Just About Everything

Kash Phool Ah-Kash! The appearance of Kans grass, Kash Phool (in Bengali) feels heavenly, not only because it so lovely, the white against the green, but it is also a happy reminder that the festive season is about to begin! Kash phool brings with it a change in weather, it starts to get a bit pleasant after the monsoonal downpour. Earlier, with so many open fields, one could get a glimpse of Kash any where, it is getting very difficult now with almost all the green spaces being taken away for real estate constructions :( With Mahalaya just two days away, Kolkata is in frenzy, with pandals gearing up to complete the decorations, people doing their last minute shopping; this weekend being the last weekend before Durga puja begins. It is true that it is almost impossible to move anywhere without getting stuck in traffic jams, but the mood is so positive, and optimistic that I don't mind .In fact, I don't want to go out of Kolkata during this time. I will miss it too ...

We went on a tour in one of the West Bengal tourist buses on Saptami(Saptami is the first day of Durga puja) on October 14th. This trip is the "Sanatani trip". If you are interested in visiting some beautiful old houses of Kolkata, I would recommend this trip. We had a very good guide for our trip, he had a lot of information on the history of all of these barir puja that we were going to. Kolkata's creativity reaches its peak during Durga pujas. I am very enthusiastic about taking a tour and checking out the wonderfully artisitic pandals. It feels so sad that pujas are over:( This puja parikrama was however not for the pandals, I wanted to visit and get the essence of Durga puja celebrations at the Banedi baris of Kolkata. West bengal tourism was organising such a tour. I booked my ticket almost a month and a half before and still could not get tickets for the morning trip:( I did manage to get tickets for the aftrenoon bus. On Satami, we set off around 2.30pm from Netaj...

Tomorrow is Mahalaya. Mahalaya happens a week before the Durga Puja. The puja countdown begins from Mahalaya. It is a sort of invitation to Goddess Durga to descend on earth. Wherever I am, I have to find time to listen to " Mahisasura Mardini”, Songs and Shlokas on Mahalaya at dawn. Not out of any compulsion, but because I love listening to it. Birendra Krishna Bhadra voice is immortal. To me no Mahalaya is complete without listening to him. There is certainly something about this day... It could be that since I was a little child, my parents used to wake us up at 4am to listen to Mahalaya. The radio would be in my parents room and each of us would listen to it from our rooms. None of us had to get out of our beds...but we did keep awake to listen to the complete Mahalaya. Not because our parents insisted, but because we loved listening to it. I guess the early morning ambience combined with the shlokas and songs has a spiritual element to it. Can't wait for my dose of Mahala...