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

Blah Days

-
Image
  Some days rule: You feel like the most productive person in the world, everything seems to go your way and life feels good; you're on Cloud 9. Some days suck: They make you feel sad and all you want to do on those days is curl up into your blanket and wait for the day to end. And some days, are simply, blah: The middle ground. Blah days are ones where you don't feel your best - something just feels off; things don't seem to snap into place and the very idea of getting it into place leaves you with lethargy. But why are they important? Why do most of us experience it, regularly? Because these, unexpectedly, are the "scariest days": they make you question your current lifestyle, your environment, your life. I don't like the above thought. Instead, I like to look at them as perspective days. Blah days are those which help you realise what you're doing with life and what your goals are. See, when you're in a state of enjoyment or morose-ness, chances are...
Read more

"I'm Traumatised"

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to a bunch of people and ranting about the Hindi syllabus of ICSE . For those who went through the system, you and I both know the struggle of reading Sukhi daali and Deepdan. For those who didn't, just be glad. The thing that irked me the most about that conversation was that they kept referring to the chapters as "traumatic." And I realised that this wasn't the first time such an incident occurred in front of me. By introspecting my conversations with people, I realised the term was trivialised, simply because they didn't know what it meant . Google defines Trauma as an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences. Take a second to read the underlined words: severe, distressing, outside normal. Trauma is a strong word. Unfortunately, it has become ubiquitous in our lexicon, applied liberally to describe an ever-widening spectrum of experiences. When you use this word in ...
Read more

The Broken Hot Chocolate Machine

-
Image
 I've been in college for about over a month now. In the 40 days I've spent here, I've visited the food hall over 100 times - of which the Hot chocolate machine has been broken for over 90. Bombay's humidity was quickly replaced by Boston's "Fall" (it's winter guys) and the only thing helping me through the transition was a cup of hot chocolate every morning. But about 2 weeks in, the hot chocolate machine broke.       Initially, a piece of paper, closely stuck by tape, lay pressed against the machine: " Hot Chocolate Machine is Broken! "  4 weeks in, it's now a laminated sheet of paper, carefully stuck to the machine. Someone took the time to type it out onto a computer, print it, cut it, have it laminated, and stick it up to the machine. Do you know what they could be doing in that time? (Hint: getting the machine fixed!) This post is not about the machine. (Obviously Kuhu, it's a Mental Health blog - get to the point!) We often pro...
Read more

Mental Health Illnesses=Cool?

-
Image
  Hey Everyone!! Welcome to Mental Health Awareness Month! So, we all may have a come across with at least one person in our lives who might have used the name of a mental disorder incorrectly. I've had my share too. I have seen a lot of people claim that they are "depressed" or have "anxiety" without really knowing what it is. Took me a while to understand why they said stuff like this, but when found out the reason I was appalled. To look cool, duh "Seriously?!" That was my exact reaction-in every tone imaginable. Sarcastic, shocked, surprised, amazed, aghast and what not! This very encounter is the reason why I chose to write to write on this topic and throw some light on why having a mental illness IS NOT "COOL". For starters, why would you want to diagnose yourself with something you don't have? You wouldn't do that if  it were a physical illness, right? You wouldn't say that you've gotten a fracture when its simply a spr...
Read more