The 11 observations from a Trip to Bengal

Trip Start point: Wind Tunnel Road
The Wheels: My Royal Enfield
Dates: October 19, 20 and 21
Trip End point: Wind Tunnel Road
Distance Covered: 184 Kms
The quest: Hunt for Goddess Durga

It felt amazing that a simple idea can make both of us come alive... to have a bit of fun. And, there was no need for the four Ps to be called upon to have a great time. (Parties, Pubs, Puffs or Piss ups!)

I had a feeling we would have our hands full and it might become a borderline case of fatigue as well...

This was a great opportunity to explore. Plus the bonus of getting acquainted with new areas in our city and the pockets with Bengali population.

The final list of Puja's we discovered, their locations and to whatever extent detail that I can remember is a list that I've put up in the next post. But this post is about the sensations, the patterns I saw emerging, similarities, the dissimilarities, the Probasi Bengali's expressions...

First. In Bangalore Pandal's were obviously not something they even gave a thought. All of them and I mean ALL were more like
glorified tents. Sure, some might argue that there was some decoration inside, the outside including the frontage resembled REALLY large tents. Whatever the reason, no police permissions, no artisans available, lack of funds, not a priority, whatever, the zing of a great Pandal as one would see it in Kolkata was simply missing. So call em, tents, Shamianas... These ain't pandals...

But what was left as a gap in that angle was filled by creation of multiple Shamiana's. Plus posters on campus with the programme for the four days. Hey these guys were organised. And, they wanted public to come in a planned manner. The reason for the more than one? Well, entertainment programmes galore. From competitions, to quizes, to music, to kids programmes, the second outlet happened to be the interaction hot spot.

Second. Nizamms (no where close as in the original but then, in a place out of your own city if you're a Bengali, you can't be too nit picky)had a stall in most of the Pujas. Rolls, Kebabs ...

Third. Its true, Bengal has a close affair with China. Be it communism, food, tanneries, populated Chinese communities, proximity to similar looking people...
Chinese food vending was another hit in most of the Pandals. Chow mein can I say is a Bengali Staple diet. And they almost invented the Manchurian... Considering it was a probasi Chinese who came to Bengal thereby became a Bengali and then invented it? Not kidding.

Fourth. Bengali's are the quintessential foodies in our land... of course, with a dash of their own flavours mostly.(for example they For example, they HATE SOUR stuff or even Coconuts. Apart from that they love other flavors. Every puja had a mashup of food stalls, and more importantly people gorging on food.

And that's not all. The most important of them all was the Bhog. And that was impressively organised and looked quite inviting in some of puja's. Amazing.

Fifth. An easy way to find a puja in a locality is to hang around, drift lanes and by lanes and if you find a "Bengali look" drift thataway. Well we can by now make out by the very look, as to who is a Bong and who ain't with about 70% accuracy! A warning note on this one, we could not locate one puja despite our best efforts in trying this approach and we knew from confirmed sources that there was a Puja in that locality.

Sixth. Technology aided the puja's where tradition was expensive or not available. For instance, the sounds of the drum beats which are so part of the Puja were supported by CD's or tapes with a lone ranger (even kids volunteering) beating the drum...

Seventh. It was stupid to try this stunt without actually going to some of the associations before the puja's... As with Bangalore, the traffic is crazy... although nothing like Kolkata traffic especially during the puja, the most effective way of transport was the Metro Rail and the two legs. Nothing else moves!

Here the Bullet chugged along, but the distances were great and lots of detours for the search. The old saying, that working to an organised plan in cases like this makes life a lot easier. Albeit, some effort has to go behind the pre-action days...

Eighth.The Idols were a complete let down. Each one looked the same. The decor was so similar. No imagination. After a point almost boring! A twist in this point. While the face of the Goddess was plastic looking and non expressive, the Asur's (or the evil one if you so would) face had loads of them. More often than not I started taking portraits of Mashisasur!

Ninth. Evenings were a washout for this year. No great angles of light and shadows or the dances could be shot. Every evening was reserved for heavy rains and in fact at some of the Puja's the mud made the day time messy!

Tenth. Every army camp has a Puja. Make arrangements in advance if you want a peek at them. These are the more peaceful ones. But you need to get permission to gain entry.

Eleventh. These were the joints for the traditional Bengali Addas. Flocks of people sitting around and just talking away. Gossip, information exchange, schedules, intellectual stuff, routine ... it was all there, all alive!

The list of Puja's? Click here.