Durga Puja Kolkata

The Theme of Bharat Mata

Visiting this pandal was so amazing. It was an excellent Durga pujo because the theme was our freedom struggle. Such an excellent theme to go with the durga pujo. The liberation of Bharat Mata from oppression and her subsequent victory is like Maa Himachal Kumari fighting the dirty and ugly Mahisasur. The firangis were barbaric too and they were as adharmi as the evil Mahisasur. So. I loved the pujo theme. Going there, I get to understand why so many Indians had shown Bharat Mata along the lines of a mother Goddess.

Again there was a mela outside the pandal and I enjoyed papri chat, chhola ghugni, and kulfi. Also, I brought some chanachur outside the mela. Carrying a big tiffin box helped because I would later stuff it with the chanachur, dhokla, and mishti. 

The simplicity of a holud pandal

So, we went to this pandel. It was not very big or decorative like a typical Kolkata durga pujo pandel and Baba and I call these pandels 'holud pandels' because they depict simplicity. Yes, Kolkata pujo is known for all that extravagance and art but the city is never devoid of simplicity when it comes to the multitude of 'holud pandels'. They provide an escape from the rush of the tourists. They help demarcate the difference between pujo and entertainment. A pujo is an emotion, it reverberates with the sharad season hence the name, 'sharadiya'. It reminds one of the eternal beauty of the temporary kash phool, the blue 'ghas phool' decorating the rich green grass, the dew that welcomes winter. For winter is the best season in Kolkata and I am in love with Kolkata winters. 

The holud pandals do not attract tourists but does attract the devotees who believe that pujo is far greater than all the Kolkata pomp and show, it is all about worshipping the mother goddess, Shakti. It is all about the arrival of a woman who is also the truth of the Brahma and hence protects us from all evil. 

I relished my time inside this holud pandel. 

It was so hard to get a picture clicked because of lighting issues inside. I thought baba not being an adept photographer while using a phone was not able to click a proper photograph so it took many trials. 

But, I swear, the singho mama looks like a rat. 

So, I had to settle for a selfie. The lighting problem was so dire that I could not capture both my own face and the durga murti together. Anyway, the trial was worth it. 

Then I returned to see a man carrying a bucket full of a kettle and paper teacups. He was serving tea full of cost to all the guest. Baba accepted a cup and I politely refused. Actually, it is very hard to trust anyone these days with food and drinks. I know that the man with the kettle was honest, his eyes were earnest, but my brain has been set at the default mode of suspicion. 

Being a woman is always very dangerous, it is more dangerous that anything else in this world. So, I must always be on my guard even if I know that I am being plain paranoid and nothing more. 

People tend to look at the insides of the pandal only but the whole neighbourhood and the whole city looks very beautiful, naturally. And, I have really tried very hard to capture all this beauty. I will make greater efforts with every passing year. 

And, no one seems to pay attention to the beauty and simplicity of the drapings in these holud pandals. And, the pink and peach and gold and mustard yellow are the best I have ever seen. So, capturing images there is very sweet. I love this background more than anything else. 

The necklace is so pretty and I got it from a market in Gariahat. I brought a whole bunch of beads from that shop. They call it Hindustan mart. There is everything for every necklace maker down there. It is the prettiest necklace I ever had for a long time. 

They say that only the pandals look pretty and impressive. I agree to disagree. The whole city is a sight to see during these days. It is just the Behala market I visit all the time but just look at it now. Puja has converted the entire city into a pandal. 

What is more, it is free to visit these pandals. Show me any so-called developed country which can ever look as beautiful as India year after year without failure. 

A very funny thing happened. I went shopping with baba to Gariahat and he had carried INR 6000 cash with him! He had kept the money safely amidst the many pockets of his bag stitched meticulously layer by layer to keep it off the famous Kolkata pic-pocketer's reach. So, he had his bag and the money kept safely there yet when we reached Gariahat and had brought a dupatta and was going to buy some skirts, he realized that his money was missing. I handed over the skirts to the shopkeeper to help him find the cash. Saddened, I left the place and headed home. Back home, I baba realized that the cash was in the bag all along and had been lost amidst the multiple folds he had made in the bag. The money had been safe from the thieves but it also eluded his own hands as I had to pull the bundle of  his bag. He could feel the bundle but could not understand how to pull it out. Ha ha ha!

Know the best thing about this puja? I look better now than I did last year. And, that is all I want. 

Know the worst thing this puja? I could not visit Md. Ali Park and other famous places because Panu mama had to arrive with my original certificates on navami. I cooked him delicious Basanti Pulao and a spicy aloo curry. Besides, I sent some salad and aam-er and kool-er achar which he loved. I also send him some cold drinks in a small bottle. He does not like to drink cold things so this cold drink had been at home for few days outside the fridge. I was lucky that I had brought so many small and big cold drink bottles from Patna and parceled him some in a very small one. 

And, I did not want to go out on dashami because baba got wet in the rain the previous day while he went to the Howrah station so I decided that he should rest. I was also so sad with all that drama which came with the original papers which had been kept in a poor and stinky village of Murshidabad district. I am happy that I got the papers. The college street pujas are going nowhere and now I have a lifetime worth of time to enjoy them forever.