Our Durga Puja 1
It’s all about feeling
People from outside Bengal think Durga Puja means grand pandals and the Durga idol. They believe it’s just four days of celebration. But it’s not that. Durga Puja means months of planning, the gradual buildup of joy, and much more than just the festival.
New one pair of shoes:
In our childhood, Durga Puja began with a new pair of shoes. Especially for little boys and girls, this marked the start of Puja preparations. And when we said “shoes,” it was always from one company—BATA. Two whole pages AD on Anandabazar and Jugantar newspaper, with pictures of shoes for every age. From those ADs, we would mentally decide which pair I wanted. But we never had the courage to tell our father because, I guess, asking for things wasn’t in our DNA. We were happy with whatever we get. A single new pair of shoes was enough to feel happy. We didn’t have dozens of pairs like today. We’d wear that one pair until the next Puja, fixing minor repairs at home by hammering nails into them.
New Clothes:
Along with the shoes, there was always a new set of clothes. The joy of buying a shirt and pants from ‘Chhya Stores’ at Sealdah was special for another reason—because they’d give us a bunch of balloons stamped with the store’s logo, and a cold drink. That was the only time in a year we got to drink a cold drink. We, one would glance at another and say with their eyes, “Habbi, Na!”
Magazin Puja Number:
As I grew older, the primary attraction became the Puja magazines. They didn’t come out months before like today, but just a few days prior. At home, we’d buy Anandamela, Sandesh, and Desh or Anandabazar Patrika. At our club, we’d cover a big table with white cloth and place all the Puja magazines there. Amid the excitement of Puja, I’d sneak off to read Nonte-Phonte, Hada-Bhoda, and Feluda. In Sandesh, Leela Majumdar’s stories were a treat. Later, some of my own writings found their way into some of those Puja magazines on the club table. I’d flip through the pages to find my name and feel a special joy as I read the words I’d written, like each letter was my own child.
I took the initiative to publish our club’s handwritten wall magazine, Pathikrit, in print form for the first time. It was the era of wooden blocks for titles and metal types for setting text. I managed everything from cover design to editing for nearly three decades. The magazine is still published today. I would send my writings from Delhi. This year, at the request of the younger members, I even illustrated the cover, almost after a decade. Do buy and read it to encourage the budding writers.
Puja Songs:
Another thing we eagerly awaited was the Puja songs. On small records, there would be four or six songs. Manna Dey and Tarun were the most popular. Eternal songs like ‘Maha Sindhurer Opar Hote, Alta Payer Alto Chhoa, Se Amar Chhoto Bon’ were all Puja songs. I remember the first time my brother-in-law gave me a tape recorder. I climbed up the bamboo poles of the Puja pandal, holding the recorder near the loudspeaker to record ‘Amar Pujar Phool, Keno Re Tui Chorli Ore’ by Kishore Kumar. And of course, no Puja was complete without comic skits by Bhanu Bandopadhyay, especially in his East Bengali dialect.
Since childhood, I’ve heard some wise elders complain, “People are drowning in floods, yet here you are celebrating Puja.” They would say, “Make the Puja smaller this year.” I used to wonder why the floods always seemed to happen right before Puja. Many areas around us would be submerged, and we’d take the affected people to our primary school and club, which were right in front of Chandeshwar Shiva Temple, the site of our Puja. Thankfully, the floodwaters would usually recede before the Puja began, and we’d quickly return the displaced people to their homes.
There’s a saying that where there’s a will, there’s a way. But this year feels entirely different. No will seems enough to console the heart. I feel like pulling at the braids and tearing apart the demons of Bengal. But that is not happening?
— Subrata Haldar —
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