Well,
looks like this year’s Diwali’s going to be spent with an extended family. The
reason why I say so? Umm…okay, let me spill the beans here; and it’s not as
dramatic as you might be contemplating. I guess it makes perfect sense when I
say that the exercise that I’m currently undertaking is perhaps going to
revolutionize the practice of burning fire-crackers during Diwali; uh oh…did I
just mention Diwali? That did tickle the nostalgic bewitchery.
If
I rewind my ‘timeline’, I could perhaps visualize the jubilant reunion of sorts…with
the family members from across the country and abroad would come together and
mingle in the essence of amity and concord. The bongs would call it Kali Puja
that is again an importunate extension of the acclaimed doctrine “বারো মাসে তেরো পার্বণ” (the collective celebration of 13
festivities in 12 months) and that in effect, rejuvenates those dripping souls
after the Durga Pujo hangover. The quintessence of exuberant fun gained
momentum with ভাইফোঁটা (Bhai Phonta or Dooj) taking over the
proceedings as a logical follow up….but then, all good things have to end. I
think the best part of this dual celebration was the jubilant prefatory drill; till
1998 it was a grand praxis to celebrate Kali Pujo at our ancestral place in
Ranaghat. That was indeed the best part of the year for me at least; yes Durga
Pujo always had the stranglehold of upbeat impact but the traditional
conjuration attached to “Diwali” was so very appealing. And how can I forget
those glorious expeditions to Champahati, South 24 Paraganas to procure the
best ever firecrackers in Bengal, in bulk as well as at reasonable price.
“I
hope that these crackers have been ‘tuned’ well…I want to see the height of
this flower-pot output”- My crackerjack proclaimed, he was one of a kind.
Sampling those ground-charkas, rockets and flower-pots would be his venerated
expertise, we did develop quite an eye for fire-crackers through his
intervention. He did manage to learn those intricate details as an aftermath of
a hilarious incident that took place in the year 1994 when a fallacious ‘abated’
bottle rocket ransacked gravely into a local retail store…could have been a
ghastly accident in there. It does crop up thunderous cachinnations these days
but the fact that dad luckily survived a fortuitous ‘chocolate bomb outburst’,
doesn’t really go eclipsed. Damn, my neighbor used to store those ‘interdicted’
chocolate bombs in the refrigerator after the stricter anti-sound pollution
norms were imposed by the Calcutta Police…there was literally no stopping us.
But honestly speaking, I had a special liking toward “Aloo Bomb”, the one that
needed no invitations (fire) to ‘impress it’s impact’ and the victims were
those poor street dogs….sigh those guilty pleasures of childhood. But I think,
the biggest surprise…the biggest ‘phenomenon’ of Diwali so far, has certainly
been dada’s unexpected return from the States, that too with his family…back in
1999. It was his first visit to India in 10 years post-graduation, he was
indeed such a changed man…his stories from across the seven seas were something
to enshrine. Those were the best days of my life.
Okay
then, taking the cue from my first paragraph….I’m back to Champahati now, this
time as a consultant working towards the skill up-gradation & process
improvement of the entrepreneurs out there, the vision being touching the
excellence that Sivakashi, Tamil Nadu has managed to reach in the last few
decades or so. Yes.... it’s a challenging exercise but then, if we manage to
achieve even 30-40 percent of our projection, I guess Champahati could turn out
to be one of the most vibrant clusters in the country…and the outcome being fabrication
of some excellent quality of fire-crackers and overall development of the
people associated with this industry. Yes, I have an extended family now, I'll celebrating Diwali with them this year. It sure, sounds exciting...I bet you should visit Champahati at this point of the year...the exhibition of fire-crackers is just incredible. No worries people, I will keep you guys
updated with the progress of this assignment through my subsequent blog-posts. Wishing
you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali, stay safe, stay awesome. Enjoy....!
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| The Essence of Kali Pujo and Diwali: The Diwali Lights The Revolving dissipation of free spirited energy and grace! |
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| The Essence of Kali Pujo and Diwali: The Gracious Light Painting... Well, who would have known, that the experimentation with ISO would explore patterns |
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| The Essence of Kali Pujo and Diwali: The Idol at our ancestral place... The essence of radiating positive energy is such a lifter.... |
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| The Essence of Kali Pujo and Diwali: The Upliftment.. That's how the darkness-marred, poverty tinged lanes of Kolkata have responded.... |
* This post has been written as part of the #GharWali Diwali campaign by Pepsico. You can watch their lovely new film on #GharwaliDiwali here.
