I don’t exactly remember when I had actually visited my blog the last time..but I surely know that its been a long time since I had posted something.. and it kind of feels really great to be back to blogging..something I really enjoyed doing not long ago but had to forego because of the busy schedule..
This post is more about reminiscing memories of Durga Puja celebrations , most of which are sweet ones, associated with my soon to be erstwhile hometown, a nondescript place for most, known as Renukoot in the state of U.P. I visited Renukoot probably for one last time this Durga Puja. We would be shifting to Kolkata very soon, the place that I had visited for the first time some 15 yrs back and had definitely developed a liking for it. Well there’s no big reason behind my family shifting to Kolkata except the fact that my dad retired last month and we have to shift to someplace else to find a dwelling and Kolkata suited all of us.
Now coming back to my memories. Durga Puja has been and will remain the biggest festival for Bengalis for times to come. And I being a proud Bengali have always associated with the Durga Puja celebrations in Renukoot no less than someone who has been at the epicenter of the festivity i.e Kolkata/West Bengal. In my entire life I can proudly claim that I had missed the Puja in Renukoot only once, that also thanks to my ex-employer. I can fondly remember my days of engineering down south, when I had missed an entire Internal exam series just to celebrate Durga Puja back home. That has been the kind of lethal attraction that the Puja in Renukoot developed. The anticipation of the Pujas would start from the time when the first bamboo sticks would be laid before they grew into a gorgeous structure fondly known as the Pandal to most of us. The anticipation in my case has been so great that I virtually would visit the half made pandal almost on a daily basis whenever I was in Renukoot. However, all these love affairs kind of took a beating when I went to Bangalore to pursue higher studies and almost the anticipation almost suffered a slow death once I took up my job.
However this year was supposed to be a bit different. I could see a few pandals in the making in Jamshedpur, primarily because it is a predominantly Bengali town, where I am currently studying and I could once again find myself fanning the excitement of those yesteryears. There have been many reasons over the years why Durga Puja has been a special occasion for me.
While at school it was always a moment to rejoice since I didn’t have to go to school for 4 full days and also since for once I didn’t have to give explanations to my parents for giving the school a miss. Secondly, the opportunity to get new dresses had always been a category killer to all other reasons. Once out of school mainly during my graduation days the Puja was special since it provided me with an opportunity to get back to all those friends with whom I had grown up in Renukoot and whom I would miss dearly in my college. Since the Puja presented such an unique opportunity of a get together, none of the friends in my group ever gave it a miss.
Before I move ahead with my experiences I must say that I had a rocking group of Bengali friends who I would incidentally be able to meet only during the Puja celebrations or other prominently Bengali functions and otherwise remained out of touch for the rest of the year. Strange as it may sound it was true, the reason being our houses were quite far off from each other so Puja or such other functions were the only opportunities when we could think of meeting.
Meanwhile during my graduation days down south what kept me bringing back to Renukoot during Durga Puja was ineffable sense of joy of being able to meet those long lost friends, and a sense of reunion with my parents.
However, over the past few years the aforementioned motley group of friends hasn’t been able to meet together even during the Pujas. Blame it on the changing preferences (of being able to find more enjoyment in the metro cities that they had been living in) or the schedules getting busier by each day, not all of us could come together somehow. And the death nail was hit some 4 years back when I could find none from the Bengali group during the Puja. In the past few years I had somehow started accepting all that as a part of my life and moved ahead. Going back to Renukoot still made sense simply because my parents were there and again the sense of joy that the festival would bring with it as also it meant going back to my Bengali roots at least once a year, year after year.
This year however that sense of pride was somehow missing even though I had all the reasons of having to relive those days because of the excitement that had already been built before the puja back in Jamshedpur. The sense of belonging to Renukoot somehow seemed to have been lost. The Puja this year didn’t seem the same way. Probably because of the slow but sure corruption of the Bengali culture that has taken place. Corruption as in more of the non-Bengali culture that has crept in to the otherwise purely Bengali way of celebrating the festivity. The Pushpanjali on Asthami didn’t give me the same kick as it used to. The fight to get into the queue meant for the daily Bhog was missing. There was no excitement in staying late nights at the Pandals.
As I said before that “The Fun is Lost !! The Flavour is gone !!”
While I am yet to figure out any specific reason for having had a much sober Puja this year, what I have definitely figured out is that probably its time for me as well to move on with life. While my parents are moving ahead with dad having already retired, I also think it’s time for me to accept the fact that things cant remain sweet in life for eternity.
I hope next year Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata (after all that where I expect to celebrate next year) can bring back to me the same excitement, the same kick that I have grown up with.
