Durga Pujo Countdown; 30 days

The countdown finally hits 30days! Yayyy!

23days more for Mahalaya.

 

Images from Gettyimages

 I decide I have had enough of listening to Mahalaya on CD. Ever since I moved out of Kolkata, I havent listened to the radio. But, this time it will be the radio.
...
The charm and excitement of keeping the radio all set for the recital next morning, one last glance at it before you hit the bed, waking up 15minutes prior to the recital, painful efforts at tuning to the correct station and then listening to it is an experience nothing can match.

Back to good, old times....good old days...So am out loking for a radio.

As I ask the dealers for a radio, they show me big systems with radio built in them. No, I want the old, smaller ones. They look at me amazed. One of them smirks and tells me 'those days are gone, Madam'. Another tells me to buy a mobile with FM.

I give up and leave it to the husband to locate one.

#Pujocountdown

Durga Pujo Countdown; 31 days

Next month today, September 29 will be Maha Panchami.

This is the day when the Goddess is brought on a wooden cart to most pandals or households.

The complex where I live in Kolkata, the Goddess is carried on a huge wooden cart, which i...s pulled by scores of men.

The Goddess and her entourage are brought in after midnight when the city is finally silent and the traffic has lessened.

These men pull the cart and even balance it on their shoulders all the way to our housing societies. Their unanimous cries can be heard from a distance. 'Jor lagake....dhirey cholo, abar cholo, bolo Durga Mai Ki Jai' are some of the familiar cries we can hear from a distance.

These cries are just the beginning of a week of festivity, fun and louder cries.

31 days more!

#pujocountdown

Image from gettyimages

Durga Pujo Countdown 32 days

32 days more...

 

 I have a variety of fragrances at home to suit all seasons and all occasions. I get them from Kolkata and have a stock which lasts a year.

Fragrances have a deep meaning to me. I an relate them with my mother, my grandmoth...er, my grandfather, the house in Burdwan, my house in Kolkata. Strange, nah?

Light, floral Agarbattis remind ne of Ma in a crisp white, cotton sari, fresh after a bath. I have never seen Ma looking dishevelled or smelling bad. She would smell of roses, sometimes of jasmine, depending on the season and yes, her mood.

Dadima, my maternal grandmother was a very warm person who would envelop me in huge bear hugs and put light, feathery kisses on my forehead. It was always sandal with her.

Dadu was a Mahabhakt of Bajrangbali. The incense would be much stronger and masculine. Mogra, it was.

Dadubhai and Thamma were very pious. I would always think of the heady mix of the variety of incense sticks that they would light every eveningand yes, the Dhuna.

Dhuna always takes me back to Mangala di, a lady whom my paternal grandfather had given shelter and soon became an integral part of our family and my childhood. Winters in the burdwan house would be tightly shut windows, the evening arati and bhajans and Mangali Di waving the fumes emanating from the Dhuna as she moved from one room to room.

Away from Kolkata, away from the people I love the most and with some of my loved ones above, I try to recreate similar environment here.

I have jasmine to think of Ma, I have sandal for Dadima, I have Mogra for Dadu, I have Bharat Darshan for dadubhai.

The dhoona dhup is a must for those wintry evenings when its too cold outside while we are tucked indoors completing our homework.
Fragrances are a part of our life. For me they are a chunk of my childhood and I want to pass it on to my child so that someday when he is older and we are not around, he has memories to fall back upon.

Anyways, its Bharat Darshan, sandal and dhuno as the festive season sets in!

#pujocountdown