My Calcutta,my Pujo

It is that time of the year again when the sky is a lovely shade of blue,white fluffy light clouds struggling to stay afloat.Yes,it is autumn,the season of festivities.
The entire city of joy is done up beautifully with brilliant decorations.The mood is such a joyous one.Everywhere there is an air of happiness.People are intentionally lenient on the offenders,there is no temper running high.The city is all decked up for THE pujo.

Durga Puja offers a magnificent grandeur to the city.People dress up in their finest and celebrate.Even the poorest of the poor rag picker girl looks so cute wearing the new dress given to her by the 'parar pujo',her toothless smile is worth a million dollars.
When my driver goes out pandal hopping with his highly shimmering 'silk' saree clad wife and an equally sparkling shirt clad lad,engrossed in his toy gun,they don't look garish.In fact,they look so happy,so good.Even when her sandal strap comes off and she ties them with a safety pin,she doesn't look out of place.
She easily gels with the teenager who's busy ordering ice cream for her grandmother in the car while texting friends with her Galaxy.

This is my city,my Calcutta who's so homely,who embraces one and all,who gives a damn to social status.This is the Pujo in my city where everyone belonging to different strata of the society come together to queue up to appreciate marvellous artwork in the pandals,push and shove in the overcrowded metros,enjoy fuchka and candyfloss.This is my city,my Pujo where friends catch up over endless adda at Maddox Square,where lots of unspoken sweet nothings are exchanged between two pairs of eyes.This is my Pujo where all the jethimas and kakimas and Ma welcome the Goddess with their beautiful 'borondala',where all the dadus and thammas attend the 'pushpanjali' with their grandchildren in tow,where all the tweens participate in antakshari and sit-n-draw competetions,where all the dadas and kakus dance with dhunuchis..
This is MY pujo at MY Calcutta

Teachers' day

Today is 5th September.teachers' day..
The morning started with texting a couple of teachers from college.one of them replied immediately.the other person called up in the evening.i'd called up my favourite teacher,my Biology Sir.every year i give him a call on this day to thank him.he has been a wonderful teacher.he has instilled the love for bio in me.i'm forever grateful to him..
In the evening i spoke to another teacher of mine.and in between,wished the teachers from my school and university on facebook.mailed one from college.
Interacting with teachers brought back so many fond memories..
I'm really fortunate in having had such a fabulous set of teachers.
Thank you to everyone..hope i can live up to your expectations..