Diwali Dhamaka

In kolkata there is a confusion among many as to which is the actual date to celebrate Diwali! Unlike other places, in kolkata it is celebrated a day earlier, as it always coincides with the Kali puja of the Bengalis. For me Diwali /Kali puja means the same......a festival of lights/sweets/new clothes/crackers/dhaker awaj/rustic sounds of the conch/smell of camphor......... etc

My Diwali is a mix of both Bengali traditions and North Indian culture. This might be because both my parents are from Delhi....so as a result you can see traces of north Indian values in our upbringing! Therefore this festival usually begins for me with the lighting of the '14 candles' a day before we burst crackers.


By the way over the years i have realized that being the elder daughter of the family certainly has its disadvantages coz i am expected to behave like the son whenever the need arises. So on Diwali morning if anyone finds me in a pair of shorts and T-shirt and trying to balance myself on a ladder while putting on the tiny bulbs in the balcony, it is not an unusual sight for someone who has known me for years!

And in the afternoon i have to switch back to being a daughter(see what i mean?) and help with the rangoli designing , oiling the diyas(so they can be lighted in the evening),preparing sweets etc. And during the entire process if you have noticed my younger sister is always usually missing!..........So all in all these festivals are a time for me to get away from the usual mundane tasks! Although at the time of doing all these little tasks i do get irritated at times but in the end i am always satisfied with the result! The evenings though are mainly dominated with looking your best and bursting crackers!

But for the last few years i had completely stopped bursting crackers since i had met with several accidents previous to that.It had somehow turned into a phobia although i would have liked nothing better than to keep bursting them. But somehow fear got the upper hand every time i tried.

This year i went to stay at a friend's place since i had nothing better to do than staying at home. On Monday nite we managed to get an entire room to ourselves and watched 3 back to back English movie till the wee hours in the morning and then naturally overslept. Diwali is certainly one time when sweets are more in circulation than any other time. So as a result we all overindulged ourselves to sweets, cookies, lemon tarts and not to mention the delicacies prepared by my friend's mother!

On 28Th evening everybody headed towards the terrace to start bursting crackers,while i went with mounting trepidations. But strangely i was not feeling as afraid as i used to before and after a bit of mental cajoling to myself i was finally back to bursting them with gusto!Although i did restrict myself to the likes of chakris and anar only!

Truly this year it has been really great since this time i experienced a different sort of Diwali and am also back to bursting crackers..............maybe next time when i am more confident I'll be back to bursting chocolate bombs as well just like like i used to!

A Comeback

This time after a gap of 7 years i made a comeback to the stage................and the feeling was just simply amazing.When i had moved to this building 13 years back, i had started off as a participant in dance programs and plays during Durga puja.Then after a few years of tutelage from the then "Didis" of the complex i was ready to start choreographing on my own. The next couple of durga pujas i not only participated but also helped choreograph and direct skits but then what followed was 7 years of lull (because i had to drop all extra-curricular activities due to boards and other exams). In these few years i had completely lost the enthusiasm for such functions and was very reluctant when i was bullied into choreographing once again.I didnt even want to show up for the practise sessions but once i started dancing, everything just fell into place and i had a blast dancing to the rhythms. Everyone was surprised when i hosted the Antakshari on Navami night.This time i also did Dhunuchi Nach during immersion of Ma Durga.It felt great to able to do all these once again and was elated when everyone appreciated my efforts. But above all i finally came to realise that i really do enjoy being on stage.............. am just hoping to be able to put up more such shows in future.

Dashmi Blues

Every year since i started living in this building and became a part of the durga puja fesivities, i have always felt gloomy on dashami mornings.I dont know why but somehow the very idea that durga puja is ending gives me a melancholic feeling.The day after dashami has ideally always been a day for us "bachha party"(as we are still sometimes addressed) to replay our feelings, 'little moments' that we shared, what tricks we played on our unsuspecting pujari and the long practise hours which we spent yelling/choreographing/laughing in order to put up the perfect show in the evenings for the residents,endless hours of dumbcharades that we played,uncountable puchkas that we ate, discussing how pretty the diyas look during SANDHI Puja when all 108 diyas are lit up,and offcourse gossiping................... I have personally always felt that durga puja is a great time to bring people together.This ritual has been carried out by us since 1995 without a break and this year was no different.But somehow the loss this year seems more acute, more deep much more painful.........maybe since the loss is more personal this time!

Majhi Re --Bong Connection