Tracking August in the Ponjika

Everyone has a phobia…I had way too many when I was a little girl. Now when I look up the list of phobias, I think I had each one of them!

Well, one among them was my phobia of the Bengali teacher and of anything to do with her!!

Sarkar Miss - A somber, middle-aged lady, always dressed in a ‘no-nonsense saree’ (crisply starched, light colored cotton). Her very entry into the classroom would make the otherwise bright, cheery classroom fade into a dull oblivion. Such was her personality! Our ‘bangla’ class was an ordeal. A wrong answer would be punished with a severe stare which was enough to reduce us to a shaky mass. Another wrong answer would ensure a balancing act on a pedestal outside the classroom.

‘Bangla’ class was synonymous with Sarkar Miss. It was dull, boring and scary. And I was often the butt of all ridicule, although I made it a point to do my homework every day, stay up the night before and memorize the lessons well, answer everything correctly in class. She had made me the class monitor. And when I thought I was super confident and falling in love with Bengali, she knew her way to bring me back to reality.

Sarkar Miss: ‘So Radha…tell me which year is this’? 

Me: (That’s a question!! I am sure there’s more to it) ‘1993 Miss’!

SM: ‘We all know that. Tell me the Bengali year’.

Me: (Aah…there it is!) ‘umm….umm… Miss...Terosho…terosho…terosho ata nobbui (1398)’?   A long stare confirmed that I was wrong. Someone must have raised her hand as I saw Miss Sarkar nodding her head and a voice answering ‘terosho niranobbui(1399)Miss’.

SM: ‘So Radha…now that you know the year go and write it on the blackboard’.

Me: Oh God…why does it have to be a ‘niranabbui’. I have always had difficulty in writing the digit 9 in Bengali. Too complicated and ‘pechalo’ (puzzling). Mustering enough courage I wrote it but was advised to practice 9 in Bengali as if I was in Grade 2.

Offering a silent prayer to God I moved towards my seat only to be called back.

‘Now tell me the names of the Bengali month…’.

That was it! Petrified of Sarkar Miss and feeling her penetrating gaze on me I had forgotten the carefully learnt Bengali months. I still remember how I was made to stand outside the class, students from other sections staring at me,commenting on my bad luck. Well, Sarkar Miss was known for her ‘cruelty’ and they all empathized with me. 

 Yes it was ‘cruelty’ to me then. But today I owe a lot to that ‘cruelty’. That summer I spent hours with my maternal grandfather, learnt all about the Bengali year, the months and their spellings. It was an enriching summer vacation at my maternal home.  And I realized what a fool I was to have neglected my mother-tongue, quite shameful in fact! And I grew thankful to Sarkar Miss. 

I do realize now that a phobia can also be useful. My phobia of Sarkar Miss and the Bengali language drove me hard. I struggled with the language only to gain proficiency in it and take pride in my knowledge! And today I feel immense gratitude for my ‘cruel’ miss. 

So all those young people out there - don’t neglect your phobia…take it seriously and it will do you lot of good like it did to me!

Here are some FACTS which I think my readers should know before I move on to the next post…

This is the Bengali year: 1419 (Choddosho unish)

Every English month marks the end and the beginning of another month in Bengali. For example August sees the end of Srabon/monsoon and the beginning of Bhadro/autumn. 

And every month has a Purnima-a full moon night and an Amavassya- a new moon or in my words a no-moon night. The time span between an Amavassya-Purnima is known as Shuklopokkho while the time span between Purnima-Amavassya is known as Krishnopokkho. Shuklo literally means bright and indicates the waxing of the moon while Krishno, the dark colour of Lord Krishna denotes the waning of the moon.

This post starts with a weekly calendar for August. There are many festivals and events highlighted in this month which I plan to cover gradually. Let me know if I have missed anything in August!

Till then happy reading!!