Durga Pujo: 2 years later!

-


 Hello everyone!
 Welcome back to month 27 of #faltufriday!

For month 3 of #faltufriday, I had authored a post on 'The Fragrance of Pujo'.
Nearly 2 years later, post Covid restrictions, I finally got to celebrate Durga Pujo with its quintessential pomp and show, and wanted to share my experience on the same with you all :)

Without further ado,
Let's get to it!

The full week of Durga Pujo was definitely the highlight of this year.
I left absolutely no stone unturned and made sure to check off everything from my list before I leave for college.

Starting off with day 1 of celebrations (Maha-Panchami), I helped my mother in her Anondomala Stall.
For my non-Bengali folks who are unaware of what Anondomala is: It's simply a 'Khushi Mela'- or 'Happiness Fest', except we all sell food. 
My mom sells her iconic butter chicken and laccha paratha every year and if you're a non-vegetarian, I can tell you hands down, its the best one you will ever have.
On the same day, I also had my poetry performance, which was amazing as well.

The next day, Maha-Shoshti. 
I had the opportunity to help backstage for the first time and post the cultural program, we went 'pandal-hopping' with a few of my family friends :) (Came home at 4 am btw! - so worth it though)

Followed by which was Maha-Saptami! 
I was pretty sleep deprived but managed to wake up at 11:30am, only to rush to get dressed and be surprised by my unlce :)
I went to the grounds where I helped in 'bhog distribution' - another thing checked off my list - then came home, changed, and again head to the grounds to get ready for my dance performance.
I've been performing on stage since I was a kid and dancing on stage after 3 years was an absolutely exhilarating experience. Post which, I participated in 'Dhunochi Naach' with my friend- another thing off my list!
Till late night, I hung out with my friends, playing uno and what not in the greenroom :)

Then came Maha-Ashthami. 
A super day again; from Pushpanjali to 'Phol kata(Cutting fruits for the divine offering) + bhog distribution again, the day was an absolute blast and ended with me dancing my feet off to a very unique band which had come to perform: Konkan Kanya.

Then came Maha-Navami: The absolute best.
I don't remember sitting for even a minute. 
For the first time, I got to anchor! Yes, I had the opportunity to anchor a full 4 hour event - all by myself. I learnt so much about public speaking and 'impromptu-ness' through the experience. An absolute splendid one. In the middle, my best friend came to support me too and I met her :)

No sooner did I reach home, than I got dressed to leave for the evening program! I was on backstage duty for the visit and movie promotion of the cast of 'Code Name Tiranga' after which I danced the night off to a Bengali band: Surojit aar Bondhura.

Pujo ended at 3:30am when we all returned home from the grounds and that's when it hit us - Pujo is over :(
But,
Aashche Bochor Aabar Hobe!

I hope you all liked this post as much as I loved my pujo this year. Durga Pujo is an emotion for Bengalis and is hard to express in words.
Nevertheless, let me know in the comments how you spent your Durga Pujo/ Navratri and what's your favourite festival.
Don't forget to share and comment!

Signing off,
Kuhu :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting High School

-
Image
  Heyy!  So, most of you are either in high school or nearing it. I started 9 th grade in June amidst a global pandemic! Of course, it hasn’t been easy but what made it worse was the great pressure that came. Schools closed down in march but if you’re an Indian reading this, chances are, your tuition's had started in mid-April.   I was completely overwhelmed with the entire process of the transition. Where we used to have hardly 3 chapters a subject for school now, we got 15 page long 8 chapters each term! To top it off, the 1 st term portion comes in the other terms too! Now I’m not trying to scare you but just want to share my experience on how I felt and how I overcame the overwhelming feeling. So initially, I had a hard time coping up with the stress. I had received terrible reviews from my seniors about 9 th grade. In early April I had received my books and naturally I was very excited to read and go through them. I was 3 pages into my physics textbook then it hit me. I WAS
Read more

(famous) Animated films x Life Lessons

-
Image
 I have been a movie buff for as long as I can remember. My 2 favourite categories: Bollywood and Animation. Now in the past, I've authored multiple posts on Bollywood (check them out here! ) but I realised, I've never written one on the latter! Animated films formed the crux of my childhood. While as a kid I absolutely loved the visuals and music, it was only when I became a teen and started to realise the depth behind each film. Animated films are NOT kid films. They're so much more than that. And when I realised this, I thought, why not write a blog on it, hmm? So, here are my favourite animated films which I beg you to watch at least once in your life! Number 1: The Kung Fu Panda series Po is the goofball you absolutely need in your life. The writers neither missed the comedic timing of his antics nor the subtle life lessons exuded through each of the films. It teaches you to believe in yourself. Yes you can be a panda and a dragon warrior in the same go. Yes, you can f
Read more

Teacher Cyber-bullying

-
Image
  Something that has become prevalent now more than ever; a nother type of cyber-bullying, ‘teacher bullying’ is literally the act of teasing them online.   We all know that social media urges people to act impulsively online. A lot of people make accounts by their teachers’ name or post their pictures online or make ‘memes’ out of them. It might make you laugh or might feel relatable but you need to know when to draw the line. There are some which are simply offensive and cannot be tolerated at any cost. How can you stop? STOP POSTING VIDEOS OF THEM WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION! Stop posting their pictures on your story with weird filters and stuff because it's RUDE!    Probably show them SOME respect? I don’t think its so hard. They’re working on a platform completely new to them to teach YOU and they are trying their best. It is disappointing to see how we treat them after what they do to help us.   Try putting yourself in their shoes. They just want what’s best for us and it’s
Read more

What's Causing So Much Anxiety in Students?

-
Image
Anxiety or the feeling of anxiousness has become a constant issue among students of this age. School can be rife with stress, disquietude and worry. Not just academically, even social situations and norms have caused a steep rise in anxiety among the youth. Keeping up with futile trends, having the perfect image, interpersonal issues as well as peer pressure has played a key role in the up rise of this mental health illness.  So then the question arises, "If this is that common, where do we even know where this originates from?" The answer is simple-everywhere. The environment the youth is exposed to has multiple repercussions-one of which include anxiety. It can come from something that is happening in school, something that is happening online or even something at home. These three places are the most places where an adolescent spends 90% of time in; and that is where this can arise.  For most cases, one sees the first signs of anxiety are seen between the ages of kindergar
Read more