Homesick

At the time of Durga Puja, each and every Bengali living away from home find themselves in the solid arms of nostalgia, which holds them so tight that it is difficult to wriggle out of that loop. Yearning to be home and soak in the puja festivities.Last year, one of my friend , who is a journalist in India, asked me what did I miss most about Durga Puja, and I replied of course, the electric atmosphere. Yes, most cities in the U.K. here celebrate Durga puja. A hall is booked, Bengalis congregate from all over the place, they dress up in festive gear, yes, the six yard of luxurious silks and dakhai jamdani come of hibernation, the old idol is cleaned and brought out of the covers. For three days gossip flows, food is cooked and served, cultural programmes are organised, yet there is something missing.

At home, it is all about the enveloping atmosphere suffused with sparkling energy. You just feel it in the air. The anticipation of homecoming of Goddess Durga is equally exciting as the event itself. Planning starts months before..what to wear, what to eat. Most visits the pandals, which is an elaborate piece of art, and where Durga is housed for four days, not once but twice in the day, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. And mind you, they have separate outfits for both morning and afternoon. The city never sleeps for four days, with Puja revellers spilling out of the pandal in the wee hours of the morning, looking fresh as a daisy, and not the least laden with sleep. As the sky fills with wild peach, they go back to their homes for some rest and then start all over again.

I am surprised how vividly Puja memories comes to me even though it has been years I haven’t been home during the festivities. I remember when I was a child on the first day of the puja I would sprint to the pandal straight out of the bed, doesn’t matter that my dress looked like a crumpled newspaper, my hair resembled a bird’s nest…. The sweet chill in the atmosphere, the heady fragnance of sweli flowers, carpeting my garden..all sending frissions of excitement through my body. I just wanted to have a first glimpse of the idol.

As the neighbourhood reverberated with the rhythmic beard of dhak, I couldn’t help but get swayed by the spirit of festivity. With parents mellowed out, those three days we would be fancy free and foot loose. Idling our time in the pandals, without a care in the world, enjoying the endless chatter around us, gorging on junk food , sold in the food stalls , and eyeing boys.

Alas! For my son and my daughter it is just one of the many festivals we celebrate. They don’t show any enthusiasm when we discuss Durga puja though they happily go with the flow here; they take part in celebrations here but there is no sense of belonging. But come Christmas and they are all pumped up because of the palpable Christmassy atmosphere. Unlike Durga puja, it spills onto every nook and corner of the city. It is tangible. But for us Durga a Puja, was one of the most awaited event of the year.