Pic Courtesy : Indian Express
They say madness gives you an oblivious joy. I was mad for a vacation in Kolkata and it has given me lots of joy, ebullience after almost a year; especially owing to dipawali and an incidental birthday in-between.
Relatives, long lost special ones, near and dears, a few marriage invitations, religious places visits, mouth-watering local snacks, biriyanis, a digi-cam and a guitar (the last two not exclusively for me though) were my dipawali greetings in Kolkata.
Kolkata has changed a lot now (I suppose just like its name) except for the insanely bombing population and vehicles. Colossal malls, multiplexes; brand business ventures at every nook and corner, big ultra-designed buses with LEDs, new infrastructure viz. bridges, real estates, more lip-sticks and face-powders (I suppose :) ) but with the simple sophistication that always differentiated it from the rest of the world.
The Kolkatians are simple. They are ascetic just like Kolkata itself. They are beautiful, more than mere prettiness (though a few of them I saw are real pretties now-a-days). The population here jostle for space, but they are tolerant. Similarly, local trains bubble with heads, so do buses.
Dipawali is very different here in Kolkata. Not only is it grand and colourful, but also the very preparation of making the exquisite pandals with huge idols of Maa Kali and lighting (beauty-parlouring) every house with ropes of bulbs top to toe make it even more enthralling. Every pada (locality) here will greet you with pandals and idols based on beautiful latest themes of the day, each one exceptional and different from all others. Besides, various cultural programmes, loudspeakers, Bengali hit numbers – all await your presence at every mandap. The rnguha road Kali is 3 storey tall – one of its kind in North 24 paraganas.
I also got an opportunity to visit two wonderful rural areas – Shantipur and Baghnan. Rural Bengal is beautiful and romantic. The rice fields, the cattle, the serpentine mud roads, the fragrance, and the simple residents – almost everything is wonderful.
The best and the luckiest part was that my birthday coincided with Dipawali (Kali puja). And that surely called for a celebration in Kolkata. Things were organized grander than I expected. Too heavy, varied, luscious a lunch followed by a rendezvous with a few ISIians and then a late-evening visit to a restaurant with relatives.
A visit to Kolkata lures everyone to shopping. I did buy in a few panjabis on the penultimate day, and a few other indigenous things. I guess I bid adieu to Kolkata in a mad ecstasy pretty akin to the madness of immersion procession of Goddess Kali in Bengal. I shall cherish such wonderful and splendid memories for a long time.
