe ki bhashan?"
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| Dhunichi Dance to the beats of Dhak |
Living outside Bengal for 9 years now could do nothing to plummet the intensity of my ‘pujo pujo’ feeling. In fact, it has had an inverse effect. I have not felt any more Bengali than now.
Often my non-Bengali friends, are amused at how Bengalis are so obsessed about Durga Pujo.('Non-Bengali' is a word invented by Bengalis to refer to those who dont pass the fish test! Just Kidding..). How can our whole year revolve around this 4-days event? How can it be so encompassing that all our schedules and plans, all our shopping, eating be decided by this festival. I have tried explaining. Though I have successfully managed to explain how much, I have failed to explain why.
It’s a feeling I can’t explain in words. You have to live it. And this one goes to all my non-Bengali friends out there, add this in your ‘Things to do before I die’ list. Find yourself in Bengal in Durga Puja. And you will be in for an incredible experience.
And there must be something here why some of the greatest personalities chose this place. That something is this place's soul.
