Dashami - Shubho Bijoya

Dashami - Dhaak Dhaak - Dashami
All you guys out there, does Dashami or Dusshera need any reference or storytelling? Raise your hands, those who are unaware of the Rama-Ravana story or a crying Ma Durga returning home with her kids story!

For us at 9th Phase, Adarshnagar, all we knew was 'Sindoor Khela' and then the "born-sobre-turned-wild" dance. 'Sindoor Khela' - the traditional Bengali holi amongst all married women with vermilion and sweets - began after all the ladies in our area had finished 'Boron'. Well 'boron', for that matter, is another ritual wherein the ladies bid Ma Durga the final formal goodbye.

To any pandal you visit on Dashami morning, you are bound to be greeted by a long queue of women carrying plates having sindoor (vermilion), alta (vermilion liquid that Benaglis use to outline their feet; a sign of Lakshmi), paan (betel leaves), supari (betel nut), dhaan (rice with husk), dubba (the three-leaved grass) and of course mishti! These are traditionally the items required while welcoming or greeting farewell to a newly wedded girl. For us, Ma Durga is forever new and so we always usher her and bid farewell the same way, each year. For the unmarried young females like me and Sri, who joined us on Dashami, the aunties gave us a sindoor tika on the forehead and sweets.

The procession was scheduled to leave by 2 in the afternoon as a 10-minute drive on that day gets over in 3 hours or maybe more. Reason? The very same "born-sobre-turned-wild" dance. Before the idols of Durga and her children were lifted onto trucks, the junior members, the ladies and the children did a warm up dance, swaying away with the rythmic beat of Dhaaki.

As Sri was very sleepy post lunch, i left her to take a 15 min nap and came running to the pandal.
Once the procession began, all hell broke loose. No no, no quarrels; rather each one left his/her garb of shyness, especially the womenfolk and joined into the frenzy. The guys really do not need a special mention. I am sure, one look at these pictures and videos and you can guess the level of madness that engulfed them.

While Biswas uncle did a 'dhunachi naach', the traditional Bengali dance with dhunachi, Sur uncle merrily threw his hands and feet into the air in all possible ways. Meanwhile Niraj uncle and Santosh Bhaiya did a “Durge Durgotinashini” move (remember Mahalaya and Ma Durga killing the buffalo-demon Mahisasur?). MM and Bangobash Boudi (I should call her aunty but she is known by this address amongst us) also did a Mahalaya dance but herein we could not understand who Durga is and who is Mahisasur. The localites have also seen them on TV with cameramen and reporters going around the city to cover such delights!

And the Dhaakis? The dhaakis have been with us ever since the Puja began. They knew whom to instigate into the frenzy and whom to pacify, with the beat of the dhaak and its accompaniments. As we moved out of our area, many of us followed the procession in their cars although a separate matador had been arranged to take all those willing to the ghat. Dad, Mom, Jhelum Di, Sri and me were packed into our car. Titu, my brother danced along with the other 'para' guys all the way. On our way, we dropped Sri off before proceeding towards the Kharkai ghat.

It started drizzling by the time we reached the spot. Many of us returned home and then concurred at the pandal for Bijoya Sammelani - the congregation post Visarjan - to wish each other the greetings of the season.

"Shubho Bijoya" to all of you there. I hope you liked wat you read. By the way, in my narration, you must have come across "us" mentioned several times. In case you wish to know who this "us" is, I am referring to Mita Masi, Paul Kaki, Jethu & Jethi (Piu's momand dad), Shantanu's Dad, Sur Jethu, Jhelum Di, Kiran aunty, Srivastava aunty and some four more aunties and uncles whose names i do not know but address them as "kakima". These people, besides the junior and senior committee members really put in their 100% to make the Puja a huge success.

This Puja has crossed its twelfth year now. Although, there maybe some misunderstandings or disagreements, what I appreciate about this entire annual episode is that everything straightens out in the end. The frenzied dance on every Dashami has people who may not look eye to eye for the entire year but on those three days, all ill-feelings take a back seat. Each one helps the other as and when needed without a hesitation.

And thus, i feel pround to be a part of this entire ceremony. pardon me if there has been a mistake in the narration somewhere. You are most welcome to bring any such discrepancy to my notice. Till next year, Put your left hand up and keep swaying away to the beat of Dhaak (its tapori dance anyway :) ) and say "Ashchey Bochor Abaar Hobe!" (May this Puja be celebrated each year with the same zeal).

Maha Navami

The last day of Puja
Not only was it the last day of the Bengali style three-day Puja, it was also the concluding day of Navrat - followed almost throughout India. At our pandal today morning, there wasn’t much to do. With the usual round of Puja preparation done and Purohit moshai beginning with the Navami Puja, we all took our seats.

MM took care of the 'dhunachi' - burning coconut skin with occasional sprinkles of dhuno, the powdered incense. U know you have to keep the thing burning all through the Puja as we do for those earthen lights or diyas. While we were at it, several Bihari aunties and some newlyweds went up to the Puja bedi and offered 'koicha' before the idol. Although I am familiar with Biharis and UP people follow the tradition of feeding nine young girls symbolising nine forms of Durga, I really didn’t have an idea of what koicha means. So i asked Rajnikant in our office to explain that to me. He said that accroding to their custom, a 'suhagan' lady before leaving the house for her in-laws is gifted with all the traditional accessories symbolising her marital status with a prayer for her safe journey and happy life. And thus the ladies also offer 'koicha' to Ma Durga who we believe leaves for her husband's place on Dashami.

The entire ritual of Durga Puja came to an end with the sacred havan. At our place, this was performed by 5 people - Sanjiv, Abhiskek, Niraj uncle and Santosh Bhaiya and another of the senior volunteers. The ones who perform the havan are supposed to observe fast till the havan ends completely.

Thereafter, all of us - the female volunteers had bhog in the pandal itself. On Navami, the khichdi is replaced by fried rice, alum dum, chutney and kheer. We were so hungry by that time that everything tasted divine.

Navami evening was reserved for THE MAGIC SHOW - yes guys, something which we are quite fed up of seeing year after year and yet look forward to it in the coming year! It is as if our Puja celebrations wouldn’t be complete without few of those century-old tricks. Today, our junior volunteers left for pandal hopping after the show was over, whereas we remained in the pandal and chatted the evening away.

Each one of us was planning something for the next day - Dashami!

Maha Ashtami

No sooner did I get up in the morning than my mother came hurrying into the room. "Get ready and go the pandal soon. You are late." Purohit moshai had already left for the pandal after his morning cup of tea. By the time i reached the pandal almost twenty minutes later, Chandi Path, which is recited on each of these three days, was over. The aunties were busy with cutting fruits and setting the grounds for the puja to begin. At nine a.m. promptly, amidst dhaak, ulu dhwani and shonkho, Devi Aradhana for Maha Ashtami began.

My job for the day was to hand out coupons to all those who came in with Puja trays. Ashtami is the day when we especially reserve a special place to hold almost 250 such puja trays. And a single mistake there can leave a person perplexed while trying to retrieve his 'thali'. The Pushpanjali for the day had been scheduled at 12 p.m. Accordingly, I handled the thali coupons till eleven and then went back to change for i hand decided to wear the typical bengali red and white saari for the occasion.

By the time I walked back to the pandal, it was full to bursting. Purohit moshai and MM announced that there would be three rounds of pushpanjali to contain the crowd. After those three rounds came the most testing part of the day - the time to hand back the thalis after cross checking the coupons. O God, its nothing short of a nightmare. While you cant afford to lose your patience those two hours (or more depending on the number of thalis; this time there were 337), the impatience of the ladies who want their respective thalis back right then, may sometimes get into your nerve. And then there are some trying to use influence herein too! For example, this lady in bright shocking pink saari (we folks were already 'shocked' to see the colour when she came to hand over the tray!) almost pinched me hard while trying to get hold of me to hand over the coupon. And when I winced and glared at her, she immediately turned to another aunty - our volunteer and her next door neighbour. Thankfully, this aunty had seen everything and politely asked her to wait for her turn in the queue.

While all this was going on, the Bhog Committee was buzzing as a bee, conducting the same business as ours but only to hand over a big 'handi' of yummy khichdi with all its accompaniments - subzi, chutney and kheer (mmmmmm, almost makes me go back to those three days).

The evening today was reserved for senior level antakshari, Ek minute and of course Shandhi Puja from 12:05 am onwards. The senior antakshari comprised 5 teams with three participants each; Raja, Sweta and Silky as anchors. I, as usual, donned the judge's cap. The rounds were quite interesting with the aunties either singing just the first line or eating some words in between, often replacing them with mmmmmms or unnnnnnnnnnns!!! And then looking at the anchor as if saying, "We have done our best. You do the rest." Admittedly, we had to give it to them or else...u know what would follow since you have stayed with me since Panchami.

Shandhi Puja

The Puja began at 12:05 am sharp and ended 45 minutes later. I am sure you all know by now that this Puja was actually carried out by Rama before conquering Ravana. Amidst 108 lotus, 108 diyas, balidaan, bhog, arati, dhaak, shankh and uludhwani, the puja came to an end. We cleared away the utensils, distributed the bhog amongst those present and turned in for the night.

Maha Saptami

Enthusiasm and anticipation combines
You got me right. Saptami is indeed the morning when our enthusiasm levels begin raising. And yes, I am sure each of us waits anxiously for the Ashtami anjali too. I do; no I actually keep telling myself, "enjoy today and be patient for tomorrow".

Early morning, we went for Navapatrika snan to the nearby river. Incidentally, I was asked to carry the Puja thali. While it feels good to be actively involved in the process, I could also feel the weight of the entire thali all the way to the river and back! Trust me, my hands were aching by the time we came back, not to forget the light drizzle that seemed to damp my spirits.

This year, our purohit moshai stayed over at our place and so I got the opportunity to find answers to a lot of questions revolving around durga puja. Many of them are indeed common to most of us and yet our entire life may pass celebrating puja each year without finding proper answers to those queries. I shall give you an insight into our conversation towards the end of this.

The Saptami Puja also brought with it showers of rain towards the evening. So much so that most of the people who had gone pandal hopping were either drenched thoroughly or managed to come back with a grim look and lots of "shucks!" On my part, since I had to attend office, I was tired to some extent. Yet when MM sent for me to be the judge of the junior antakshari, I leapt from my couch, dressed hurriedly and ran to the pandal. After all, the thrill remains only for four days.

Don’t ask me how the antakshari was. Since the anu kapoors - the anchors - were almost trying their best to play a fair game with all the participants jumping at each others' mistakes and shouting even louder when they managed to get the right answer. But it was fun, I’ll tell you, to listen to all those innocent protests of "we should get that half mark" and "they should not get those two marks". So as judge, I was really enjoying all their appeals. Before the scene could transform into a courtroom drama from an antakshari, MM interfered with a bellowing voice, "all teams disqualified for misbehaviour." And then all hell broke loose. Let me tell you that the actual Puja pandal and the stage were built at a distance of 20-25 feet. With the rains in between, the audience sat in the pandal shed, while the participants were on-stage. Imagine the scene when their mikes were ordered off and only Raja's (the main anchor and my cousin) and mine were on. Since none wanted their pretty dresses ruined, each of the kid participants stood protesting on the stage while their moms were defending them from the vicinity of the pandal and the rest of us, that is, the core committee female volunteers were into fits of laughter. I, of course, was expected not to laugh. Arre bhai, I was the esteemed judge after all! So I had a tough and yet gala time.

Suddenly MM had this bright idea of having a round of Dhaak and dance for all the ladies present. As it is the rain had spoiled the moods, the junior antakshari left us looking for something more. What else then? Our Dhaaki dadas came into the pandal; the floor was cleared of all chairs to make way for a 'Dhaak-DJ'. As the uncles thought it better to sit and watch the show rather than get pulled in by MM onto the floor, several aunties joined into the beat. Just come and visit our Puja ones, I challenge you will get carried off with the wonderful beats even if you otherwise don’t shake your hips for the entire year.

Now time for some Puja ritual discussion as I promised earlier. Do you know what actually is 'Kolabou snan?' Do you know the simple meaning behind each of those mantras and the entire ritual behind this grand puja? Our purohitji, having finished dinner, gave me an elaborate detail which I shall summarise herein.

Kolabou, which we consider as the wife of Ganesha, and the bathing ritual that takes place on the morning of Saptami, has no connection whatsoever with Ganesha. Kolabou basically is a collection of nine plants - banana, colacassia, bel, tamarind, rice or dhaan, jayanti, pomegranate, arum and ashoka - that is bathed before the commencement of the Puja. Each plant embodies the nine forces of Durga.

But why bathe a collection of plants before the Mahapuja? Purohit moshai told me that when guests come to our house, we first ask if their journey has been well, whether there were any problems while coming. We then ask them to get fresh, offer a glass of water. Thats what we do on Bodhan and Adhibash - ask Ma Durga if her journey has been fine.

If the journey has been a long one, the guest would probably like to take a bath. We offer them towels, water and all other accessories. In today's times, we politely show the way to the bathroom! Thats what is Kolabou snan - We bath Ma Durga and all the nine forces. She is bathed with a variety of waters and then adorned with numerous ornaments. If you listen carefully, you will hear Purohit moshai offering each of the items of snan and abhushan before proceeding with bhog.

The guest is then given some refreshments and then food and then rest. Saptami, Ashtami, Navami is basically that. All the mantras revolve around that - from her bath to her resting. And therefore you probably will notice the use of a straw mat and pillow in the Puja too!

Shondhi Pujo is the puja that Ram did before setting out to conquer Ravana. The time heralds the end of Ashtami and beginning of Navami.

In the end, we ask Ma Durga to forgive us if there has been any mistake while performing the Puja.
Having learnt all this, I can now answer some more of your questions. For your information, I did ask these questions on Saptami night itself! So it was all part of the auspicious day.

Maha Shashti

The celebration begins
The celebration in our para began today. The whole area seemed to come alive with the shrill cry of children whose schools shut down just the other day, the committee uncles and guys on their heels, putting the remaining pieces back to the huge zigsaw puzzle - durga puja! Many of them had taken a week-long leave from their respective offices coz none of them would be fit to attend office right after Dashami.

Our colony was brilliantly decorated with colourful lights. Maha Shashti having fallen on a sunday, I got the time to put up fresh curtains and give our home the welcoming touch. After all, Ma Durga comes ones a year to her paternal home leaving her heavenly abode, to i. e. each of our houses; who would not like to decorate the house tastefully?

In Jamshedpur and elsewhere I believe, we all have a tradition of inaugurating the Puja pandal. Our pandal, thus, was inaugurated by a Government official of Jharkhand. Even while we waited for our chief guest to arrive, our reverend "purohit moshai" began the 'Bodhan' pujo. Bodhon is formally welcoming Ma Durga to her home amidst dhak, shonkho and ulu dhwani. The entire puja is incomplete without the mesmerising beat of Dhaak. The Dhaakis, thus, need a special credit for their job.

The evening show comprising dance and skit performance by numerous children in our colony followed suit. While Srivastava Aunty and Sweta did the anchoring, Mita Masi did the monitoring of the entire function. What happens is, many a mom here, while being an audience to the evening's function, develop a sudden impulse to put her child on the stage to recite a poem or two. Or probably, a child has the sudden urge to go up and perform. While it is good to be smart, one can’t seem to sympathise with such impulses that otherwise tend to disturb the agenda of the show, as each mom wants her child to be presented then and there. And thus we have MM (Mita Masi) our cultural watchwoman and Joint Secretary of the Puja Committee, who monitors every activity on stage and behind the scenes as well! Last year, we did have a little problem trying to pacify some eager and enthusiastic moms but this year, the anchors gave in breaks wherein those kids, left out of the agenda, were asked to perform. A well thought-of stance, I must say. When it’s a joint function, its good not to offend anybody.

All this went on till 10 in the night. While the event was in full swing, some of our puja volunteers were already moving along with the Maha Saptami Puja preparations.

Panchami - Durga comes home

Panchami - the fifth among the Nine days from Mahalaya is typically earmarked for bringing the idol of Durga and her "happy family" sans Shiva to her parent's home. At Jamshedpur, this tradition is followed by all the small scale, flat and colony puja committees.

Thus at 4 pm, two lorries came into the complex. The dhaki had arrived in the afternoon. By 8, the lorries were surrounded by flat-mates of all age-groups. While the elders and semi-elder members were busy loading the bamboos and other bric-a-bracs required to bring back the idols, the women waited to see off the procession, not to forget the kids, who were busy trekking up those huge bunks. After all, none of the tiny tots wanted to be left out of the elder, serious stuff! On the other hand, the pandal received the last bit of touch-ups. The other committee members went about doing the last minute 'puja samagri' shopping.

The group departed at 8:30. The women said a silent prayer for their safe arrival with the deity. Some of the anxious mothers requested Bubai, one of the most active members and whom the tiny tots adore, to lift their kids down from the lorries ones they reach the gate. Imagine the sad faces and cries that erupted from the junior champs! Amidst the dhaak and cries of "Durga Mai Ki", their feeble "Nahi Bhaiya, hum bhi chalenge" calls went in vain.

After that, it was a long wait till 1 a.m. when the beat of dhaak ones again broke the surrounding silence and the slumber of quite a few. Many came to the balconies and to the pandal ground to welcome Ma Durga. Her face was covered with a new cloth so the anxious wait got prolonged. Ma Durga was finally seated, like in previous years, on the platform created especially for this occasion. The guys did it quite heroically. I mean, imagine lifting a 50-70 kg idol and then place it on a platform without causing even a small injury as a hairline crack. I think it requires a lot of courage, determination and patience.

We finally called it a night, waiting with abated breath for the next few days.