Durga pujo..an afterthought and a lingering effect!

By Kingshuk Poddar
Singapore






Durga pujo's a great revival...revival of the kishore kumar's and RDB's (sachin katta's son i say)...revival of the lost lost poetic elegance (or disability)....revival of everything this is so nice..so bangali...and so "bhishon not so bong"....it's so intertwined with our bangali selves....that we have them...not so visible...but feel it inevitably.... wanna paralogue?...the shib thakur picture in the backdrop of the debi..it's there...you realise or not...it's just there...it's where it belongs!
And so do we...as generations pass by with not so bangali kids...munching singlish with flair...this pujo brings its own share of belonging...and even though we go ahead and have our own interpretation of how better it could have been organized et. al. ... the very lasting feel of happiness lingers...deep down...

Much unlike the west where this is more of a weekend affair...we are more fortunate enough to have an on par with kolkata...only a few arai ghonta ahead showdown...the phuchka stalls were horrible...they can never match a nail-tip (pure bonganubaad of nokher doga)...of what the hedua or kumartuli park bihari creatures can...but then...they are what they are...the ilish was incidentally better...much better than kolaghat or whatever we get at maliktala bajar...so ..in the end of the day..we did have a better pujo...afterall bangali means ilish over anything....be it phuchka or whatever (did i say poshto)....!!!

Pujos are a great leveller...shipping company big bosses and non-shipping company non-big bosses sit around the same table...have fun...and the not so good phuchkas and narkel narus...so much like the mohisasur and kartik...so unlike each other but sharing the same stage...for a change this year the new idol's artisan had a great appreciation of mukut...not that durga and her kids had one each on...but the poor osur too...man he looked so harmless in that topor-look alike...reminds of my biye...and quite synonymously me as the timid osur...and guess what....in case u did not notice...every single of the bahon's (can they be called pets)? had one on too...man....the poor mouse was almost covered in the headgear....now that it's past and gone...i feel sad for the lion and the mohish....they missed on the topor issue....

Durga pujo has an immense to do list workload...remember to never run out of batteries in the handycam during the dashami sindurkhela when the bitter better half is getting her first dose of vermilion smear....it has to be live and very zoomed....learn to play dhak with kettle drum sticks bcoz sadly we have the best ilish but miss out on the dhak playing konchi sticks....

There's lot to the pujos...heavily "P.C.Chandrad" women in dazzling saris getting off at carparks...even at the middle of the night...see...we are bengalis...we know whats safe to play when...singapore safety rocks...and 24 carats rock at midnight...the dusker...the better....

Amidst all....as we pack the 4 feet idols into wodden packing cases the smell of dhup and sindur vanishes giving way to insect repellents and clean wraps...i had always loved being near the saraswati thakur...for the love of grades....this time no exception...and as she and her siblings and mom make way for the next year to follow...the ten hands spreading wide...the three eyes assuring everything will go right this coming year....an inkling of feeling sad surfaces and fades, recurringly...."abar eso maa"....