The preparations start from months in
advance as politicians quickly align their priorities and choose which Puja
organizers to back vociferously and financially, as actors and actresses are
selected to represent the Goddess and the Puja as ‘Brand’ ambassadors, as
bamboo poles are planted into the concrete jungles to obstruct traffic and
lines of sight, as a dash of vibrant colour is added to the otherwise dull and
fast greying ‘city of palaces’.
Behind all the glitz and glamour, however,
of the multi-crore yearly investments of faith and money, behind the scenes of
the largest and most colourful carnival of eastern India lie the sad stories of
many masons, architects, builders and others who shy away from the spotlight once
their jobs are done. The sight of barely
dressed men climbing high up on bamboo scaffoldings without any protection
whatsoever may be enough to send a chill down any spine anywhere in the world
but here in Kolkata, we have become so accustomed to this sight multiple times
a year giving realization to the popular “Bangalir
Baro Mashe Tero Parbon (13 festivals in 12 months for Bengalis)” that we
ignore them completely. The sight of a packed Kumartuli in the days preceding
the Pujas with sculptors and artists , again barely dressed rushing against
time to meet the demands of a city hungry for more ,may draw some sympathy in
many parts of the world but we pass by without so much as a glance.
As D-Day or in this case D-Days get
closer, Kolkata starts to get decked up in the most beautiful lights
illuminating the beauty of an otherwise sleepy city. Lights overhead, lights on
trees, lights on buildings, lights on gates, writings in lights and for
organizers with more at their disposal even animation in lights , Kolkata truly
gets an ‘illuminating’ make-over during the days of celebration . In fact if
the lights don’t blind you at night, the ‘chumkis’
on the women’s saris definitely will, as one of my friends very correctly
remarked . Behind the scenes, however no one notices the extra megawatts of
current that are drawn to satisfy the needs of an insatiable Kolkata crowd
while thousands of villages in India survive without electricity every day.
As the fervour and spirit of celebration of
the victory of ‘good over evil’ takes over the City of Joy and thousands of otherwise sleepy and lazy
Calcuttans descend on the streets to get a glimpse of the victory of ‘god over evil’,
it becomes practically impossible to get anywhere on time. Traffic snarls
cripple the city along the vast expanse of every road from Bosepukur to
Bagbazar and drivers trying to negotiate a stretch that on any normal day would
have taken 5-10 minutes realize the value of time. It becomes impossible to
catch trains or aeroplanes on time unless passengers leave theirs abodes with a
good 3-4 hours extra in their hands because “Maa Durga” comes to visit her
abode.
As Calcuttans and a true blue fans of
pandal-hopping and “Maa Durga”, we are however prepared to look beyond the
mundane problems that plague the society instead to focus our attentions on the
divine presence amongst us .A city which goes to sleep before the rest of India
suddenly draws immense quantities of energy from the hidden reserves to stay up
all night and quench the desires to witness a hundred different masterpieces in
clay spread out across the city. The carnival of lights and dash of colours, the holding of hands with
your ‘special one’ and joy of finally doing the same, the essence of roadside
foods and forgotten diets, the concepts of ‘theme pujos’ and ‘bonedi pujos’
paints a rather inviting portrait with the same old Kolkata as the canvas.
As Durga Puja becomes a more and more
money-spinning endeavour as the years pass by and as it assumes a more and more
commercial feel about it ,Calcuttans rush in like fools where angels fear to
tread .Today , it is the best lights , the best pandal , the best idol of the
Goddess that everyone rushes to see , yet few rush to save the girl child from
female infanticide , few to prevent their abortion , few speak out against the
mental and physical torture of wives and daughters , few dare to stand up
against rape and sexual abuse and very few remember that Durga Puja stands for
the power of womanhood .
Kolkata wakes up to Durga Puja every year
and the first thing that Kolkata sees is the head-count of people in the
so-called popular Pujas tabulated in specific time frames in a popular Bengali
daily and the immediate instinct is to make frivolous plans to be ‘one’ in the
sea of people that night . Durga Puja has assumed a different meaning
altogether for Kolkata today, perhaps not in sync with the original intention
of this celebration and we have perhaps forgotten that amidst all the
competition and commercialization. Yet, behind all the negative things that can
be said about Durga Puja, their lies a lot of hope, of true celebration of
divinity, of goodness. The opportunity to rush to pandals often gives us the
opportunity to get back in touch with our families and friends .The fervour and
spirit with which many youngsters and their elders await the Puja season is
truly a thing of beauty, and definitely the wait will remain a joy forever for
a Calcuttan.
Durga Puja gives every child born and bred
in the city of Joy an overflowing basket of memories to treasure for a lifetime
–the wait in the preceeding weeks to the Puja, the pandal-hopping, the only
times you could stay up late without your parents after your life, the sound of
dhaaks wafting through the air and ringing in your ears long after Durga Puja
is over, the ‘dhunnuchi naach’ , the ‘Onjoli on Oshtomi’ ,the sumptuous feast
that mothers and grandmothers conjure up as if by magic on the Puja days ,the
‘adda ‘ with friends , the sight of the friends you knew but can’t recognize
them beacause they’re ensconced in Indian attires , the tearful goodbyes on
“Doshomi” , the bhashan dance and many more .
What Durga Puja also gives us is a message
that not all of us get –the evil that lives within us must be banished before
we can think of the evil without, the power of women, the ultimate victory of
good over evil-but maybe in hindsight it’s not too bad a thing because as
Francis Bacon once said –“Where Ignorance is Bliss ‘Tis Folly to be Wise” and
believe me, “Durga Puja is Bliss”.
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