One more Puja is over.
Barely ninety six hours ago, as my aircraft was reaching the vicinity of Calcutta, an aerial view gave one the impression that the entire city was resplendent with a feeling of celebration.
The tarmac, the cabbies, the traffic the cops all seemed to echo an unuttered welcome. It seemed that the lights had washed away all darkness that may have existed in the city.
In the words of Tagore
"Akashey Akashey Ayojon
Batashey Batashey Amontron......”
(The wind is the harbinger of the celebration of the celebration writ on the skies)
Needless to say, as always, what followed was four days of fun albeit a little dampening of spirits caused by the rain Gods.
As I lay enjoying the serene tranquillity and immaculate simplicity of life in Bardhaman, I literally lost track of the clock. Spending time with dear ones, complemented by fills of luchi and aaloor torkari for breakfast, a huge spread of traditional Bengali cuisine for lunch and of course an equally sumptuous spread of dinner made me realise utopia.
"Dhwonilo Aobhano Madhuro Gaambhiro Prabhato Ambaro Majhey
Dikey Digontorey Bhubono Mondirey Shanti Shangeeto Bajey".
(The morning skies usher in a melodious welcome song from all directions)
"All good things come to an end"- this was no exception.
Four days flew by in a jiffy and I suddenly realised that it is time to get back to Mumbai, back to the PQRs, the RCs and the ECs.
Now, as I fly back to Mumbai, an eery feeling of voidness engulfs me.
Once more sitting in the aircraft, I stare across the window but it is a different picture on the canvas, a city struggling to shrug off the early morning sleep as it prepares itself for a gruelling day ahead.
It is difficult to believe that the feeling of joy, anticipation and celebration, all of which began with the early morning chanting of "Mahishasuramardini stotram " on Mahalaya, has vanished into thin air, all in a spell of ten days.
The same depression spreads to me and I go into a state of melancholy. What have we achieved in the last four days is what I question myself. In these changing times, have we been able to hold on to our values, our culture and how do we ensure that we tide over the evil forces that constantly try to break us apart?
The very definition of Pujas has undergone a paradigm shift over the last couple of decades. Cynical as I may sound, one does observe the hugely contrasting mindset and behaviour of the present generation to that of our parents (no prizes for guessing that even in my mid-thirties, I feel that I am a part of the present generation).
For the previous generations, Pujas were a time for family reunions, honouring religious commitments and at the same time indulging in entertainment unique to the occasion and reminiscent of our culture and tradition.
Furthermore, it used to be an event that brought together the extended family across all age groups thereby having a unifying influence. Each member was eager to contribute to the whole scheme of things, so that at least for these four days there never existed the concept of a generation gap.
That, is where, the transformation is noticeable, no doubt greatly influenced by the nuclear families as opposed to the joint family system of olden days.
Nowadays the Pujas are more of a pretext to seek a deviation from our daily chores. The religious rituals are performed more with the objective of marketing the concepts than adhering to customs.
However the most worrying thing, to me, is that the Pujas is not a family event anymore.
Each member of the family spends the Puja in isolation, completely guided by idiosyncratic passion and is not quite bothered about sharing the occasion with the other family members.
While for the kindergarten kid, Pujas mean four days of uninterrupted cartoon show on television, for the teenager or the college goer, it is a 96 hours visa to roam around the town with a ‘special’ friend. If you manage to drop in to the some of the reputed educational institutes of Calcutta, you should not be surprised to find mass scale pot smoking and other nefarious forms of entertainment crippling the youth of today.
For the middle aged professional, these four days now mean more parties, more drinking and late nights using the pretext of Pujas while for the septuagenarian, these four days merely mean a break from the early morning jogging and laughing sessions; no extra attention from the subsequent generations can be guaranteed.
Talking of food, it is a proven fact that we Bongs have miserably failed to promote our cuisine and give it a global dimension to the same extent as the South Indians or for that matter the Chinese have done. Does it give us the license to identify marijuana as a surrogate for mihidana (a popular Bengali sweet)?
As a proof of the pudding is in the eating, ask the erudite Bong gentleman about his culinary preferences during the Pujas and he will tell you that he preferred Arselan for Hyderabadi biriyani on Saptami or dropped in to Moulin Rouge on Nabami for chicken stroganoff. No, he did not drop into Nobin Chandra Das for rasagolla or KC Das for “nolen gurer sondesh”.
Sorry did I hear somebody mention of a term called bhog? Bhog is again a part of marketing of Durga Puja, more desired at advertising than appetising.
It would not be unfair to say that bhog has found a new dimension in Mumbai, where we have the Bollywood celebrities flocking to Rani's Puja or Abhijit's Puja. There is a grand bhog associated with these Pujas but the attraction is neither the Puja nor the Bhog, it is the Bollywood heroine stepping out of her "Babli" image to serve the bhog.
As Tagore had said
"Mor Modhuro Adhoro Bodhuro Nobino Anurago Shamo Rokto
Hey Amaro Chiro Bhokto"
(As I encounter my fans, I become flush red in the same way as a newly married bride does in presence of her lover)
Finally the Pujas had a tremendous unifying influence. The juniors touched the feet of the elders to offer their respects while the elders showered their blessings on the young.
In this age of sms, there is simply no place for exchanging such pleasantries- just a simple sms “Shubho Bijoya” has replaced the physical exchange of sentiments.
Exchange of sms shows one’s sense of responsibility and may be at times it is the only recourse given the geographical distance between the two individuals but how much of emotion is exchanged is still a question mark.
Durga Puja is celebrated across the globe with a level of passion that can be associated only with the people from the land of Tagore and Ray. In countries like UAE, photos have replaced idols, closed rooms in 5 Star hotels have replaced pandals, biriyani has replaced khichuri and begun bhaja. Some of it is inevitable , but in the process the humane touch, the sweet sentiments all is lost.
The day is not far off when someday , Goddess Durga will send an sms saying “Sorry I cannot make it to earth this time as I have personal commitment on those days”
How the quintessential Bengali will react on that day is for all of us to see.
What I have just written is not universal, there are exceptions to the above. Neither is it a criticism but more of a reflection on my subtle observations.
Would be the happiest person if proved wrong.
Till then…….
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