Its 6.45 am and I wake up with a feeling of warm sunlight on my face and a slight chill around the air. It’s still early morning but I have no intentions of going back to bed. I get up and soak in each and every bit of the refreshing surroundings around me. I breathe in the fresh air and let the ‘magic’ seep in to every cell of my body. Feels like heaven! I smile to myself and say, “Its here...!”
From the
last few weeks, every day I would wake up with a gloomy and depressing feeling.
Dark, cloudy skies looming large; the atmosphere dull and lazy or worse, rain
lashing the streets like mad. You feel like lying in bed for the rest of the
day. But the last two days have been different. Why, you ask? You see there is ‘that’
particular magic in the air; the one that comes right before the Durga Pujas.
It’s that
time of the year again folks. Oh yes, ‘that’ time. The light bulbs have been
rolled out to decorate the streets, the hoardings are covering the footpaths,
the megaphones are blaring out the famous Bengali tunes and the people
everywhere have smiles around their faces. Smiles that clearly sparkle with anticipation
of what is to come. The Durga Puja is around the corner and the city on
expected lines is getting all decked up and going delirious in its wait.
I
had written a post on the Pujas two years back on this blog. Describing my
emotions and feelings related to this festival. Now what extra do I have to
add? Nothing much to be honest. But the feeling that I experience on the arrival of
the festival is so overwhelming that I simply couldn't resist
writing some more on it. I will keep this as short as possible. Promise.
Now the thing
that surprises me is that even today I look forward to the Pujas with almost as much
anticipation as any Bengali would. Years have gone by, so much has changed around my life but that particular
feeling of excitement remains. I still anxiously count the days in my calendar to
shahsti. And I feel as depressed as anyone else when the Pujas get over. Though
am not much of a pandal hopper, but I
just revel in the overall environment, the experience of mingling in the crowd sometimes
and taking in the glowing happiness everywhere. I still like standing in my balcony late
at night, staring at the lights decorating the buildings and losing myself in their
glitter. That, is something which I guess will never change.
However,
other than enjoying the grandeur around the Pujas the other thing which I also
look forward to is the short yet relaxing break that it provides. Admit it, no matter who we are we all have
some issues or the other that is bothering us, be it personal or professional, and
these four days present that wonderful opportunity where you relax, spend time with friends and family, forget everything and
just go with the flow. The end result of course is of that you come out recharged and
refreshed.
This is not to
say that the Pujas don’t come without its negativity, which somehow gets unnoticed in
the overawing milieu. Common folks like me have to suffer a lot in these days. The first one
of course being the horrifying traffic snarls that we have to contend with, not
to mention the atrocious food we get during those four days or the loud, blaring, endless music and announcements played out by some particular padar log that sores my eardrums. But these are just some minor glitches in
the vast canvas of this supreme beauty.
So to my friends from the city, like I
stated in the first lines, 'that' Puja feeling is in the air again and it is time to
just soak it in and lose yourselves in it. Go ahead folks and create some more
special memories in the coming four days which will add to the vast montage of
your whole ‘puja collection’. I will go and add mine. Because you see, it’s
that time of the year again..!!
