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You can relate with this post deeply if you have
spent your life (short or long time period does not matter) in any village of
West Bengal, logically those who have/are spent/spending life in towns or
specially in metro cities are far away from the smells of nature, yes, I am
talking about nature, the towns and metro cities have become so much polluted
that we all are craving for some fresh and pure air.
Thankfully, a long time period of my life, my
childhood days, I have spent in my village, this is the reason, just like other
villagers, I have deep relation with soil, the mud, trees, fruits, ponds,hays and
agricultural fields and greenery.
If you close your eyes you will experience the sound
pollution in a town or metro city but if you do the same in a village you can
experience the sound of passing air, the twittering of birds, the sound of
movement of dried leafs, the smell of the soil…everything leaves an enchanting
effects in the mind.
The greenery…where it is in any town or metro city? You have to travel a long to experience it leaving the city but if you
are in village the greenery is very common to experience.
No, it’s not a comparative post mentioning the
differences between a village and a city, what I wanna mean is…you become much
attached to the nature and its enchanting effects if you are from village.
The vanished smell in air
Yes, this year the smell in the air is no more…I am
talking about the season ,the festive season, this is why I have already
mentioned the name of the state…West Bengal, with the pomp and grandeur Durga
Puja is celebrated here can be hardly experienced anywhere. This is actually
the time for the season “autumn”…the weather remains pleasant for more than two
months, the dew from the evening gives a pleasant experience and sometime
becomes the reason for cold and cough but unfortunately all these are vanished,
when there is no dew so no question of its smell, it’s just yesterday the rain
due to “Titli” has started here, before that we were suffering from scorching
heat in the day time. The essence of dew, the smell in the air all these are
very much attached with Durga Puja which knocks your mind with the feeling “pujo
ese geche” (Durga Puja is knocking at the door), the scorching heat made us
feel that it’s the may-June season.
The vanished smell of Colors
This year what I have missed a lot to see is…the
coloring of houses, the age old Bengali tradition is…the coloring of houses
take place just one or two months before the Puja but this year in my colony
only a single house has gone for it but not for the Puja purpose rather for the
marriage of their daughter that will take place in the month of November, rest
of my colony members have completed the coloring three four months earlier,
even in our house the coloring of the second floor has been completed in the
beginning of this year so no question of any more work.
I have been brought up experiencing the lime was of
houses while staying in my village the colors have some special smells which I
cant forget even now, the most intense effect related to this is the smell of
pitch, yes the pitch which is used for the construction of roads, surprised?
Actually there WAS a common practice in the villages that the main door of the
houses used to be made of woods and to keep them safe from water and other
natural effects the door used to be colored with pitch…oh God, I can’t forget
the smell till now and I miss it a lot, even the houses which were made of mud,
their outer portion used to be colored with pitch.
Now a days the use of pitch has vanished and this
year in my colony and nearby colonies no one has gone for coloring…most of them
have completed few months earlier ….so you can understand the vanished feelings...
The vanished season
As I have mentioned above, until “Titli” has stepped
in here we were experiencing the season as May-June, otherwise the morning of
autumn has a different feelings, you experience the coldness from the dawn to
morning, the freshness in the trees and plants filled with dew drops makes your
day and in this context it reminded me of the poem…
Dekhite giyachhi porbotmala
Dekhite giyachhi sindhu
Dekha hoina du chokh meliya
Ghor hote sudhu dui paa feliya…
Ekti dhaner shisher upor ekti sishir bindu”
This one is written by Nobel winning famous Bengali
poet Rabindranath Tagore
The meaning is…in the search of beauty I have traveled lots of places, have explored different countries, mountains and
rivers but I have missed to cherish the beauty of a dew drop upon the grass
just outside my house.
Catkin…this one plays a vital role with this season,
to be exact…with this festive season, walking out in the morning exploring the
jungle of catkin, the mild blowing air and the falling dew drops with
pleasant sun rays make you
feel that you are almost in heaven. It’s not only heart and mind soothing
rather very eye soothing also.
But
this year, due to improper season and the scorching heat the catkins are very
rare to see.
These are some pics captured last year.
Heading to Explore |
Cleaning the bushes
Adjacent
to the outer wall of the boundary walls of the house, just beside the road,the
small grasses grows up during the winter season and this is the time the
cleaning take place with the honor “Maa Aschhe”(Durga Maa is coming), so
everything should be neat and clean. This cleaning actually takes place average
two weeks before the puja but this year I have experienced it just from
yesterday.
So
finally, which we, the Bengalis feel from two months of arrival of Durga Puja
every year, this year we have started to feel the same to some extent just from
yesterday, yesterday evening while talking with some of my colony members they
expressed the same…”Due to the weather change, now we are feeling like Durga
Puja is knocking at the door”
New
dresses and gorgeous pandals are also attached with Durga Puja but the feelings
of mind, the happiness and the mental attachments with the season and the
nature…all these play most vital role in our lives.
Actually
what I feel is…you can experience the gorgeous decoration and designer dresses
in other occasion also but the feeling of “Pujo ese geche” or the effects of
nature in your heart and mind can only be experienced when all these natural
phenomenon take place and you are attached with it.
“Pujo
Pujo gondho” means “it smells like Puja” ,very common feelings of the Bengalis
from two months earlier of Puja, its intensity has decreased a lot.
Later
I will try my level best to share more about Durga Puja but I really doubt coz
this year i have some responsibilities in my shoulders regarding Durga Puja.