A Post Out Of Turn - Of Times And Timings ...

... And Pomp And Spectacle

This is a flashback to 2016 Puja. The rain graciously bowed out well in time this year, even as it gifted us an incredibly soggy Puja in 2017

The way the rain has targeted its onslaughts, maybe Durga Puja needs to be permanently rescheduled to when Jagaddhatri is worshipped (the bright fortnight right after in the following Hindu calendar month) and Jagaddhatri can arrive as winter sets in? Or would that clash with something somewhere? Divine timing was invented to stop people from fighting with one another over what’s right. But sadly there are so many editions of divine timing … sigh.

It’s been a difficult day. No Durga darshan because a quick Durga darshan gets harder and harder each year. Just entering her presence gets more challenging all the time. Regardless of whether it’s Puja or Christmas, people are getting more restless and competitive. They compete over who logged the most pandals, the most prize winning pandals and so on. All kinds of people. It is a spectacle and they stare. And they click away, thanks both to the ubiquitous phone camera and the bulky DSLRs that everyone suddenly seems to afford. Nobody can just be. And enjoy being! 

A segment of the artwork that overwhelmed the visitor at Mudiali Club 2018

The other day someone was talking about clickbait headlines. I have to wonder why those puja organizers put in so much time, money and effort into “art exhibitions” that are drawing all the attention away from the star of the show– Durga. Well sometimes at least. There are times when Durga herself is fit for an art show. You have crowd surges in these pandals for various reasons. And what ends up happening? A few seconds to gape at the art work and be hustled out. The ropes and barricades. Is it really fun? I think not. Does anyone get a few moments to properly savor that “art” and enjoy it?

I went through it once when such offbeat Pujas first turned up in 1972. We were told by so many, about those wonders in that age of no tech and less infrastructure. It was crazy like a Kalighat darshan, but we managed to capture and save those mental images in a few fleeting moments. And those memories are coming awake now. There was that tiny beautiful image made entirely of mother of pearl. And it went into a museum I guess. And another one nearby that had special lighting effects, a first for its time. These were a sensation back then, though Chandernagore lighting would grace street corners in monochrome or soft colors. Overdoing the art and craft – which is often show without any content or art that I can connect to - makes a puja stare-worthy but takes the soul away.

I recall that our own home exhibitions – the tiered kolus - were similar art shows with an intensely personal touch but they were not overbearingly distracting. And it’s not like you visited 800 homes and received 800 visits in exchange. There were some home displays that my mother would refer to as “artificial.” And that’s what Durga Puja is becoming. Contrived, managed, orchestrated! There’s a space between disorganized, carelessly put together with rough edges and loose ends as it used to often be. And this contrived artifice. A space which we can use creatively and meaningfully and are failing to do.

A friend wondered on my post of the Sandhi Puja Dhak videos whether anything has changed at all in our outlook despite the annual excitement and fervor of puja. She was speaking from the standpoint of Durga the feminine power and the paradox that is India with regard to women’s rights. She is a child rights activist. Well we think of Durga puja in so many different ways that I was a little taken aback by her comment. And I believe something is changing. While spontaneous celebrations are morphing into staged shows, some unseen, unspoken barriers of another sort are melting. Have you heard about change being the only constant? I would say that the sandhi puja of all things is the one constant that all the ostentation and competition have not taken the heart and soul of. It has changed – for the better. In the bid to ensure order and discipline there have been some compromises on spontaneous celebration. But these can be addressed. There are bigger and bigger crowds for offering anjali. Sometimes one wonders whether there is any fun in hurling flowers on the backs of your fellow worshipers. And then having people stepping all over them. To gather in our numbers and worship as one? Or not? Another puzzle to resolve. You can’t have it both ways.

But here are the good changes. For one thing, no goats are harmed for anyone’s entertainment. No blood is spilt. And there’s only so much you can cry for the spirit of a hapless sugarcane. More than any kind of “bali,” it is like the ball dropping at midnight at Time’s Square (I mean no disrespect at all to this profound ritual which I witness in awe every year) and it announces that Chanda-Munda are vanquished. And then the 108 lamps are lit and there is calm all around. And rejoicing. Never in the history of any puja anywhere has there been a slip of even a second in the timing. Can you imagine all 800 sugarcanes the city over giving way with one sharp crack at 5:34 pm? Can you imagine once, just once in the annals of Indian stretchable time? Well make that once a year.

There are times when I resent the isolating of Durga – another post is coming up on what’s so wrong about puja pandals being turned into cave like temples – the moments of sharing that isolation yesterday with some friends and many strangers was surreal. Even through that barrier Durga seemed to be reaching out and drawing everyone in. And people who were not even very near her physically seemed to send their energy in waves through the sweat and steam and goodwill all around. As my pictures of the event will show you. Where were the milling crowds? They seemed to have been put off by the unusual infrastructure and the only standing space available being on slopes of rough planks – great for all kinds of health issues and I am grateful I wasn’t dealing with those. So they kept moving. Worshiping as they moved through perhaps. Like they do in all the major temples- have one glimpse, believe they have been seen as they saw – and move on.

I have seen the glory days of Sandhi puja and the competition for a touch of the aarati flames of those days. Things have indeed changed. For one thing there is a lady in jeans handling some of this nitty gritty. And she is most gracious. An independent (well apparently), single woman with a very low profile and a high sense of community in a good way. There are no fights or arguments on stage. Where have all the elders gone I wonder? And the stodgy middle aged mashis (aunts)? Something is changing. It will change more and recreate itself for greater good and more balanced energies. And a day will come when we recognize the demons who have snuck in among us and we will know how to dismiss them with peace and goodwill.

Durga at Ray Street Club 2018 - grace, power and dignity

Welcome to the new Durga. And hey lady, we need to work on toning down that overpowering glitz a tad. Maybe it’s finally time for this lady to dive back in?