PUJA PORTRAITS AND PANDALS:live from kolkata streets

It was almost 11:00 pm.
I was walking since 4:30 pm except some minutes that i spent is bus.
Legs were just to surrender.Shoes started scrabbling the pitch black road.Yet the only thing that kept me steering forward and forward was beauty and its maturity in every eyes ,in every dress codes, in makeups ,in styles ,and in body languages varied at large.Eyes that for a moments holds you struck ,penetrating to the core kept me busy and hence steering on and on.

Durga puja for Bengal is not just an event of  religious  instincts and sanctum.With  time it seems puja has generated a traditional thread line relationship with every denizen of kolkata .Its way beyond the thematic depiction of slaying of mahisasur by goddess , rather a phenomenal analysis of art and artistry that comes out of an ego clash to compete for the best.Every committee ,every society,every park ,every street prepare to portray the best.Even the most traditional and common pandal they make costs at least 10 to 12 lakhs .

Puja for kolkata is like the arrival of loving daughter.Its something that gets reflected in their folk bengali song Ebar Amar Uma Ele R Umay Pathabo Naa (this time i will not let uma(aliter used for durga) depart if she comes).
For Bengal Durga is a sweet daughter that comes once in a year and the whole city of joy knee down to street to welcome her.Like the welcome note every houses ,every windows are petted with glittering LEDs .

Puja for kolkata is a carrier of incredible energy in air, a vector of fraternity and to be precise a palatable plot to put forth their culture to the world at large through print and electronic media.

It is something that I sensed while passing through Kumhar toli,an area from where idols come to different pandals.There lies a piece of art and idol manufacturing in every child of that street that never takes a break ,that never relaxes for a minute.While the crowd is rushing outside praising every trifles they have perfected,they are quietly busy in idol making for the puja next door(may be kali puja  or saraswati puja). 

While returning to the hotel room I felt for a moment , in these streets lies the little talked irony.Some talkative media is selling these photographs with reserved copyrights, big companies are sponsoring puja in every park ,every street yet the maker, the artist,the almighty behind the idols,the bamboo structure and the artistic finishing are silent and lost in the dark streets of this so called mega city.

 Puja for Kolkata is a commercial venture.From a religious worship it has slowly transformed to a culture of camera click and move to the next.Of course the excessive amount of crowd inflow beyond the traffic control is one of the obvious reason for this.Yet the way kolkata police in association with some volunteers have managed the traffic issue is a matter of hats off.

Puja for Kolkata is like an experience ,a travelogue to be inscribed in diary pages.More over it is an experience that requires robotic legs that walks endlessly keeping the pace with the crowd,decibel defying ear drums to consume the amplitude of mahisasur mardini stotram,and more over a faith muffled with patience ready to be tested.