It is said that a Kolkatan or rather a Bengali, has two phases in a year…. a phase where he awaits for the Durga puja and a phase where he mourns that the pujas are over. The phase where he actually lives his life is during the five days of Durga Puja.

We stay in a huge society of 350 or more odd flats in Kolkata where we have a collective Puja of our society. In olden days, every family had their own durga puja at home and each family, mostly joint, had hundreds of family members who would together join in for the puja celebrations. These days with the nuclear family setting in, such pujas at home are slowly becoming extinct but thankfully they are getting replaced by pujas held in housing societies, where many families of varied castes and creeds join in to feel like a single family celebrating Durga Puja together.

Banerjee uncle and Aunty are an elderly couple in our society, whose children have grown up and flown out of their nest. They stay here all alone spending their days post retirement. I have always seen them relaxed and quietly enjoying their morning and evening walks together but never did I see them as happy, excited and exuberant as I saw them on the ‘Panchami’ day ( The day before the Puajs begin).
Early morning, I caught an excited Banerjee Uncle rushing towards the fish market singing a song in the elevator.

” My two sons, daughter in laws and four grandchildren are all reaching home today for the pujas. Going to get good fish and rosogollas for all of them. Aunty is all set to make a seven course Bengali meal today.”, said banerjee Uncle to me with a twinkle in his eyes and continued….” You know, my grandchildren are born Americans but they enjoy most in India during the Durga Puja. My granddaughter will be performing in the cultural function this year and I will teach her a song.“, said the proud grandfather.
“Do come in this evening to meet my children and see how my house looks when it’s house full.”
He said the last words unusually loud,  choked with emotions and I realised how happy he is to have his family reunited once again.

On the panchami evening, I caught all the aunties of our society in the ladies club room,  joyfully bursting in excitement as they were doing the last minute rehearsals of the play that they would stage this year.  In their bubbling enthusiasm, they all  looked like  kindergarten kids. For the last two months, every day while I returned home from office, I have found all the aunties devotedly rehearsing for the play and now the D day was at doorstep.

” If you make any mistakes with your lines, am going to spank you then and there in the stage forgetting that I am playing your maid servant in the play.”, I heard Sutapa aunty telling to Taru aunty as I passed by them towards the ground where the Puja pandal was erected.

For the last whole month, the carpenters were busy making the puja pandal. The beauty lies in the originality of the theme.It was made like a ‘ Bengali Zamindar baadi”, ( A Zamindaar’s house) and all effort was taken even in minutest details to make it look like a real one.

The lighting was going on and uncles who were in the Puja commitee were running here and there and guiding the carpenters with expert advise. There was a stage built nearby where there would be cultural function, each day of the pujas. Near it was the area where all the 350 odd families of our society would together eat , all three meals of a day during the five days of the pujas ….forgeting their caste, creed, religion and language.

I have known Suparna for years now, as we have grown up together in this same Housing Society. Till last puja, she was just a docile girl, quietly standing beside her mother for the Puja Anjalli. This was Suparna’s first Puja after marriage. She got married few months back and was now staying in Gurgaon with her husband. Suparna looked like a real lady on the puja morning when she entered the puja pandal wearing a red saree, bindi and gold ornaments walking shyly beside her newly wed husband. She looked consious yet happy as she would see Maa Durga this year with her husband. I overheard Parul aunty,  whispering in the ears of Sen aunty, eyeing Suparna and her husband…”arent they looking simply made for each other together?”

I walked upto Suparna and told her, she looked gorgeous in her traditional attire with the vermilion smeared hair and forehead.

” What did you wish from Maa Durga this time?”, I asked her…..

She looked at me shyly and said,” I wished that this year its just the two of us in Durga Puja, next year we should see Maa Durga as three.”, I smiled at her and said….” Maa will surely listen to you.”

Mukherjee Uncle was enquiring about my Puja bonus this year and telling me about his, as we watched the priest doing the arati to Durga Maa.

” My entire salary and bonus this month has gone to buy new clothes and gifts for my huge joint family. After all it’s only once a year that you make it to give new clothes to your entire extended family.”, He said.

I knew Mukherjee Uncle led a very humble life with a decent salary which just went hand to mouth for him yet during Durga Puja he forgot everything just to bring a smile in the face of each family member of his.

” You know what, this year, after the puja shopping was over, I realised that I hadn’t bought anything for the little kid of my cousin. By that time I had run out of money so I thought, I  will not give her new clothes this year,  as I had already bought clothes for her parents. But yesterday, as I came home from office, the little one just came running to me, hugged me and planting a kiss on my cheek asked me,…. jethu( uncle), what have you got for me this puja?”, Mukherjee uncle almost had tears in his eyes as he told this to me and continued…

” I went in the very next day, broke a fixed deposit of mine in the bank and bought a frock, sweets and toys for the little one. Why do we save after all?….. just to keep our near ones happy, isn’t it? and in Durga Puja…. I can’t afford to keep my little Durga Maa unhappy.”, I was so touched by the warmth of his heart,  as I heard this from him.

Every morning during the Durga pujas people in our housing society are awoken by the sound of ‘dhaak’ (a huge drum played during Pujas.  The ‘Dhaaki’ (drummer) goes all around the society playing the dhaak and ladies play conch shells. Its an amazing feeling to wake up, bath and rush towards the pandal for the morning anjalli.

Woman who are mostly seen wearing jeans and skirts during the year , change their look, going traditional with red bordered white sarees and gold ornaments.
Little children are the most excited lot as they spend the entire day, in the puja pandal ,wearing new dresses and participating in spot drawing contests, recitation, fancy dress competitions etc.

Second in the happier lot are mothers, who don’t have to cook during the days of Durga Puja as everyone in the society has all three meals together in the pandal. Parents of little ones,  brighten up in pride when their little one performs in the cultural evening and everyone breaks into fits of laughter when in the play acted by aunties, the prompter almost comes up to the stage,  in his excitement and has to be pulled from behind by his kurta.

The Dashami day is a sad day for everyone. Its the day, Maa Durga is bid adieu. Married women all get together in the pandal and just like they would see off their married daughters while setting them off to their in laws place, after a vacation…..Maa Durga is also bid adieu in that way.
With tearful eyes, yet a smiling face, married women pray for each others’ prosperity and happiness till Maa Durga Arrives next year. They play with vermilion or sindoor and smear each others’ forehead. This custom is called “Sindoor khela”.

Singh Aunty was seen exchanging sindoor(vermilion) and sweets with not only other ladies of the society but also Verma aunty. For the last one year the Singh family and Verma family hasn’t been on talking terms over an issue but the spirit of Durga Puja is so catchy and holy that in the madness of festive spirit, the ladies of these two families forgot their differences and united once again.

Finally, in the evening, Maa durga is taken to the Ganges for her return trip back to her husband,The Lord Shiva. Everyone in our society walks in a huge procession,  along with the vehicle carrying the Goddess, singing and dancing to tunes and shouting ” Ashche bochor abar hobe.“, which means ” Next year we would again celebrate.”

Once Maa Durga Leaves for her return journey, everyone celebrates the victory of the Goddess over evil Mahisasura by exchanging home made sweets and prostrating infront of elders. Everyone says, “Shubho Bijoya”, meaning..” Hail the Victory” and wear holy thread in their wrists

As the festive spirit starts dying down, eversince the very next day, everyone seems to be dispirited and gloomy.  The only consolation they give each other is , ” The next puja is just a year away and very soon Maa Durga will be back again, touching our  hearts with the festive spirit once more.”

We have all reasons to wait for Her arrival because eversince years,  Maa  has been binding hearts with unity and today, though we are all separate families staying in our housing society,  yet it is the collective participatory celebration of Durga Puja,  that unites us as   ‘A One Big Family’.  Irrepective of our differences in caste, religion, and language we share and care for each other awaiting for the next Puja and for Maa to be back again.

Jay Maa Durga!

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