Mother’s Homecoming

Dr. Jyotsna Bhattacharjee

(The author can be reached at jyotsna.bhattacharjee4@gmail.com)

The autumn season has arrived in its full glory. For us, it is the most lovable part of the year. As poet John Keats wrote: It is “the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, a close bosom friend of the maturing sun”. At this time, nature seems to be working overtime to fill the earth with delicious fruits, vegetables and lovely flowers. The intense rays of the Sun have become milder, bringing the much-needed relief to the suffering humanity.

The early dawns are delightful with a light mist enveloping the earth like a blanket and birds chirping and hopping around the garden. The exotic pink-and-white ‘Sewalis’ are in full bloom. The heavenly atmosphere fills the mind with joy and hope. None can be down in the dumps during this glorious season.

Besides the natural beauty and bounty, autumn has a special significance for us. It is the scheduled time for the annual visit of the Mother Goddess Durga Devi, who makes it a point to visit the earth in this season. Each year, she comes to demonstrate the triumph of good over evil forces. Her arrival for a brief sojourn on the earth is a matter of joy and festivity among the people.

According to the almanac she would be arriving on the October 4; and would leave earth on October 8. This is the time for which people eagerly await with joy and hope. Her mode of travel also has great significance for the people —as that might signal prosperity or adversity. Apparently this year she would be coming riding a horse and would also leave riding a horse.

The almanac states that the use of horse for coming and going spells famine, epidemics and other accompanying evils. Perhaps you cannot accept these predictions if you go by logic. But in matters of faith, logic becomes irrelevant. Anyway, through all these years we have learnt to accept misfortune in our stride. Hence, perhaps a few more knocks would not matter. Whatever that might bring, we all know that this is a season of joy and bonhomie. Even the air seems to vibrate with delightful anticipation.

Durga Puja is celebrated all over the country and also abroad. It is celebrated as a major festival in Nepal and in some other countries where Indians have settled. Durga puja also includes the worship of Lord Shiva, who is Durga Devi’s husband, besides the worship of a banana plant that is considered to be the wife of Lord Ganesha, in addition to Lord Ganesh, Lord Kartikeya , Goddess Laxmi and Goddess Saraswati, who are regarded as Durga Devi’s children. The Puja goes by different names in different States. The Puja is called ‘Navaratri’ in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra; ‘Kullu Dussehra’ in Himachal Pradesh and the Kullu Valley; and as ‘Mysore Dussehra’ in Mysore, Karnataka and Mumbai.

The actual worship of the Goddess Durga — as stipulated in the Hindu scriptures — falls in the lunar month of ‘Chaitra’, which roughly overlaps with March or April. The ceremony, however, is not observed by many and is restricted to a handful of people in a few parts of the country. This Puja is known as ‘Basanti Puja’. Its more popular form, which is also known as the ‘Sharadiya’ (autumnal) Durga Puja is celebrated later in the year with the dates falling either in September or in October.

In this age of advanced technology and magnificent scientific achievements, what does Durga Puja mean to us? Well, lotteries organized by various shops, firms, and various organizations have become an indispensable part of the Puja celebrations. You may win anything — from the large ranges of refrigerators, TV sets, washing machines to even sleek gleaming cars. There is no end to these tempting lottery offers. Of course, we have no idea if these lotteries are ever held or not — since after the festivities are over these lotteries are forgotten.

Moreover, what is puja without shopping? This is the season for giving gifts and accepting them as well. Hence, the shopping malls are chock–a-block with multi-coloured dresses with famous brand names. Some of the shopping centres are offering heavy discount on their diverse commodities — at least that is what they advertise. And you may get some free gifts as well if your purchases exceed some stipulated amount, which may be more than several thousands of rupees. And the gullible people like us swallow these seemingly attractive offers — hook, line and sinker.

Guwahati can now boast of several glittering malls, where you may get everything from designer’s outfits to ornaments to crockeries to anything you may need. In fact, they sell everything under the sun and their precincts are full to the brim with gay shoppers. Times have changed and so have the apparels. Modern young girls rarely wear saris or mekhela sadors. Even the churidar-kurtas have lost their appeal. They are only being used as uniforms for some college girls. In the present era, jeans and tops with weird figures seem to be very popular with young girls and boys. Earrings, chains and rings are also sported by some of the young men.

For the young people, the mega malls are the centres for shopping. Yet for the old timers, shopping is never complete without a visit to Fancy Bazar, once the fanciest market with the fanciest of prices. But Fancy Bazar is no longer the rage that it once was. Now it has lost its charm for the young people. For me, of course, it is still more attractive than these glamorous malls. May be, that is because of the long-time association with the sales people in Fancy Bazar; and we know most of them very well. The frigid indifference of the uniformed sales men and women in the fashionable malls daunt me. Then standing in a long queue for hours together in front of the counters to pay the amount of money for your purchases is a real torture. In Fancy Bazar, we do not face such hassles. Hence Fancy Bazar has remained my favourite haunt.

For the idol–makers it is the harvest time. These artisans remain out of work for months together. Their golden opportunity to make money comes in autumn. Actually the season of joy starts with ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ , when devotees all over the country worship Lord Ganesha . The idol-makers remain busy throughout the puja season —so as to make hay when the sun shines.

Money flows like water during this festive season – and there is no option for the weary shoppers. Prices have already reached the sky; and in the festive times they rise higher. And whether you like it or not, you have to buy gifts for your family, relatives and friends, since that is obligatory. But it is easier said than done. You may have to blow all your savings in your shopping on a single day. Women seem to love shopping, but their male counterparts do not seem to be quite enamoured of this activity. They decidedly look embarrassed when the ladies haggle over the price. But then what is shopping without bargaining?

Housewives are a happy lot — they can take holidays from their kitchen drudgery at least for a couple of nights and eat out — and taste the delicious dishes cooked by others for a change. Roadside vendors selling balloons, fragile toys (which may not reach home in one piece) and the sellers of eatables like bhelpuris, jhalmuris, aloo chat etc. are also happy with their earnings.

And, of course we must not forget that the Puja season is also time for donations to various organizations. Groups of men, mostly youths, come for donations to perform puja in various localities. Their demands are often exorbitant, and your protests would fall on deaf ears. They are not concerned with “how “or “why”. They want donations and that is all that matters. There is nothing voluntary about these donations – the appropriate name is extortion. It is another hardship that one has to bear in the name of puja.

Durga Puja is a festival of joy, cherished by all of us. In spite of financial hardships, we love this festive season. It is fun to give gifts to our near-and-dear ones and it also fun to receive gifts from others. Thus, these four days of joy are worth a lifetime of drudgery. People shower love and goodwill like confetti during this season and the pleasure of giving and taking is enormous. For a brief period, we forget our financial worries and other problems.

Mornings are reserved for piety and evenings are meant for pandal-hopping. Guwahati turns into a fairyland with all those glittering lights and fantastic decorations. The city vibrates with joy, which becomes visible and tangible. Even a person with the dourest heart cannot help feeling a kind of divine joy at this time. In the mornings, people throng the puja pandals to offer floral offerings (puspanjali) to the deity. There seem to be more women than men going to offer puspanjali in the mornings. Gold, silver and cash are showered on the Goddess; and we mistakenly believe that our offerings world propitiate the deity. But, actually the Goddess does not want anything from us; and it is a wrong idea that the Goddess can be won over by money.

But then, a human being is a mass of contradictions. On one hand we believe the Goddess to be above all earthly things while on the other hand we think her to be capable of taking money or jewellery from us. Such a view leads us to a mass of misconception. Ignorance has warped our judgment. Actually, a single flower will please the Goddess if it is offered with a pure heart.

Durga Devi, according to the legend, appeared on Earth to slay Mahisashura, a demon king, who caused intense suffering to the innocent people and struck terror in the hearts of the denizens of Earth. She slew the demon and established peace on this good Earth of ours. Her yearly visit to the Earth signifies the triumph of good over evil forces.

With the passage of time, the situation has drastically changed. Today, there are so many demons like Mahisashura, that even the Goddess may find it a tough job to detect them. At least the original Mahisashura looked and acted like a demon. There was not even an iota of hypocrisy in him. But the modern demons are sleek in appearance and sophisticated in behaviour. Even the Goddess may not realise that behind the pleasing exterior, there lies a demonic soul. And how many can she slay them? She may have to tour the entire length and breadth of the Earth to find a really good and honest person free from greed and lust for power. It might even lead to the extinction of entire humanity.

Violence has gripped the entire universe and corruption and other kinds of evil forces have erupted in our country as never before. So many precious lives have been lost and the situation is worsening with each passing day. And the saddest thing is that we have become so used to these heinous crimes that we do not feel the slightest bit of compassion for the unfortunate victims. We have become so very selfish and cruel that we seem to have lost our humanity and even sanity.

It is a wonder that the Mother Goddess has not abandoned us to our fate till now. But we cannot always bank on her infinite patience and kindness. She might get disgusted with our hypocrisy and inhumanity. Her arrival on the Earth signals victory of good over evil forces. Unfortunately, till now we have not been able to fathom the true significance of Durga puja. The time has come for serious introspection and to make effort to regenerate the lost humanity among us. Only by cleansing the heart and making it pure, we can hope to please the Mother Goddess. Let us then beg for her forgiveness and blessing, so that we can get back our humanity and bring peace to this good Earth of ours.

Also Read: Biswanath District Administration Gears up for Durga Puja