Pic Courtesy : whatsuplife
This is a humorous piece and should be dealt with in such a spirit. I dedicate this epistle to ‘Gouranga’ – my beloved Kalyan kaku, the man who I owe much more than what I am today.
I have wondered at times as to what could be the topic that will live on for at least a year in a Souvenir especially in such a rapidly changing world. To this, I guess a ‘celebration’ can never die, notwithstanding any age.
I am talking of this year’s Durga Puja, a native celebration with couture range of ‘celebrities’, and being celebrated on a foreign land. Here at Chandkheda, it is precisely like bringing a feel of Bengal in Gujarat. Or can we say we do actually borrow many parts of Bengal vis-à-vis, the shilpi and his idols, the purohit, themes, ideas and incidentally some ground-breaking singers.
Bengal, I guess, must have plenty more variety to its puja. The very ubiquitous airy fragrance of pujo, the exquisite colossal pandals based on wonderful themes, the road-side lighting, the incessant sounds of the feathery dhaak, durga idols crafted out of all types of materials, kumari-puja and lastly the insane explosive crowd. We have surely replicated a few of these nuances, if not all, with an equal devotion.
But for a diaspora like me, more than anything else, it is worshipping joy and celebration. At times when the cultural programmes got so enthralling, with nuanced effects of light and sound, I guess even Goddess Durga could not have remained confined to just showing up for her out-house devotees. The charm coerced me to dance, something I did for the first time in my career. I danced! I danced with gouranga. Remember him? The tall, healthy, handsome guy wearing a garland of beads; attired in the printed white half-sleeved kurta, with a big tattoo on one of his hands. Yes he is the man who is gonna infect you with an infatuation. And yes he made me dance.
The pujo days were filled with fun and some austerity. Fun part was in queuing up for the grand exemplary bhog-prasad and enjoying unusual bangla gouranga hits. Austere merely due to the sight of some of the usual lot of devotees, requiring you to act too ascetically.
But, every night seemed to be an extravaganza, a complete take-over of the ‘light’ of spirituality by the ‘lights’ of cultural committee. Honestly, I enjoyed every part of it. I loved my friend’s company; also enjoyed the haute -couture of gentlemen and ‘gentle-women’, which I guess follows and consumes the ‘mirch-masalas’ of the Occident voraciously. It indeed makes the puja more diasporic. The innocence of the budding singing talents fascinated me, so did the maturity of the drama ‘Sandhya Tara’. Seeing the luminaries getting younger, dancing obliviously to hit-numbers was fun. Special kudos to Gouranga! After such tremendous performances we all could surely have lost some weight (like Jojo) only had we been a little more generous with our Dashami’s bhoj.
Dhunuchi naach was exhilarating. My feet started dancing, but I needed the company of Gouranga. Sindoor khela was equally entertaining. I guess, without all the make-up and pun cakes, that is an only chance to identify the beautiful celebrities or I should say the ascetic Bengali household ‘gentle-women’. Last but not the least, I cannot forget thanking all our little photographers who have captured and shared vivid memories of CBCA Durga Puja 2010 throughout the web. These memories remind me of Gouranga. All those willing to meet him again, like me, hold on to this news…he is appearing even bigger next year, rajnikanth ishtyle.
Bolo Durga Maa ki jai … asscche bocchor abar hobe !
