Of Puja, Durga, and 108 peepal leaves

By Sonali Majumder

Memories.

Tucked away in the deep recesses of the mind, the little fragments of remembrances sometimes float up to the conscious mind like the foamy bubbles that rise to the surface of the sea.

Today, as we bid goodbye to Goddess Durga and wait patiently for a year for her next earthly sojourn my mind travels back to the time when I was about 10 years old.

At that time, Durga Puja was spent with my grandmom in her parental home in Entally in central Kolkata. Her parental house was in no way less than any zamindar palace and the locals referred to it as ‘laal bari’ because of its brick red color.

Durga Puja was celebrated with much aplomb here and on Sasti, me and my little sister who was barely 7 then, were packed away to Laal Bari for four days of what my grandmother referred to as that of ‘fun and festivity’. Not sure whether she understood that we did not always find this vacation enjoyable.

The waking up in the wee hours of the morning, followed by the ritualistic morning shower, the mandatory floral anjali was really not something that two young girls looked forward to. Rather, these compulsive rituals often made us claustrophobic…The only ‘fun’ element in the entire four days was the visit of our cousins when rituals were forgotten and fun and laughter rang through the palatial four-storey building. Much to the chagrin of my grandmom.

Both of us used to look forward to the Dussehra or Dashami when we could zip back to our own home. And on Dashami when the Goddess departed to the conch shell sounds and tears welled up in my eyes….yes they often did …me and my little sister were perforce had to follow another ritual, that of writing Durga’s name on perfectly shaped peepal tree leaves. Not once. BUT 108 times…

Much to my glee, my sibling often skipped the 108 rigmarole…and tell the priest, ‘I have finished’ and smile at me, so that we could romp back home!

Never mind the skipping of the custom….never mind the childish prank but I am sure the Goddess too found it amusing. What do you think? The author started off as a journalist with the ABP group, went places, and is now an IT professional. And when she is not busy with her deliverables, she writes.