Unforgettable Memories !!
Many years ago,saraswati puja was a very special day of the year. After all she symbolizes knowledge,wisdom,arts culture and we as school students eagerly waited for her arrival which normally falls in end of Jan-middle of February every year. Braving the chilly air and cold, we would get up early in the morning and prepare for the puja at home along with maa, my cousins and other aunts . Ours was a joint family and saraswati puja was always done together as a team. We would be involved in every phase right from planning to idol shopping to preparation of the bhog. And then at a stipulated time our purohit moshai would come and we would all sit around the idol and witness the puja and offer Anjali followed by Prasad like luchi suji khichuri khoi doi and so many other things. In Bengali households, students do not study on saraswati puja and that meant we were free to do anything on that day. Since all of us at home are convent educated, we never went to school wearing sarees like other friends from other schools did. But I vividly remember wearing a saree every puja and accompanying Mom to her school (she is a teacher) and then visiting my dance school. The entire day was filled with so much festivities. Saraswati puja is also called Bengali Valentine's day. The roads are filled with pretty young girls in sarees and boys roaming around in bikes after them. What a site that used to be!. Since we did not go to school on that day me and my cousins would sometimes go to our terrace and observe people on the road.So much fun it was. By the time it was evening, we all again came together near the puja place and we had an elaborate arati followed by a small cultural programs mostly comprising Bengali songs and dance. And then we had one more round of khichuri labra payesh before calling it a day. This entire scenario changed once we left home to pursue our bachelor's and things were never the same again. Today as I sit in my office and see some facebook posts of people wearing yellow sarees and enjoying saraswati pujo my mind races back to those memories of childhood. This new generation will never understand how much fun we had and how we looked forward to this day for the entire year. However I am still looking forward to the weekend celebrations of our Bengali community Antorik where we try to recreate almost the same experience from our childhood.
Jaya Jaya devi chorachoro share,
Kuchojugo shobhito muktahare
Bina ronjioto putak hosthe
Bhagabati bharati Devi Namahastute !!
No comments:
Post a Comment