November; Pujo fervour continues

KALI PUJO & KARTIK PUJO

It’s November and the popular refrain is ‘how time flies’. Yes the English year will end soon. 

November is another exciting month after the Durga Pujo frenzy of October. A fifteen-day respite is enough to overcome the post-Pujo blues and fatigue and gear up for the ‘Festival of Lights’. Preparations for Kali Pujo begin as soon as Lakshmi Puja gets over. Local hardware stores are alight. The colours twinkling inside those tiny stores are enough to dazzle us. Every house tries to outbid the other in getting the fanciest lights. One should check out Chandni Chowk market in Kolkata. Various kinds of lights in a wide range are available there. String of lights shaped as candles/diyas, electric diyas, pancha pradeep (five pradeep) are much in demand. 

And you can’t miss out the crackers. Though there is a high decibel limit, they still sell. The big daddy’s of crackers like ‘chocolate bomb’, ‘dudoma’, ‘dum duma dum’ are the most sought- after ones. A special mela is organized in Kolkata on the Brigade Grounds every year and is known as ‘baaji mela’. Crackers are on display everywhere. Even the tiny shops display a large collection of crackers. 

And yes people are still shopping! Suddenly there is a sale for every household appliance and assured Diwali gifts with it. Kalipujo has somehow got associated with the desire to wear the most gaudiest/glamorous outfit. Whoever I speak to have saved their glitziest outfit/sari for Kali Pujo. Kali Pujo these days is all about lights, color, glitz and glamour!

November also brings with it the much-needed chill in the air. The sky turns bluer, the sun loses its intensity, a cool breeze, light woolens out and we are all set for the fun and fiesta of November. 

There is Bhai Phonta, a day meant for the brothers and sisters to proclaim their love and renew their bonds for each other.

Kartik Pujo is performed by most women for the well-being of their offspring and also by married women who are yet to bear a child.

YOUR RECKONER FOR NOVEMBER

Jagadhatri puja, which is another form of the Goddess Durga on her lion sans her entourage of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh, Kartik and Mahishashur, has attained a metro status recently. Earlier it was a very homely affair with some households adhering to their age-old customs but these days its gained state-wide prominence.

November is also the month where the Bengali month Kartik gives way to Agrahayan. Kartik is considered the holiest of all months and many people give up non-vegetarian food altogether. Prices of fish, meat and eggs dip down to an all-time low. Good for Bongs like us who are based outside Kolkata! Kartik is also the time when we all put up ‘Akashprodeep’ (the guiding light) in the memory of our ancestors. 

More about these festivals and customs in my next topic. Meanwhile I have to hunt for some ‘tuni’ bulbs for my boy.