My Durgapuja '09

Sneak-peaks of my Durgapuja '09

The Spirit of the Pujas is undying...how we perceive the Spirit maybe different but the emotions and sentiments associated with the Pujas remain same through the generations...for some its nostalgia...for some a welcome break from monotonous life...for some its just a holiday...for some its what they had been waiting for all year long...for some its livelihood...for some its purely devotional...
Puja means Maddox Square...Puja means new crushes...Puja means a whole lot of shopping...Puja means drum beats...Puja means Dhunochi naach...Puja means non stop adda...and puchka...Puja means Puspanjali...Puja means Shraddha...
to me Puja means Life!

Sunderban... Aila

The Aila had a devastating effect on the Life in the Sunderbans...
its effects are etched on the hearts of the people there...and only time can heal the wounds! of the many real life experiences i heard i will narrate one...here i go...
the storm had struck Sunderban during low tide...generally in cases of flood or storm people run for shelter to the rooftops or the bandhs (embankments)...but this time there was nowhere to run to...
nowhere to hide...
nothing to hope for...
people put all their faith in God...probably Bonobibi, Shah Jongoli and Dokhkhinrai...and let Fate take over their lives...
One man in a desperate attempt to save his family put his two young sons in a big "haandi" and let them go in the stormy river, hoping that someone somewhere will save them and they'll live...he took shelter on a rooftop with his wife and father-in-law waiting for the monstrous storm to calm down... after the storm subsided he went looking for his sons...and he was lucky. his sons had been saved by boatmen who were out in the river at that time...
this is a story with a happy ending...but life is not a fairytale...people lost lives...families were separated...and dreams were destroyed...

on the day of the storm...i remember, my friends n i were sitting in our rooms in the hostel...taking in the beauty and enjoying the rain and wind in Durgapur...the only thing we were worried about was our semester practical exam scheduled for the next day...
how ironical...

this year Sunderban is not "celebrating" Durgapuja...Puja will take place but there will be no celebrations....they still have Faith but they dont have a reason to celebrate!

Sunderban...the Folklore....

Sunderban has a beautiful story to tell....its about Dokhkhinrai, the tiger king...Bonobibi and Shah Jongoli, the twin Deities who rule over the Sunderbans...donachacha and dhuke...and many others. The tale as narrated by a local is as follows...

The Sunderbans

Dhuke was the only son of a widow who lived in the sunderbans. dona was a boatman who had hired dhuke to do his biddings and run daily chores on the boat. Dhuke's maa had reluctantly relented to Dona's offer of hiring Dhuke and had made him promise that he'll treat Dhuke like his own son...and thus began Dhuke and Donachacha's journey. Dona wanted to collect honey from the forest and start a small business out of it....but Dona was not having much luck...wherever he went he met with failure...he could not find even a single drop of honey anywhere...confused and disheartened Dona gave up all hope. it was then that Dokhkhinrai appeared in his dream and told him that he must trade Dhuke for good luck! Dokhkhinrai wanted Dona to give up Dhuke to him...and promised that he will get as much honey as he wanted from the forest..but if he did not give Dhuke to the Tiger King he would drown on his way home. Dona reluctantly agreed. he sent Dhuke off to the forest to get firewood and sailed off...leaving Dhuke all alone at the mercy of Dokhkhinrai!
On realising what had happened Dhuke started praying to Bonobibi, the forest Goddess, for help. She and her brother Shah Jongoli fought the Tiger King and defeated him...and sent Dhuke home.
the struggle for power between the two forces, Bonobibi n Shah Jongoli and Dokhkhinrai continued for a long time till Gazi Saheb intervened and reached an understanding between them.

People of Sunderban offer prayers to these Deities every time they venture out to the forest...they narrate this tale in the form of Jatras and keep gthe folklore alive...!!

maa interacting with the locals

The Tiger Camp...

It was an amazing experience...spellbinding...enchanting...enthralling....actually words can hardly do justice to the experience i had in the truly sundor (beautiful) Sunderban...our trip began on Maha Chaturthi with the bus ride from Deshopriyo Park to Gosaba via Basanti...

from Gosaba a launch took us to the Sunderbans via the Durgaduyani river...and thus began our trip. the Sundari trees...the exotic birds...the wildlife...the life of the locals...the folklore...the folk music, mainly Adivasi with a touch of Sadri and/or a Noihati dialect...the Jhumur Akhera song "modhuro modhuro geeto gaiya...." performed by the Radha Krishna Sampraday...stole my heart away...

Glimpses of Sunderban...as seen through my eyes....

Sunderban is not just the land of the Royal Bengal Tiger or "Dokhkhinrai" as the locals call them meaning the King of Tigers...its way beyond that...its a way of life...its an experience that lives on long after you've returned to the busy city life...

i'm going back...as soon as i get a chance to do so!!

DeviPaksha...and what's coming up next...

i love this time of the year...its DeviPaksha...the countdown for the pujas is almost over...its Maha Panchami today...Pujas begin tomorrow...
well.....i actually have loads to write...just returned from a fantastic trip to the Sunderbans...and DurgaPuja officially commences from tomorrow...i'll be really busy hanging out with friends...pandal hopping and will be attending family reunions...so i guess i wont get time to update sa'matri'yoni till all these things are over...here's a synopsis of what's coming up next....
My Sunderban trip...
DurgaPuja '09
and whatever else happens till i post updates....
till then...Happy Pujas...

Snippets from my life...

                                                sushmi, me, josephina and shreya

shreya n me

                                 

                                             at the class(AEIE) get2gether

college gang

nilakshi n me

Unanswered questions...

This world is an illusion...a realm of fantasy...beyond the truth of existence...shrouded by the meaness of being...and a living testimony to Disbelief...
Disdainful and aching...life is but a desire cherished by the self...destructive and obtrusively complicated...
An intricate network of mendacity...deceit...and lies...detested yet desired when deprived of it...we beg for life...we implore for our very existence and hold it dear...
confusing emotions...veiled by reason...its all beyond me and my comprehensive abilities...
It disturbs me...my mind is diverted from practicality and my heart begs me to ask the question...why? why do we go looking for complicacies when we could have never had to indulge in such fabrications and decietful impressions of the desire we call life? why?
Can we not let go of the illusions we hold dear?...can we not lead a journey towards selflessness and comprehensiveness?
Can we not be just to our being and desire nothing but the Truth?? can we not.........??
i'm still looking for the answers...

REFLEXION '09

REFLEXION '09...the college magazine...the reflection of BCET!!

the last couple of months were full of fun and activity...writing, editing, reading, re-reading, selecting, re-selecting...

Work on the College magazine had begun months ago...way back in the 4th sem...and now...well...its almost over...

the entire editorial team has been and is still working on every aspect of the magazine...we aim to be different this year...expectedly, there has been a lot of disappointments in the process...but nothing has been able to put the TEAM down...

TEAM_REFLEXION:

(Picture courtsey Anirban Saha)

The editorial team has been put together with a lot of creative effort...and i happen to be sharing the post of the co-editor with Anirban Saha...the most talkative and busy student in BCET...for details regarding him and the Reflexion team visit his blog...i'm sure he'll be happy to know that i'm increasing traffic to his blog Abhibyakti ...

frankly speaking, i had been missing myself and that was the main reason why i decided to join the committee when the teacher editor of the magazine approached me...

it was after almost two whole years that i'd taken up any extra-curricular activity...

the magazine has managed to bring back to life the Sayani that i once was...i confess, am still not in full form...but i will eventually come out of the shell i'd created for myself...and all thanks to the College magazine.

Reflexion is thus more than just a college magazine to me...its the reflection of my self...a self i'd promised never to re-awaken...a self i'd long deserted...

well...i guess what they say is true...no matter how much you try there's no running away from your own self!!

we're trying to bring out the magazine as soon as possible...final touches...last minute detailing and final checks are in the process now...hopefully the magazine will be published soon... Anyways, i'll have to end this post here...i have a meeting with the teacher editor now...need to rush.....

Disappointments...

Euphonic '09 was a disappointment...all the anticipation...everything...was washed away by the rain!! the depression that was supposed to be over the Bay of Bengal was in full force here at Durgapur...infact here it was quite a difficult task searching for someone who was not depressed!!the rain...the inadequately organised work...the unplanned but predictable chaos...and worst of all the 2nd yr verses 3rd yr war (literally) marred the festive spirit!...it was a festival of anarchical chaotic confusion!!
the performances were not upto the mark...just a few were worth being staged...the first year skit (i missed it) staged on the first day,was one of the best...or so i heard...there were some good dance performances and very few well sung songs...most were...well...no comments....

the only enjoyable part was chilling out with friends...bass!!

   nilakshi n me...dancing the night away

Thanks to Mr. Anirban (khepa) Saha...i got to go up on the stage during the fest...i was one of the many anchors who were struggling to keep the show going inspite of all the adversities...and day 2 saw me co-ordinating backstage stuff with Suman...while the seniors ran around chasing unruly juniors...but frankly speaking i would have been a lot happier if i had been on the other side of the stage...or better still, doing something useful in my room...!!

ishita di and me...anchoring on stage

all in all...am totally disgusted with the way things are done in here...there is no proper cultural committee...no organisation...nothing!!
wish things could have been better...Euphonic '10 will be organised by our batch...the very batch which organised the highly successful Freshers' Party "Sphutati'09"...
am sure looking forward to it!

Euphonic ' 09...the anticipation

yayy...!! BCET (college) fest, Euphonic '09, is just around the corner...
and the entire college is busy gearing up for it....from script writing to dance rehearsals...from silly quibbles to serious meetings...there's anticipation and excitement all around...people have already started planning their "fest special looks"...new dresses are being bought...props for the shows are being arranged for...everyone is busy...the campus is rocking with the sound of music...both surela and besura...coming from the auditorium where auditions for the fest are being held....

in short its fun time at BCET....!!

and the icing on the cake is that this year the fest is being held on two consecutive days right after the Foundation Day of our college...which means we'll get to enjoy three days of revelry instead of two...yeppiee!! no classes for three whole days....!!!!

backstage stuff is always fun...since i'm not performing this year i decided to enjoy the backstage stuff by making a trip to the rehearsal venue...little did i know how nostalgic it would make me...

actually...watching these rehearsals...made me kinda miss the Stage...........

i still remember my very first stage performance. i'd been pestering mom to let me go up on stage...when mom finally let me i got super scared and ran back into her arms...i was 4 then...it was the one and only time that i'd been afraid or nervous on stage...

the Stage is my life...its my love...my dream...i cannot image life without it...

people who know me well say that whenever i talk about the Stage there is a strange smile on my face...a smile that my friends generally associate with that of being in love...

yes...i love the Stage...it was definitely love at first sight...

i miss being on stage...i miss being in command of my emotions...i miss those plays i've acted in...those songs i've sung...the music i've danced to...those recitations...elocutions...the extempores...the speeches...the.....................i miss it all....i miss being myself....

anyway...enough of nostalgia for a day...i'll end my post here...i have a long day ahead of me...shall try to take some time out and visit the rehearsal venue again today...