“You can take the craze of Diwali in Delhi, Christmas in London, Summer Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Valentine’s Day in Paris and then add it to the month-long madness of Olympic Games or the World Cup and cram all that into a span of 5 days and you still wouldn’t know what you are missing if you haven’t been in Kolkata during Durga Puja”
-Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times
I begin with this because it is so beautifully articulated that even a person unfamiliar with Durga Puja will want to visit Kolkata after reading it. The festival begins with “Mahalaya”, when religious peeps offer “tawrpon” to remember their departed ancestors and humbly thank them for the life they have. Likewise, it’s fitting to start talking about my feelings towards the occasion by remembering Vir Sanghvi, my authorial ancestor. Because even though not a native of Kolkata, he was able to capture the city emotions surrounding Goddess Durga better than most.
Now that the ceremonial demonstration of veneration is over, I feel strange to think that this is the 10th consecutive year I am missing Durga Puja in Kolkata. This is always that time of the year where I feel for home the most. I cannot physically be there today. But I have full liberty to write about how the idea of Durga Puja matured in my mind. While writing I realized that for native Bengalis of Kolkata like me, Durga Puja is less about the rituals, as those can be arranged anywhere around the globe. It is much more intertwined with the quintessential soul of Kolkata and how your personality gradually shapes around it.
My earliest memory of Durga Puja is me exploring different parts of the city with the family and observing the glorious idols of goddess Durga housed in makeshift structures called “pandals”. For an under-10 child, an exhibition of artistry so out of the ordinary, would arouse a sense of awe and instill the faith that something as impossible as this, is also possible to conceive.
With increasing age, the desire to visit as many “pandals” as possible would persist, but the sense of awe would gradually normalize. Then, the span of those five days would symbolize a phase when you are permitted to skip studies. With relatively relaxed time constraints imposed by parents within which to return home, endless recreation with friends in the locality will follow. Those were precious as they were so scarce. During the advanced teenage years and later, Puja would involve long-awaited reunions with friends and extended family. We were now expected to shoulder more responsibilities and participate in the organizational stuff actively. This could involve activities such as networking with corporates and gather funds to fruitfully finance the Puja of the neighborhood. And after this, my encounter with Durga Puja abruptly ended.
I wonder if my celebration pattern will change if I visit Kolkata after such a long hiatus. There are many things I might not want to do now. It might feel tedious to stand in a two-hour queue at Santosh Mitra Square even to witness an idol made purely of gold. It probably will be too embarrassing to stuff a Tata Sumo (read: car seating 8 passengers) with 14 friends and travel across the city to visit the “pandals”, just to save money. A non-crammed, air-conditioned vehicle will most likely be the current alternative. Playing those “paper flutes” (I don’t know what to call them :P) at Maddox Square, bursting the ear drums of the neighboring people and be hurled with abuses, might feel too childish (I want to, though :P). A never-ending walk from Hati Bagan to Ahiritola at the dead hours of night through the one-foot-wide dingy lanes, might not feel so appealing. Now, I would probably just go back home, stupidly thinking about my childhood fear of the century-old, dilapidated houses there falling on my head.
But growing up also replaces the seemingly not-possible factors with fresh perspectives. There’s so much to know about the people who make this celebration possible. I want to chat with the “Dhakis” (hired musicians playing drums) and learn if their children are practicing the family craft or whether this art will fade over time. I want to document how the idol makers at Kumortuli mastered their artistry and if they teach willing candidates. Also, are the technicians of Chandannagar, in charge of designing lights, keeping abreast with the latest technology? Can we do anything to make Durga Puja better for orphans and/or seniors inhabiting in old-age homes? Understanding the world slightly more reorients your focus, I guess.
But nothing apart from romanticizing, is presently possible in my reality. My Puja in the USA will be spent bordering on listening to accented Bengali songs and consuming mediocre food at the venue. It will then be followed by get together with friends, where a lot of dated Bengali songs from the 80s/90s will be played to reproduce home conditions as closely as possible. Amidst all this, I will make sure to periodically monitor Instagram, watch the pictures of my favorite Kolkata “pandals” and feel for home.
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Notes related to image rights:
· The photographs and painting used in this post do not belong to me, but to their original creators. Please do not use them without their consent. I am listing the details below.
First image of this post:
· This painting is done by my friend Satyaki who is a fabulous artist. Please check out other creations from his Instagram handle @shaattoki: https://www.instagram.com/shaattoki/?hl=en
Second image of this post:
· This is a collage, comprising of 9 photos, shot by 6 different photographers.
· Those who have read the above post will know that it is obviously impossible for me to own any recent Durga Puja photos.
· But I wanted to show the unfamiliar folks in my circle the different types of goddess Durga idols.
· With that in mind, I sent out a bunch of cold texts, & few creators graciously allowed me to use their photos for this blog.
· Please check out their works from the respective Instagram handles using the links below: -
@tushar_click – https://www.instagram.com/tushar_click/?hl=en
@curiously_mania - https://www.instagram.com/curiously_mania/?hl=en
@chaiti_2603- https://www.instagram.com/chaiti_2603/?hl=en
@a.r.p.a.n_d.a.s - https://www.instagram.com/a.r.p.a.n_d.a.s/?hl=en
@suvajit_mukherjee - https://www.instagram.com/suvajit_mukherjee/?hl=en
It being the first Pujo away from home , alone in a foreign land where it's not even celebrated ...
I felt nice reading this by a bengali friend who has experienced this for 10 years ...and the reminiscence.
Also loved the way you want to go forward with it and that really would be very productive and have provoking outcomes to our society, and for me to know later :)