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Last night, as the melodious hymns of Birendrakishore Bhadra’s immortal Mahishasuramardini floated in from the para puja, I kept a weary eye on the TV screen. Star Ananda’s sprightly newsreader didn’t disappoint. We would have Barundev’s company on the puja days, what with a ‘depression’ forming in the Bay.
This morning’s bright sunlight is welcome. Perhaps Star Ananda is wrong? As the day is growing old, I can see patches of clouds scurrying off to who knows where. On the ground, the mood is clearly upbeat. Though Maa’s bodhan is still some time off, strains of dhak can be heard now and then. Everyone is planning one or other program, whether it is only an one-off Mahashtami puspanjali or 5-day pandal hopping.
I’ve with me a video clipping, loaned from Ananda Utsav, which has a matching tune that starts playing as you open this page on your browser. This will remain for 5 days, so do enjoy (now discontinued). Superimpose this tune with rhythm of dhak (below), and you've a grand combination.
There is also this Ponds Anandabazar Patrika Pujor Nandini contest for those of you who fall between 18 and 35. Alas, this is only for contestants in West Bengal. Perhaps next year they’ll do it nationwide, and a year later, worldwide. Keep your fingers crossed, and yes wish you all a very wonderful puja.
In an earlier post I briefly mentioned about making of Durga protima in London's British Museum. The idol - now complete - is for London Durga Puja Dusserah Committee, to be worshipped at Camden Center. The high point is extra-ordinary interest among visitors to British Museum to see 'live' manufacturing of the protima from mid-August by clay artisans camping there from Krishnanagar. Click here to see how the work progressed through one and a half month.
But perhaps the immeasurable moment will come when the protima is taken out in a procession for bisarjan at the river Thames. Accompanied by enchanting rhythmic beats of dhaks, this event will forever remain a moment to savor for Londoners and Indians/Bengalis residing there.
Talking of dhak, here is a small video clipping by NB Das of dhakis playing on Sep 14 at the forecourt of British Museum. Here's what he has to say about the clipping:
Dhak players from Mursidabad outside the front of the British Museum as part of their Voices of Bengal festival. It's taken on my phone so the picture quality is a bit rubbish, but you can hear the all important rhythm that gives the puja mood.
And in case you feel you want to have a good view of how dhakis (drummers) go about it (while listening to Das' clipping), here it is.
Dhakis performing at Phalguni Sangha puja, Ballygunge. (Picture source)
Seeing is believing. There is no doubt why crowds from everywhere in millions throng the pandals on all puja days. They come to see creations and innovations and savor them for the rest of the year.
Puja organizers know this and that is why there is always a stress on doing something new, something more creative every year. Thank Durga this is so, else Kolkata’s Durga Puja wouldn’t have been termed by many as ‘world’s greatest art festival’ that can be enjoyed and partook in free of cost.
The moot point is if one's innovative, has ideas between eyes, and can translate them into creative art, she (or he) is welcome in Kolkata, whoever she (or he) may be. No wonder, master creators like Sanatan Dinda, Samir Aich, Bhabatosh Sutar and scores of debutant artists find no place more adrenalin-flowing than the Durga Puja in Kolkata.
Here are some more last year’s pictures (all sourced from ABP’s Ananda Utsav). See more pictures here.
Starting tomorrow, peasants in Singur, Hooghly who have pledged lands to the government will get compensation. Reports suggest that notwithstanding opposition, about 60% of total land asked by Tata Motors for their car factory has already been pledged. Tatas need nearly 1000 acres to build the factory, which – once it blooms fully – will cater to many thousands in direct and indirect employment.
Compare Tatas’ needs with Infosys’ or Wipro’s demands for 100 and 53 acres of prime Kolkata land respectively. They are not happy with skyrocketing land prices, and since the government ‘invited’ them long back – especially Infosys – they feel it’s obligatory on government’s part to get them land they prefer at cheaper cost. I feel the obligation doesn’t hold good any longer simply because there is now no dearth of businesses willing to set foot in Kolkata paying prevailing land cost.
But that is not why I write this piece. It is becoming increasingly important to work out economic benefit that will accrue to large section of society per unit of land given to big businesses. Tata Motors’ car factory is a manufacturing unit that will employ many times more – direct and in ancillary industries – than what Infosys or Wipro will do.
In the case of former, it will be a cascading effect once more and more people make decent earnings. An increase in purchasing power will result in their asking for other fruits of better living, like better education, better healthcare, better entertainment, and so on. There is no doubt that a single giant car factory can trigger far-reaching value-additions to the society. We all know what Maruti’s Gurgaon factory has done to the capital’s once-sleepy outer villages. Ditto with Pune’s numerous auto factories or Hyundai’s Irungattukotai manufacturing plant near Chennai.
Infosys’ garden where Gates and Blair planted trees – value to few (Picture source)
In sharp contrast, Infosys’ or Wipro’s undulating green expanse in their campus dotted with architectural marvels almost totally serve their own interests, which is to add to their surging bottomlines. There is very little tangible economic benefits for the people in the surroundings or the greater society at large.
Lest you feel that if IT biggies like Infosys don’t come to Kolkata, it’ll be bad news, let me opine that this is not so. Many global software biggies have come to Kolkata without much fanfare and quite a few of them are rapidly expanding too. The logic is when you want to set up shop in Palo Alto, you do it because it boasts of some of the smartest IT brains. In a similar vein, if Kolkata has abundant talented workforce, many more Infosys and Wipro will come calling, even if that means taking a smaller plot away from the city.
And the path to creating more and more skill will clearly come from overall economic benefits to the society, by providing jobs to people at the grassroots, which only large employment-generating plants like Tata Motors can provide.
Oh no, not another day like this! Not today, not till the puja ends! This must be the collective prayer of rain-battered Kolkattans. As the puja days are nearing, and the rains showing no signs of abating, it is anybody’s guess what lies ahead. Yet this was not so even a few days back. Bright sun shone on the day of Viswakarma Puja, and a few kites here and there and blaring of film songs made good of whatever felt short on a puja day in Kolkata.
The scene started changing a day after Viswakarma Puja, and turned worse thereafter. The puja spirit that was so much in evidence few days back, is ebbing gradually. Would-be pandals are heavily waterlogged, but what saddens more is that water from everywhere has entered into houses in low areas. For many of them, puja will be more of managing water than enjoying festivities.
Mahalaya of another year - hope abounds (Picture source)
Today incidentally is mahalaya, the day male believers remember forefathers on the banks of Hooghly-cum-Ganga. One may easily imagine what it has been today with incessant rain beating every moment. From tomorrow, debipaksha starts, marking the beginning of Maa Durga’s homecoming. Despite the bleakness all around, there is no letting up of hope that the puja days will turn out bright and joyful. Will it be so? Let me keep my fingers crossed.
Who knew one day offering puja would be possible online! If earning degree online is possible in digital age, why not puja, you might argue. But perhaps there will be something amiss. An online obeisance will lack the distinct flavor of brouhaha that normally associates with the way we like to do it.
But if you give the idea a second look, you’ll appreciate that indeed a know-all website on ‘how to perform puja’ will have many takers. After all, in distant shores you just don’t have purohits every second door. Ah, there you are! More than how to do pujas yourself, what you dearly need is the assistance of qualified purohits.
Connecting with God - a hindu purohit on duty (Picture source)
If you’re with me, I’ve a good news to reveal. Nabadwip’s Biswakalyan Trust will shortly come with a website that will have ready ‘whereabouts’ of nearly 2000 expert, Sanskrit-knowing purohits. They’ll be available on call to any corner of globe to conduct your puja in the ‘purest’ way.
What else will you get in the website?
A lot, depending on what you want to know. For example, you’ll know what are the ‘approved’ steps for various rituals, like grihapravesh (house warming), upanayan (thread ceremony) and so on. You’ll also know – and even order – what all ingredients (dashakarma items) are required to do a proper puja. In short, the website will have all about puja and purohit and everything between them.
Biswakalyan Trust’s website is expected to go live on the auspicious occasion of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja. If you think you cannot wait that long, why not give hindupurohit a try in the interim!
Once Viswakarma Puja passes, the tempo picks up, because Maa Durga has finally commenced her journey to come in our midst. This is what we used to be told by our seniors when we were small. Wide-mouthed and expectant, we felt unhappy when in some years her ‘journey’ used to be longer than others. “Perhaps she has more stopovers this year”, we’d console each other.
The enthusiasm has ebbed by several notches over years, yet there is no doubt that as Mahalaya finally comes and goes, the collective yearning will gradually reach crescendo. The great thing about Kolkata puja is without doubt the pandal hopping. How contagious is it? You bet it is something that is completely exceptional and incomparable. No community festival in India can ever come closer to Durga Puja. Indeed some years back I met a Brazilian couple during puja, who were overwhelmed by the scale of celebration and participation by people of all hues.
Well, to talk of Durga Puja and no matridarshan do not gel. Here then are some glimpses of last year taken from Ananda Bazar Patrika’s website, Ananda Utsav.
With today’s Viswakarma Puja, the season of puja starts. This morning, as I go to local bazaar to replenish weekly stock of fish, vegetables and fruits, I come across scores of roadside pujas with blaring loudspeakers belting out latest Hindi film hits. Our para’s cycle-rickshaw pullers celebrate one such and they’re already over with offerings to deity early morning.
Sunday is the day they earn most. So the mandatory priest-conducted rituals being done with, they cannot let go their earnings for the day. Come evening, and then the real celebration will take place with impromptu jigs accompanied by sumptuous dinner and liberal dose of cheap liquor.
For everyone, including those who habitually look down upon roadside celebrations, Viswakarma Puja marks the beginning of long puja spell that ends with Kali Puja. But the enthusiasm is clearly muted. Not many kites fly in the sky, and my childhood memories of full-throated bhooo katt ttaa seem a distant dream. The younger lot does not much care. They have other priorities to look after and Viswakarma Puja is not among them.
Today is also the last day of ‘inauspicious’ Bengali month Bhadro. Many traditional families observe Anna Puja on this day when the house is cleaned and food made a day earlier is eaten. The coming month Aswin is a new beginning to welcome the homecoming of Durga with her children and the festive spirit becomes all too apparent.
Shop-owners will see a surge in buying, people will start new activities, and houses will get a touch of freshness, though much of all that escape the needs of city-dwellers. As the cycle of festivities comes upon us yet again, it is time to partake in them and pick up small moments of joy and happiness to be stored forever in the chest of sweet memories.
If there is one outdoor advertisement that doesn’t go amiss in Kolkata’s busy thoroughfares, it is Buladi. This plump middle-aged matron’s image has sunk deep into one’s mind bit by bit, and that is where its portrayal is successful. It shows that social message, if conveyed deftly, can indeed strike deep roots.
Buladi campaign was started sometime last year when West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society (WBSAPCS) took help of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), the advertising agency. Credit goes to O&M for having created a masterly campaign, and to WBSAPCS for sustaining it for a long time. AIDS is an issue that needs careful yet fast handling, and spreading the message of its danger is a top priority. To that extent, the Buladi campaign has met its purpose.
And now, going by news-reports, of all the places, the Buladi campaign is going to be shown in puja lightings. Consider the paradigm shift over the past year. Earlier, it would have been a taboo suggesting using condoms for safe sex in puja lightings. Now, it is welcome. This is heartening because it shows an awakening even if it accompanies a ‘supposedly social stigma’.
Want cruising to Andamans via Puri in 3 days? If CPT (Calcutta Port Trust) has its way, this may soon be a reality. Which means the cruise liner will do the complete course from Kolkata’s Kidderpore docks to Sagar Islands at the confluence of Hooghly river, and then turn to the sea to proceed to Puri and further on to Andamans.
The proposed route is Kolkata - Sagar Island – Puri – Andamans. At each place, the liner will anchor in deep water at all-weather points and visitors taken to shore in smaller crafts. Sea-facing cabins may cost Rs 15000 to Andamans and Rs 5000 to Puri per person. Not cheap, but then cruising usually suits people with deep pockets.
Though there are several popular circuits in western waters, something of this sort hasn’t been tried that way in eastern shores, except for occasional Kolkata – Andamans sailings. Expectedly, the tour operators though upbeat, are keeping their fingers crossed. The ball has just started rolling. Hopefully, there will shortly be one more reason for ardent tourists to visit this great city.
Talk of games, and India shies off. A Leander here, a Rathore there, that’s all. The mainstream media is so obsessed with cricket that it defies any kind of decent logic. I still remember a misty-eyed TV commentator (of erstwhile Star-NDTV), moved on the verge of tears while reporting on Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘unbelievable greatness’ in returning to play the world cup in UK after his father expired.
Whatever skeptics may opine, the fact is it is the combination of Indian economy opening up and TV’s entry into every urban bedroom that cricket has suddenly become the numero uno game in India. There is a strong similarity between cricket’s popularity and mushrooming of beauty schools on the wake of Sush and Ash’s success. Both are sudden, and supposedly murkier, what with lots of money and self-interests moving about. If anything, neither connects with the masses worth mentioning. What is specially upsetting about cricket is that though this game is not played at grassroots level, it has nevertheless eclipsed all other sporting activities.
PM inaugurating 2004-05 NFL in Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata (Picture source)
Now, for the first time it seems football is going to snatch the much-needed limelight, thanks to AIFF (All India Football Federation) president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and of course our PM, Manmohan Singh. If anyone says Manmohan Singh’s interest in football is a flash in the pan, he is mistaken. One may only recall his pleasure while kicking a football at the inauguration of National Football League in Kolkata a couple of years back. Also the fact that PM has included Das Munshi’s suggestion in the Brazil pact indicates his earnestness in promoting the game.
Ok, so what now? I believe we’ve to trust AIFF that it would at long last do something about football on the back of tie-up with Brazil. It’s very heartening to see that nearly all who love football have lauded the initiative. Doubt still remains as to whether we’ll actually see something on the ground since after all it is ‘government’s efforts’. But then, as we know, something is always better than nothing. Let’s hope India discovers its strength in sporting arena, as much as it has in other fields.
Today’s ABP (Ananda Bazar Patrika) has a controversial news-item – men are more intelligent than women. I’ve traced the research works the news-item refers. One is a detail study by Prof. J Philippe Rushton, professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada based on the results of Scholastic Assessment Test or SAT. The other is a BBC news report that talks of a study to be published later this year in the British Journal of Psychology, which says that men are on average five points ahead on IQ tests.
In either case, the findings are unequivocal in saying that men indeed hold more intelligence than women. Skeptics may argue that the findings will not stand to scrutiny because they look like a general assessment and are not specific as to how and where lies the mismatch. However, since both are scientific analyses without any bias on either side, perhaps we’ve to agree to the findings, even if with a pinch of salt.
Taking the argument further, I’ve some observations culled from everyday experience. I feel men are more adventurous in the sense that that they do not mind and are not afraid of exploring uncharted paths, often at the expense of fame, prestige and immediate gain. The uncertainty behind a closed door does not deter a man from finding out what lays beyond. If it means walking alone, so be it.
Women, on the other hand, tend to prefer known environment. On a set piece of work, women nearly always perform better than men. They are focused, able to understand issues better and generally do their work flawlessly. To give an example, a woman stock market analyst may be very good at tracking price movements, but perhaps she will shy off if asked to invest her own money on the stocks she herself thinks are good bet.
As we know, unless the unknown is knocked over and conquered, it will forever remain just that – ‘unknown’. Men can risk everything to conquer the unknown, women will not. This is perhaps one reason why there are more men Nobel laureates than women. The society needs both, so in the end, notwithstanding angry ripostes from ultra-feminists that men are only large storage of sperms and nothing else, their being more brainy is no more than just another fact of life.
As promised, here is Debashis Mukherjee's second series of pictures. These are his snaps taken in the desert city, Dubai. I must thank Sanyal da (Sujit Sanyal) for not responding to my request for permission to publish these pictures, which I believe can be taken as 'permission granted'.
The good thing about Debashis' pictures is that he's comfortable in a wide variety of landscape and has that succinct understanding of the subjects of his photographs. Whatever it is that goes to make his pictures so real, one thing is certain. Viewers like me enjoy them to the fullest.
If ever you want to see craft in motion, now is the time to visit Kumortuli. Scores of artisans are busy putting final touches to the idols that will shortly make their way to puja pandals near and far. Kumortuli is now a bee-hive of activity. But why only Kumortuli? Hundreds of clay artisans in Kolkata and elsewhere in the state are engaged day and night in making clay idols.
These days though, clay idols have given way to fiberglass idols, which are more durable, and therefore preferable for overseas buyers. Talking of overseas buyers, their numbers appear to be on the rise. There is a growing interest among people from different corners of globe. Few years back, I chanced upon a Brazilian couple during puja, who were held up because all the flights were full. They were thanking heavens for being forced to spend Puja period in Kolkata, for otherwise they won't have known that such grand spectacle of celebrations (equivalent to their carnivals) does indeed happen in India, of all the places.
In London this year, British Museum is the place where a 20-foot Durga idol is being made for a community puja in Camden in the north of the city. Artisans, drummers and others are slowly congregating at the venue. The idol is planned to be immersed in the Thames at the culmination of a long procession. People are palpably excited, including Richard Blurton, assistant keeper of British Museum's Asia department, and justifiably, no effort is left unattended to make the event a grand success.
Yesterday’s centenary ‘celebration’ of Bankim Chandra’s nationalist song, Vande Mataram, has passed off peacefully. It’s curious that a 60-year independent India would still need a 100-year old song to prove credentials of patriotism. Such was the brouhaha over singing the song that the entire episode can be best termed as a blot on our national fabric.
There are many accounts of the run-up to the event that are available on the net. Of particular interest is Bill Poser’s Sep 6 narration. He is affable and articulate in probing the meaning of the song, and what goes to make it a national issue.
I’ll attempt a political twist to this whole incident, because I feel there is bit of shrewd thinking behind it. BJP, the ultra-nationalist party, is a proponent of everything anti-secular. Notwithstanding India’s success since independence – much of which can be credited to the Congress party – it believes our country is on the threshold of disaster only and only because of what it says minority appeasement. Though there’s some truth in their contention, it’s no more and no less a concern than the other ill, namely casteism.
Now in power, Congress is gradually usurping the ground on which BJP and many other regional casteist parties stand. That’s good, because as we’ve seen during turbulent 50s through 70s, a strong left-of-center Congress party is the best bet for a multi-cultural country like India.
I can’t help but mention an interesting development early this week during CMs’ conference in the capital. Budhhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Bengal CM, has been very vocal about curbing the menace of terror-import from ‘our neighboring country’. This has been BJP’s very strong political plank, but with a twist. While BJP looks at the religion of the terror-causer, Budhhadeb has clearly meant that it is our national sovereignty that is at stake. A very clever maneuver that, and welcome too, for it snatches away a good amount of ground of BJP’s partisan politics.
Looking for hardworking, nonchalant, careless traffic-stoppers. Must have experience in leading middle-of-the-road rallies for any reason. Must be able to cock a snook at people’s sufferings and counter law-enforcers with bad-mouthing. Formal education is not mandatory, though sounding big without knowledge is desirable. If you have these qualifications, rush in your application today. There are many vacancies available. Remuneration will be strictly on merit.
Let’s say a job ad such as above comes in some city papers. What do you think will be the response? Looking at yet another traffic-stopping rally on Sep 6 – this time by adivasis – it can be a safe bet that there will be no dearth of applicants. Why is this so in Kolkata?
Opinions vary. Politicians say traffic-stopping rallies are a sign of mature democracy, one where everyone has a right to protest. But the malaise is more deep and complex than what appears on surface. Perhaps, social scientists can throw some light on the matter provided they’ve done some solid homework based on independent surveys.
Readers may recall I once wrote on rail abarodhs. To me it seems the participants in these protests have less or no work on their plates. It may as well be that their jobs are so secure that there isn’t much of concern of loosing them. Whatever it is, the fakeness of most protests are all too apparent for everyone to see.
Does it mean genuine protest does not happen? It does, but only very very rarely. And common people do know when it happens. Because they can instantly connect with the cause without any coercion.
On a lighter vein, why not we have an itinerary of yearly rallies in advance, much like the holiday list! It'll save pain for the non-participants and score gains for those who take part.
In my childhood, the only Bengali books we used to frequently loan from school library used to be Chhabite Biswabhraman ('Seeing The World Through Pictures'). Those were pre-TV days, so there was no way to know that the world is indeed a vast arena of wonders, except from radio and dour newspaper images. Anyone who came from abroad would be a prized possession of a para (locality) and it'd for many days that we, the kids, would look at him with wide-mouthed surprise.
Chhabite Biswabhraman were our windows to the world, and we knew many famous landmarks from those books. Indeed these memories came rushing when I first saw the pictures from UK below. They are so vivid and illustrative that it seems easy to capture the moments there when they were taken.
Cdr. Debashis Mukherjee has taken these pictures during a recent trip to UK, but I barely know him. It is my 'senior friend', Sanyal da (Sujit Sanyal) of Ongc, Ahmedabad, whose friend Debashis Mukherjee in turn is, who has sent them. Sanyal da is a great socializer and is dear to quite a few men and women. I'm fortunate to be one among them.
Off to the pictures now. And yes, do remember to come back in a few days to see some more of Debshis's pitures - this time from the desert city, Dubai.
