Thursday, October 7, 2010

That Time of the Year

Yes, its the sound of the dhaak, that makes each Bengali nostalgic about Poojo. The smell of the dhuno, the chandipath during the poojas, the new clothes, the new shoes we have been waiting to wear.....its an entire childhood experience that we have grown with and lived it year after year. Poojo's, something we all look forward to.
Its this time of the year I miss my Dad the most. He would always stand out as the most die hard Bengali in his signature Pristine white Dhotis and Kurtas which were starched well but not stiff. His entire presence spelt out the proverbial "Dada". Those lovely evenings, we would wait for him to get back from the shoot. He would invariably have one during that time of the year much to my Mother's disapproval. My sisters would get all dressed and I was the first to get dressed and would love to observe the meticulous details with which they did their eyes. I wished I could apply some of that too. I was told young kids look best with their natural splendour. (I use that on my daughter now.) Those were fun days of family and togetherness. My father always believed in women power and it was no surprise that he was a great follower of the Mother Goddess Durga.
During his time of physical trial, he kept praying to her.The last few days he just chanted her name. She did respond to his call and it was on the first day of the Pooja, namely the Shoshti, when she responded to his call. When the idols were all entering their respective abodes for the next five days, she chose to relieve him of his pain. It was a difficult few years for us. We could not step into another pooja pandaal for a good few years. Then I met Rony, soon we got married. Pooja now was again a family affair. However the family I married into respected my wishes to stay away from the poojos on shoshti. I keep that day strictly to just remember what those good times were like when we were a family of five. I continue with that tradition to this date. I do look forward to the poojas knowing that he is with his favorite "Ma". While doing so we too are creating memories for our children for them to grow up and remember. Our children too will grow upto cherish these five days of total fun, food and splendour.

7 comments:

mrayc said...

beautiful bhutan. i did not know this. you touched a chord in my heart.
I love your painting, and I am growing to love your writing too :)

pinky

Unknown said...

I feel your pain Bhutan...I too wish things were the same...when I would lie on my Dad's torso, cuddling in the rajai, listening to Mahalaya...all four of us huddled together...

Priya

Indrajit said...

Touching babe...Luv ya!

elf_twinkletoes said...

Those memories move me to tears but also bring a smile... Miss our whole family this season! Have fun during Puja. Mwaahs!

elf_twinkletoes said...

Those memories move me to tears but also bring a smile... Miss our whole family this season! Have fun during Puja. Mwaahs!

Kaybeemm said...

Bhut you have put all our feelings in this, we all feel just the same. Some where in those crowds unknowingly to my own self, my eyes still search for that tall handsome man, in starched snow white dhoti kurta, the typical Bangali Dada, then the realization dawns that he is not among the crowds but with Mother. He life had its more than fair share of hardships, but never did his faith in the Divine Mother ever lessen. I know today whatever we are , are all due to his faith and good deeds. For quite a few years we all had shunned the pujos, it did take us some time to come to terms of losing him, but come to think of it now, Mother couldn't have chosen a better day to release him of his pain, and gave him the best abode to rest, back into her own lap.

Oishee said...

Last few days, I remember he would always rest his head on your lap. Have to admit it always made me a little jealous.I don't think I understood then why the family stayed away from poojo for so long. And I still wanted to go to the pandal the day he passed away. Dr. Roy had taken me then. You've put all our thoughts together so well. mwah!