It is that time of the year. Everything seems to fall apart in Kolkata. One wonders and witnesses in amazement that a city known for its squalor transforms itself into a grandeur unmatched in the world.
It is the collective frenzy that amazes all. Particularly for the outsiders in the city, it is a spectacle that defies all reason. It is no less fascinating for people like me, born and raised in the metropolis. The palpable tension builds up a month or so before the actual event. Even the weather seems to act in tandem with the anticipation of something ecstatic. As we go about our usual business of living, we can feel the change in the air. The humidity in the atmosphere diminishes as the earth travels towards the winter solstice, the mornings become nippier, the sun ceases to scorch the world, and even the smell in the surroundings changes. Even the mood of the people changes. It is the slow build-up of the frenzy that is so fascinating.
While everything seems to be as usual, one can feel the subtle changes. The weather, the mood, and the conversations among friends, acquaintances, and even strangers revolve around the impending festival. The most stark shifts become apparent in the young. The excitement, the anticipation, and the sense of frenzy are contiguous and percolate to people like me who have passed their youth. It seems everyone becomes endowed with that extra energy and optimism, which is not quite normal.
Yes. I’m talking about The Great Bengali Festival, the Durga Puja, which never ceases to amaze all from near and far. There are so many amazing things about this complete occasion that it defies all categorization.
The streets and the city’s thoroughfare become progressively more crowded as the decoration of the streets and neighboring surroundings commences to make the aged metropolis look like a young bride at the time. More people, young and old, men, women, and children, all come out on the streets to purchase their yearly quota of dresses and gifts as per their budget. No matter how impoverished a family is, during this festival time, they will do their best to purchase new clothes for their family members. This gives rise to a surge of demand that provides a much-needed augmentation to the economy. Various businesses add to the frenzy as they try to cash in on the opportunity and open a blitz of advertisements to promote their products and services. The temporary hoardings and festoons to advertise various products and services of well-known brands become chockablock and almost block the city sky.
The most amazing fact is that people across the socio-economic spectrum get involved to make this happen. The efforts of people from the margins of society are one of the most significant factors that make this festival what it has become. The artisans and the lay workers who remain invisible and are mostly ignored by the urban residents the year round, it seems, are up in arms to make their presence felt. The artisans working on common bamboo or commonplace and mundane things erect giant edifices with fantastic facades, and idol makers create the idols mostly out of wet mud, each unique in their own right. It is quite an experience to see the change, from just a mound of earth to a gorgeous Durga idol, almost life-like, or some bamboo or wood pieces to a monumental pandal, created by mostly conventionally untutored artisans without any apparent plan or blueprint. Of course, one cannot ignore that everyone works in tandem, and the projects, if one can call it that, are always completed on time. No Six Sigma process or elaborate and formal project meetings are required to complete these activities.
The whole process is highly entrepreneurial and seeped with imagination and creativity. This reiterates the wisdom that creativity and entrepreneurial zeal lie at the bottom of society, where daily survival, devoid of the most basic amenities, requires a highly creative mind to survive.
The crescendo reaches a fever pitch during the last three days of the festival when it seems that the city has transformed itself into a grand Bollywood film set celebrating the wedding of the hero and the heroine.
But, alas. All these grand creations are just for a few days. After the immersion of the idols after the Dashomi, everything is dismantled. The life-like idols of Durga are immersed in the river. Like a magnificent dream coming to an end, we all wake up to the reality of living our lives. One feels sadness as so much effort, so much creativity, so much vibrancy, so much madness, just for a few days comes to naught.
But is not this as in life? All our efforts, work achievements, and worldly possessions come to nothingness when we are no more. Or is it? There is a sense of continuity in all these as we all wait with bated breath for the next year when the same drama, passion, creativity, and entrepreneurial effort will unfold again to renew our faith in the continuance of life.
Originally published at https://barun.substack.com.
