Shubho Bijoya

Well..Pujo Pujo Pujo..and now it's over.Another 349 days to go for the next Pujo.Looking forward.
Aschhe bochhor abaar hobe
Bochhor bochhor abar hobe..

Shubho Bijoya

Nabami

Had been to North Calcutta today with Ma,Baba and Moima. Saw some of the pandals that I wait eagerly whole year round to see. These include Bagbazar, Shobhabazar Rajbari, Ahiritola, Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin.I visit these pandals every year. The pandal at Bagbazar is just an ordinary pandal,but the idol is breathtakingly beautiful.I am bowled over by the beauty everytime I see it. Like the one at Maddox Square, this idol at Bagbazar is also one that I cherish forever.I really do not know what but there's some magic in the idol that enthralls me evrytime. Each time I see the idol,I enjoy watching it more and more.

Similarly the idols at Shobhabazar Rajbari and Shobhabazar Rajbati are also wonderful.Visiting these places brings one closer to one's roots.After all this is the real Calcutta.North Calcutta
Kumartuli Park had made their pandal based on the theme "Kalchakra".The interiors of the pandal was done so brilliantly with sculptures of Rama, Krishna, Radha.However I did not like the idol. Thanks to the theme concept their idol did not evoke any awe or respect somehow.This is something that pulls me to Bagbazar, Maddox Square every year. They maintain the tradition. Some things are best kept unchanged and untouched.
Ahiritola had made an underwater show in their pandal interiors.The interior was a bit clumsy but may be in the evening the effect would be better. The pandal looked like a jetty with a few boats and the inside was as if under the sea. Lots of fish and corals were strewn around.Their idol was metallic in nature.
Telengabagan's pandal was one that I visited for the first time this year. I felt that it was a bit overhyped. I mean there are many not so famous,less hyped pandals of similar stature.However, Kankurgachi's Mitali Sangha's pandal was really magnificent.The decoration was done with thread. Many scenes from mythology was depicted in thread art.I could only gape at it in awe. It was beautiful.

This year I have done a lot of pandal hopping. Loved the "Pujo parikrama" this time. Nabami signifies almost the end of the Pujas. I am feeling a bit sad. However I am looking forward to next year's and am already counting days. When will October 1,2011 arrive?Oh when oh when?

Best Puja Gift

How would you feel if one fine day you get to hear that everything that you had planned for a whole year gets cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances?Well that is what happened to me. A few days before Shasthi I got the news that our annual ritual of going out for lunch with school friends was not to happen this year. I was so dismayed.
But when Kasturi called up the other day informing me of a new plan to go out on Ashtami, I was elated.

Nature did not play spoilsport at all. The weather was perfect. We ( Kasturi,Mouli,Sukanya and myself) enjoyed a lot. Sukanya and I had reached first and so did a bit of pandal hopping. Then we headed straight to Hatari where we got our seat pretty early. Thanks to Kasturi's brother booking a table for us :-)
After a lot of discussion we finally zeroed in on the menu. It was Tandoori chicken (everyone's FAVOURITE), Mixed chowmein,Chilli Lamb, Sweet n sour chicken and fresh lime soda.
As usual we were overfed and could hardly walk.We took a cab to Maddox square. This is one pandal that I try not to miss. There's nothing special about the pandal,but the idol is so mesmerising. After our adda session we came back home. Enjoyed the day a lot,don't know whether we'll be able to meet again or not next year or in the years to follow (although next year shasthi's on oct 1st which is a saturday). But today's day out will be treasured in my memory forever fondly..

And I give a lot of credit to Kasturi for organising it so well:-)Thanks Kasturi!

Saptami

Despite the feet ache not diminishing.despite the weather not being so fantastic(sometimes it was very very sunny and sometimes the scorching heat was unbearable) I went out Pandal hopping with Ma. We targetted the pandals of South Calcutta today. Starting with Mudiyali,to Shibmandir to S R Das Road (where we offered our Anjali) to Pratapaditya Road, Badamtala, 66 Pally,Bosepukur Sitalamandir to Bosepukur Talbagan to Singhi Park to Ekdalia Evergreen to Falguni Sangha to Jodhpur Park to Babubagan to Salimpur Pally...it was a tiring day.But at the end of it, I am extremely satisfied with today's venture. Some of the pandals that caught my fancy were  Singhi Park (Golden Temple), Bosepukur Talbagan( made out of plastic bottles and plastic "jhuris") and Jodhpur Park (toy house).Babubagan's pandal was also good but I found the darkness in the pandal very conducive to accidents especially in the rush hours.Badamtala had painted the nearby houses in the likes of their pandal and the entire appearance was very colorful.66 Pally had used umbrellas (very apt I must say!Scorching heat and depression!)

Overall,it was a good day..

 For a complete preview of my album please copy and paste the following link in your browser :

http://picasaweb.google.com/suchetana.gupta/Saptami?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-TxKzZrv6UVA&feat=directlink

Experince: My first whole night trip on a Puja night

Yesterday was Mahapanchami.The first (officially Debi Durga's Bodhon takes place on a shashthi evening though!) day of the carnival called Durga Puja.Thousands (may be even lakhs!I am not sure) of people come out dressed in their new garments,trying to soak up every bit of the fun and frolic of the festive season.Every year I read about how so many people go pandal hopping the entire night,many friends and relatives also go.So this year I decided even I had to go. I could not miss out.Hoping to find the "superstars", "megastars" to be less crowded,we (Ma,Baba,Monai and me) ventired out at a little past 11:30pm.Our first destination was Sreebhumi Sporting Club. The lighting was amazing. Anything from toytrain to Paul the octopus(with Waka Waka playing at the background) to Kargil war was depicted in the lights.The pandal was towering.Although I couldn't quite make out what was it thay they actually wanted to depict.The chandelier was awesome. The idol was normal,nothing extraordinary.
Next we saw two amazing pandals at DumDum Park Tarun Sangha and Dumdum Park Bharat Chakra. The former had made the pandal with 700kg of towels.The overall ensemble was beautiful.Bharat Chakra had made a moving pandal.Every decoration was moving. The pandal was designed as a chariot because it also symbolised movement. Then we saw a few more Pujas and came to College Square. They make the same idol every year, the same chandelier. This time the interior was designed on the lines of the Louvre Museum, France.The reflection of the pandal on the waters of College Square is a must watch. I was totally bowled over.By this time it was already 4am. We started on our return journey. There was a huge traffic jam on College Street. nonetheless fighting the jam we reached home by 4:30.Tired we were,but I was highly satisfied with this unique experience.It was beautiful sight to watch the pandlas and the entire city decked up to welcome the Goddess.
Shubho Shasthi!

Here's a link to all the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/suchetana.gupta/Panchami2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCP2fr-2wyoyAZA&feat=directlink

( Please copy and paste it on your browser  )

Another old post

MEMORIES OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

Posted on December 20, 2008

The other day as I sat listening to a wonderful show on the radio where the
host was talking about his schooldays,memories of my childhood came into my
mind and I started reminiscing about my childhood.
Those were the golden days of my life with so much joy,carefree
life,innocence,togetherness....will they ever come back?
I know the answer is "no",but......I wish......
Like most of the kids,I loved to go to school.The teachers of my school
were truly like mothers.In Lower & Upper Kindergarten(which we fondly
referred to as LKG & UKG),we had classes from 7:45 to 11:15.I remember as
the last period approached,tears would start streaming down my cheeks,the
reason was that as both my parents were working,I had none to look after me
at home,so I had to go to a creche situated just a few houses away from
home,and due to some unknown reason,I never liked going there.I would wail
in the class demanding to go home.My teachers tried to pacify me by even
drawing my sorrowful face on the blackboard,but it was of no avail.My class
teacher in LKG,a certain Maria Miss even complained to my parents on the
"parent-teacher" meeting!She not being well versed with bengali would sound
so funny when she tried repeating my wails.It was like this:I'd cry as "AMI
BARI JABO and she'd get the verb form mixed up and say"AMI BARI JABE"!!! In
UKG,our class teacher,Babli Miss went on leave and we had another
teacher,Soma Miss who lived near my school and she offered to keep me at
her place after school everyday till my mother would return from office.I
sincerely appreciate her act and wonder if more and more children get the
priviledge to have such fabulous human beings as their teachers.coming back
to Babli Miss,I had a "GET WELL SOON" card ready for her,which I'd planned
to send her through one of the teachers,but somehow it didn't materialise
and till a few years back the card remained with a note written in my
childish writing.
Primary school began with different timings,11:30 to 4:15.I remember the
school bus would drop us to school by 11:15 and we'd rush to our classrooms
to leave our bags and then run down to play in the grounds.Our playground
was huge compared to our sizes then!We'd play all kinds of games like "hide
and seek","catching","colourman","racing","help sister","lock and key";we'd
also pretend having mystery to solve in imitation of the "famous five"!Then
as the bell would go,we'd again rush back to class where we had a prayer
session.Everyday a girl would recite the prayer verse from the office room
which would be played in each classroom through the sound boxes,then our
principal Sister Reshma would sing a verse which would be sung by all of
us.I still remember the first few words of the morning prayer:"Our Father
in Heaven,Holy be thy name,Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done.Give us today
thy Holy Bread...."
Music lessons with dear Philip sir was fun.He'd play beautiful songs on the
piano for us.From him we learnt innumerable melodies.Of them my favourite
continues to be "I have a dream" till today.The words were so inspiring.



I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I still remember the blackboard where Sir would write down the words of the
song that we were supposed to learn that day.He would even explain them to
us.Another very favourite song was "Do it now".It had inspiring words too.

Ours was a Convent school,so we had much music throughout the year with
prayer songs topping our list.Christmas meant a lot of celebrations with
fun,frolic and more music.Either Philip Sir or Ashit Sir-our dance teacher
would dress as Santa on the day our school closed for winter vacations,it
would be usually on the 23rd or 22nd December.We would be taught the
practice of sharing with others and we had a gift giving session when each
of us would carry gifts in the form of
biscuits,jams,pickles,clothes,blankets,etc to be donated to the poor and
the needy.
The teachers who loved me a loooooooooooot and were equally loved by me
were Nisha Miss,our class teacher in class III and IV,Sushmita Miss,our
Bengali teacher(she loved my handwriting and often praised me!),Philip
sir,Reba Miss,our Games teacher.The Games periods were our favourite,we'd
do a few rounds of routine marching and then we had the liberty to play as
much as we wanted to.
Nisha Miss was such a favourite with us that I remember feeling very sad on
being promoted to class IV because it meant losing her as our class
teacher.I remember walking up to her with my friend Nandini to thank her
for being a lovely teacher,and you can imagine our joy to see her as our
class teacher again in class IV!
In class II,our class teacher was Mrs.Chandana Kar who was a very
sophisticated lady and wanted to make us one too and she taught us to greet
her in the morning as "Good Morning Mrs.Kar" instead of our usual "good
morning miss" and in the evenings we had to say "Thank You Mrs.Kar,Good
evening Mrs.Kar And Bye-Bye Mrs.Kar"!
I have very vague memories of classI,don't know why but probably because
our class teacher,Mrs.Rekha Bhattacharya wasn't that friendly with us and
she'd always be scolding all of us! But I remember sitting beside Somhrita
and Ritwika and we'd play "doctor-doctor" where I'd invariably agree to
play the patient (being the submissive one always) ,Somhrita,the doctor and
Ritwika,the nurse. I remember carrying bread to school everyday for tiffin
and Ritwika carried apples and neither of us liked our tiffin and would
feed the crows from the windows.I remember our bengali teacher,a certain
Bibha Miss who taught us to write essays.She would write the essay on the
board and we had to copy them down in our notebooks.
Our school had a lot of events lined up for us to participate in.I always
took part in the writing and speech competetions and often won accolades
for them.I also did well in the "flower arrangement" competetion having
stood 1st in successive years.In the functions,I'd always take part in
music,dance was something that I just couldn't and was allergic too! So the
Dance lessons were my least favourite ones!
I had so many wonderful friends in school-Roma,who was in the same section
always with me till we left school from UKG(when she
joined),Sootrisa,Madhurima,Sukanya,Mahmootha,Ritwika.....they remain close
friends of mine even today.I remember once in class IV,our principal,
Sr.Reshma,who used to take our Moral science classes,punished me and
sootrisa by sending us out of the classroom for giggling during the
prayer.We were giggling over a very silly thing,i remember it but I won't
divulge that!Let that remain one secret from my schooldays.
We had regular "Parent-teacher meetings" and though every time the teachers
spoke well of me,I always felt nervous attending them!Being a very
goody-goody,studious girl,I was always in my teachers' good books.May be
that's why I loved my school all the more and still feel so nostalgic when
I see some child in the same blue frock or white shirt and blue skirt with
navy blue socks and black ballerina shoes.........

Another old post that I had written down elsewhere on Summer Vacations

summer vacations

Posted on December 20, 2008

It's that time of the year when colleges and schools have vacations for a
whole month.Seeing my aunt ( a teacher) at home reminded me of the many
summer vacations that i had once had.How i would wait for the middle of may
for the school to close,not that i didn't like school,but...vacations
charmed me more,even today it has not changed.

Summer afternoons remind me so much of my grandma,whom i lovingly called
"ummi".She used to be an ardent television watcher and every afternoon,i
remember,she'd watch the serials on doordarshan.there were so many and my
cousin and i would often watch them with her.vacations were a time to watch
tv shows.i especially remember watching serials like
"aurat","shanti","swabhimaan" and the like.

My mother was a member of the local library"JAGARANI PATHAGAR" and i
remember she used to bring so many books by different authors which were at
that time not suitable for my reading.but i would lie on the floor,often
under the bed and read them while ummi would relax on the bed.she had a
programme till 2:30 afterwhich she would come downstairs to relax in the
ground floor bedroom(as hers on the 1st floor was unbearably hot) and she'd
ask me."tutul,ghumobi na?mati te keno?" and i'd make an excuse of feeling
hot and hence continued reading books.

even earlier,while in primary school,summer holidays meant loads of
homework.they included writing an essay each time invariably on"how i spent
my holidays".and this was a topic that was a favourite with the teachers
and till high school,teachers kept asking at least,the same
question!primary school homeworks(or fondly abbreviated in the school diary
as HHW) also included an exercise of increasing the vocabulary by learning
5 new words daily.handwriting practice was also a common task.

Summer holidays meant a lot of friends going out for trips but having
recently had a trip in the easter holidays,it meant that i had to spend the
lazy afternoons at home listening to All India Radio,especially the western
music shows and the daily "natoks".the first trip that i made in the summer
holidays was in 2001 when i went to kedar-badri.

With the increasing pressure of studies,vacations gradually became
synonimous with extra classes in tuitions,different timings,mock
tests,marathon phone call sessions with my best friends...but one thing
that still remains the same is that i still read books in the afternoons
while listening to the radio.today ummi is no more with us,so i need not go
under the bed for cover but i prefer keeping my door shut during that
time.habits never die...

Vacations are the time to get nostalgic.this year i have no separate summer
vacation,it's the study leave that i have now,but lying down on my bed,i
fondly recollect the lovely afternoons that i once spent.will they ever
come back?i don't know but they will continue to be a part of my best lived
days.

"din guli mor shonar khachay roilo na,roilo na,shei je amar nana ronger din
guli........."

P.S. this was writeen by me long time back,way back in may 2003.had never
posted it anywhere,so thought of doing it now,though it's not summer
now,but somehow rjdeep's blog made me feel so nostalgic......