Bongs and Durga Puja

When we talk about bongs, we can seldom miss talking about maacher-jhol or rosogolla or taant-sarees or Durga Puja.

Eventhough you don’t meet your friends and relatives for the rest of the year; Durga Puja being the main festival of bengalis, makes sure that all bongs are together during this time. The preparation of the grand event begins months before the festival but from the day of Mahalaya – the celebration begins. Mahalaya is the day of invocation or invitation to the mother goddess to descend on earth. It is also the day of remembrance where people offer “tarpan” in memory of their ancestors.

And then begins Navratri -  the worship of goddess Durga for ten days. From sixth day of Navratri, starts the actual carnival and it continues till Dussera – the day when Maa Durga killed the demon Mahishasur that is the victory of good over the evil.

The stage is set with idols of Durga, Laxmi, Saraswati, Karthik and Ganesh and Lord Shiva; pandits perform puja all day long; huge pandals are set with crowd of hundreds of people who come for performing puja and then have the famous khichudi bhog; the evenings turn musical where singers sing the rabindra sangeet and other folk songs; various food stalls are set to satisfy the hunger pangs of people who get tired of talking and meeting the people; everyone is dressed in new clothes especially  women clad in traditional sarees of dhakai jamdani, baluchari, kathastitch, toshor, bomkai…; in short one and all is seen enjoying the festival with never ending zeal.

There is delight of arrival of goddess on earth and gloom when she leaves the earth after immersion. This signifies that each of us goes through a cycle that starts with birth and ends with death; each of us has a different part to play when we are on earth; one who comes has to go and that is the law of nature and that has to be followed by everyone. And then with new hopes and new wishes, we wait for another year for the arrival of goddess and then another festive season begins.

May Goddess Durga shower her blessings on all of you!!! May all your wishes come true!!! Wish you all SHUBHO MAHALAYA          

Apt Judgement

After the death sentence announcement of the four accused of the Delhi rape case, 13 September 2013 has definitely become a big day for celebration. After a wait of almost nine months, the genuine verdict has come. But till those people are actually hanged, the punishment won’t be complete.

I, like many other people hope that if the accused move to high court then even the High court should respect and continue with the decision of death sentence and not drag the case further for years. Supreme Court and President should also reject the mercy plea.  

I just wonder why and how anyone could fight from the accused side. I heard that the lawyer of the accused was telling that if any more rape happens in Delhi, then he will fight for his candidates in High Court. I could not understand his logic. Is this rape a joke for him that he expects everyone not to react and stay casual that rape cases are absolutely normal so none of the accused should be punished? This type of incident is being considered as “rarest of rare” cases; seems like he is out of his mind. Infact that juvenile, who was basically the main culprit, should also be hanged. If not now, then probably after two years when he will be of 18.

If the court remains rigid for their decision and the accused are hanged, then probably it will create a stir and develop fear among those who feel that they can do anything they want and escape without receiving punishment. People should realize that rape is not a mistake to be forgotten but a sin that deserves a severe punishment. If court continues to announce death sentence then it would be a major initiative and a step forward for the development of society as a whole. The fear of death probably would stop people from committing such crimes. After all, a rapist is a rapist and not hindu or muslim or juvenile or adult or young or old and he should be hanged till death.

RIP Nirbhaya.

Maa Ka Pyaar

My friend’s mom had come for Madhushravani puja. I, with my other friends went to her house for the last day puja. That day you are supposed to eat as much sweet dishes as you can.

We all did the puja and then it was time for some prashad. We all sat and aunty started serving and then the serving went on and on…..Kheer, ladoos, fruits, rasgullas, dry fruits, barfis and so on. Too much of sweets, we were all tired of eating. And then while leaving, aunty said, “Have some puri sabji?”

We were not in a position to drink even water but moms are moms. They are the experts of emotional blackmail when it comes to feeding the kids. Even after denying for so many times at last we did not have any option left than to agree. Deal was set to have one puri. We were having but then suddenly we don’t know from where she came and kept two more puris in each of our plates. We finished eating finally. We were so full that we were unable to walk. Although it was evening but we were so full that we all skipped our dinner.

This situation happens many a times when our moms serve us food. They always feel that we are not having food properly. It is always the favourite dialogue of all the moms when they see their kid after long time, “You have become so thin.” And when the kid is married then guy’s mother will feel that daughter in law is not taking proper care of their son and girl’s mother will feel that in-laws and husband are not taking care of her daughter.

This is mom’s love. For each of us, our mom is the world’s best cook. They have the perfect recipe of everything, blending the love together with other ingredients and serving the best food. The love with which they serve you the food, no one else can do. Whenever the food comes to you via your mother, it becomes special. The love they shower is incomparable and precious. 

Brands Confused Brains

Watch television for 10 minutes but effectively you will be watching advertisements for around 7 minutes. And among all these ads what interests me more, is the tagline for cosmetic products, like: face creams ---Lakme - youth infinity; Ponds – white beauty or age miracle; Olay - total effects or regenerist; Neutrogena – fine fairness or deep clean; And the ingredients for preparing them like different soaps --- contain shea butter, tea tree oil, jojoba oil, aloevera, eucalyptus oil, honey, lemon; face washes available with all varieties of fruit flavours and etc etc.

Each product of each brand is unique but confusing. From toothpastes having salt to shampoo for silky, shiny, damage repair, dandruff free, for oily, dry, straight, curly; from hair colours to face creams; from mosturiser to lip guards having strawberry/cherry/guava/apple; from dish cleaning agent having power of 100 lemons to hand wash that cleans your hand in 10 second and not 60 seconds. Everything has something different to offer.

Isn’t all this confusing? Even if I am very clear about my skin and hair type, if I go to the market to shop for some cosmetic, I am definitely going to be confused while buying after seeing so many products; I won’t be able to decide that which one will actually suit me. My mom or grand mom never faced this type of dilemma because neither they had this knowledge nor they had the choice but their skin or better if I say health, was much better than us.

People now are so much conscious about their looks and this huge availability of products is slowly transforming this consciousness to craziness. Of course, it is better to be concerned for your health but definitely not worth to be paranoid. You will stuff yourself with oily food and then you get a pimple on your face and then you will expect that clean and clear facewash will remove your pimple at one wash. Is it really possible? Just sensibly think on it. Any golden glow facial scrub will not make you fair and make you glow like gold. Don’t be confused with all these pearl white, golden glow and age miracles. It is always better to consume fruits than running behind these fruity extract products.

If you are in your 30’s then none of the creams will make you younger. Please remember that youth is for certain time and not infinite. There is nothing wrong in getting old. Every age has it’s own charm and grace. You are what you are, so don’t pretend to be one you are not. Everything is the result of the balance, if maintained you can feel good and therefore look good. If balance does not exist then nothing can be good.

I like one ad where Arjun Rampal says that, “These shade cards are for walls of the house and not for your skin”.