A Light Hearted Meaty Affair!

Life has been moving fast!
Really fast!

Its been a hectic ride ever since the Puja vacations got over!
I can't even reacall what all happened in between...
I'll try to jot down whatever comes to my mind... not necessarily in chronological order...

Our group of friends were chatting one evening when somehow or the other, up came the topic of having a Barbeque Party!
That too on the rooftop of our apartment!

Like aimless souls who jump upon the first idea that comes to their mind, we decided it then and there that it had to be done!
So began the preparations... buying grills, coal, saw-dust, setting them up with bricks.
And obviously next came the food items!
Sausages were bought... so was boneless chicken along with the required vegetables... sauses, chat masala etc...
It wasn't as easy as it sounds!
Some of us were really doubtful about the plan... ok... to be honest most of us were (And yeah... I too need raise my hand here!)... except one... the one who had planned all this!
Llama... our corporate friend... now please don't ask me the reason behind the name... lets just say someone found 'similarities'... and the others agreed!

Anyway doubts were aplenty!
Would the coal light up in the first place?!
Even if it did, would the meat be cooked enough??!
Or maybe we'll just burn the thing off into smoke... the experienced chefs that we all are!
Enough reasons to order 'Rumali Roti' and 'Chicken Bharta' as backup.
Cause none of us had retained enough attributes of our cave-dwelling ancestors to gorge on raw meat!
But the way the thing was pulled off was well beyond our expectations!
It was a hell of an experience!
The food was delicious... most importantly!

And the atmosphere elecrifying!
A function was going on nearby and the music floating across the air seemed to add to the ambience...
It was something worth trying out again... and we sure are going to do that!

Then came the other big festivals of the season... Kali Puja and Diwali... the festival of lights!

We were a bit dissapointed initially this time around because for the past three years we had been having Kali Puja in our Apartment, and it was decided that it would be skipped this year...
The dissapointment was short-lived though... what better way to set your mood right, than by firecrackers!
The specify the quantity... lets just state that... stating that we burnt 'many' would be an understatement! (If that made sense to you, you're a genius... cause even I didn't get what I wrote)

The shells exploding on a Diwali skyline is something worth savouring... throughout the evening... and through the night... coinciding with the nascent rays of dawn...
I got busy with my camera! Clicking away at each and everything!
And that more or less rounds off my Diwali.

Next to next day was 'Bhai Phota' a traditional event of brother-sister bonding.
I love this event... specially because I love my sister so much!
And this is one of those few days of the year when I step out of the house in a 'Panjabi'!
The affection we show for each other is the best part... and well... the exchange of gifts comes a close second! ;D
This year I went to two of my sister's houses... had lunch at Shila di's house... played around with my nephew, other cousins... we always have a wonderful time!

After that college reopened, and the days just flew by... and out of the blue today I find the semester exams a week away!
Some shock... I tell you!
I'm starting to envy those friends of mine who study in Jadavpur University... they all boycotted the semester exams... in protest of something that half of them don't even know of!
And now the new dates haven't even been finalized yet!
How I wish our college too had a students' union!

Anyway semester exams here I come... please let me return alive...

Durga Pujo 2010

So here comes that long due post about the festive season!
Yeah finally!
As they say "Better Late than Never"! :)
But I guess its too early for the next Durga Pujo, isn't it?!
Ok... bad jokes apart, lets start off...

As in our part of the world, the wait for the festive season begins well before the actual festival. And as for over-enthusiastic people like us, we start counting the days left for the next Pujo from the day she bids us farewell...
Goddess Durga along with her children arrives each year on the day of Mahalaya (the first day of Durga Pujo).
Now for most people its about going out with friends, family... having long 'adda' sessions (chat sessions, (I know its not a proper translation... then again I'm not exactly applying for a job under the Oxford Dictionary people! There's something about an adda atmosphere that can't exactly be put into words of other languages. Its mostly humour based, highly relaxing, light-hearted gossip and extremely enjoyable! Ok fine... I'll come back to earth! :P)), visiting different pandals, and eating out all day!
For me its a bit different... not meaning that I don't indulge in the above mentioned things. Just another additional involment... a Pujo Committee!
Lucky are those people who have a BIG pujo in their 'para' (neighbourhood). For us the 'pandal' (a temporary structure which is decorated as the abode for the goddess and an idol built for her... I should start cutting-out these long-drawn translations, shouldn't I?! :P) is right beside our building.
So I like getting involved in all this. And although I'm very far off from the core group of members, I try to take part in whatever is within the capability of us junior members... and not to mention the priviledges we enjoy... direct entry into all famous Pandals of the city (the long queues are far too time-consuming), and also making any number of our guests enter our own pujo through the V.V.I.P. gate! ;)
One more thing is that it makes you see the festival in a different light, its a completely different experience altogether. And most importantly we love doing it! :)

The most exciting part of the pujo for me is the bulid-up!
Watching the pandal being built bit by bit... new additions, as I walk past the structure on my way to college every morning... the people working tirelessly all day in the workshop to give the pandal form as imagined by the theme-artist, you can't help but feel you are part of all this...
Some experiences always stay with you... this year I found myself in a television studio for the first time. I was part of the team representing our club Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra. Though we lost on our very first day, the experience was amazing! Another thing is that as it turned out, the studio was just beside our college's Ashram Campus Buliding, earlier I din't even know that this buliding was a studio!

The festive season started off in fine fashion with a wonderful cultural programme on Mahalaya evening. For the next three days our group of friends used to meet regularly every evening and click pictures of the finishing touches being given to the pandal.

On 'Chaturthi' (the fourth day) I, mom and a neighbourhood brother of mine decided to go out and visit a a few north Kolkata pandals, 'Ahiritola' being the the one we really wanted to visit, and we weren't dissapointed. And on the way I even bumped into a few school friends I had completely lost contact with. Don't you simply love these accidental encounters!

This time around a television channel 'Mahua Bangla' was our sponsor and media partner. They organized programmes, gave away prizes and also gave live coverage of the pandal from morning to well into the night. Needless to say we got shown on TV quite a few times! :D

'Panchami' (the fifth day) was the day of the opening of the pandal. It started off on a warm, auspicious note with free blankets being given out to the poor.
And then came the rumour... a friend of mine living in a completely different part of the city called me up and blatantly asked, "So when is Bipasaha Basu coming to your para?"! I was taken completely off-guard! Later I fielded similar questions from others as well! Too bad I had to dissapoint them by saying that there was nothing like that... I wonder who on earth spreads such rumours! But deep down I too wished it wasn't just a rumour... :(

Shashti (day six) was my day out with school friends! For the past few years we have been going out on this very day and although the line-up changes every year, the event is a sure-shot. Shashti seems perfect, its the first OFFICIAL day of Durga pujo... what better way to celebrate it! And anyway many of us have other engagements for the later days... This year we visited a few pandals in the Lake Town and Ultadanga region, 'Adibasi Brinda', 'Sreebhumi', 'Telengabagan' and a few others. Well... visiting pandals doesn't exactly come on the top of our agenda... its more about the time spent together, the crazy mindless ways of having fun... and then parting off after having dinner at a restaurant.

The next three days 'Shaptami', 'Ashtami' and 'Nabami' (the seventh, eighth and ninth days respectively) was spent in our para with friends. Mostly at our pandal, waiting for competition judges to arrive and then escorting them... This brings us to an important part of themed Durga Pujos of the city. Competitions! We have an fleet of judges' panels arriving every moment! They have to be escorted, the theme explained to them... and whole lot other things. After which if they are impressed, we are awarded a trophy and cash prize. The number of competitions keep increasing with every passing year, and so does the number of judges... always keeping us on our toes! And we did win quite a few awards this year.

There were a few important pujo sub-events during this period.
Firstly 'Ashtamir Anjali'... where everyone offers prayers in the morning after fasting since the start of the day. Everyone single person takes part in this event.
Then comes 'Ashtamir Bhog' where everyone in the locality is provided lunch, this year's menu was 'Khichudi', 'Beguni', 'Alur Dom', 'Chatni', 'Papad' and Sweets. Please don't ask me for a translation of these items! :P
In the evening there is 'Sandhi Pujo' a typical form of pujo characterised by the use of various 'pradeeps' with flames and surreal hues creating an trance-like atmosphere. The idol appears all the more lively when viewed in this flame-lit darkness. Its a visual treat... an event for which people interested in photography wait all year!

And then there is 'Kumari Pujo'... where a girl child is dressed up as the goddess herself and worshipped. Somehow I feel like admiring the patience of the child... I wonder how she can stay so still and unperturbed by all thats going on around her.

The other important event is 'Sindur Khela' where married women indulge in playing with Sindur... an nice enjoyable thing for them.

In the meanwhile, I've had many friends and relatives coming to see our pandal. Some during the pujo days... some before the pujo started... and some even after 'Dashami' (the tenth day). And it feels really nice when people you invite respond to your request! :)
Yes... Dashami, the day Maa Durga is supposed to return back. Traditionally 'Bhashan' (immersion of the idol) takes place on this day... and most pujos still go by the rule. A few pujos like ours keep the idol for two more days... because of the countless number of people still coming to visit the pandal even after the final day.

Since we didn't have the immersion on that day... we all organised a small program and competition of sorts in the evening. The events were Quiz Competition, Antakshari, Dumb-Charades, Lighting Candles and Conch-Blowing. Everything was decided out of a sudden brainwave the previous night. Different people were put in-charge of different events. We went to City-Centre on Dashami morning to buy the gifts... returned barely in time for the specially organised non-veg lunch... then rushed off to prepare captions (I was in charge of Dumb-Charades).
One important thing we learnt that day... and you can take it down as a quote, "Events with no planning whatsoever are the ones that end up being the best!" We still don't know how we manged to pull off the thing... but the satisfaction of knowing that we did is unmatchable! I even took part in the quiz event and our group came second. And guess what, as a prize I got the very book I had been eyeing ever since we bought it that morning. Sometimes Fate seems like such a sweet angel doesn't she?! :)

'Ekadashi' (day eleven) passed as usual and on 'Dadorshi' (day twelve) we finally had the Bhashan! We would go through various streets of Dum Dum Park with the idol... in a long procession of over two hours... with public speakers, orchestral bands, marching groups, enormous lighted structures, even a horse-cart... you just name it!
And then the most important part of any bhashan... the DANCE! We call it 'Keora Naach', one of the most unorganized, uncoordinated, ungraceful (I'll run out of negative adjectives...) dance-forms around (that is if you consider it a dance-form in the first place!)
So if you're proud of your Ballet or Flamenco skills... you're well advised to stay clear of this. Its all about letting yourself lose on the streets, sometimes even with the aid of 'Shiddhi' (an intoxicating drink prepared specially for this day).
The most important part is to have fun, and as long as you are doing that... don't bother about what conventionalists think!
After this mad session of ours... none of us were able to properly move our neck, limbs for days! But we weren't complaining...

Afterwards there were a few award ceremonies and functions in various auditoriums that we attended as a part of the club... a few of these were nice... one of these though turned into a hilarious affair... thanks to the long-drawn self-praising speeches and performances you won't forget... rather you can't forget even if you try to! :D

And this marks the end of this festival that governs our lives... and gloom descends upon this earth...

But looking at it in hind-sight, in a more philosophical way, I guess these festivals are better off coming only once in a year... thats what makes them so much worth waiting for...

Seeing the pandal being unbuilt part by part... it brings to my mind a few things...
It took months to create all this... but only days to undo it...
Here again, the year-long wait begins...