Three days at home at I feel as though nothing was ever wrong with my life!
A few familiar faces, the smell of fresh laundry drying crisp in the sun, the sound of the typical Calcutta cycle-rickshaws honking as they glide past, almost everybody knows you around the lane you live in, mishti and lots of it – makes for such a refreshing change.
In Bengal, it is customary to say that we have thirteen festivals of importance to celebrate in twelve months – so no matter when you land up here, at least one celebration would welcome you with open arms. Today was Saraswati Puja – an occasion to celebrate the goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. One of the reasons why I have always enjoyed this festival was because one is not allowed to touch any written material, hence studying was a strict no-no, rather enjoyable prospect, no?
This year, however, it gave me a chance to wake up early to pray, eat a six course Bengali meal, dig out and laugh at a few old family jokes, take pictures of the home pujo and my baby nieces in addition to wearing yellow!
Yellow is the colour of the day – most of the men, women and children are seeing in its various shades; as I was walking the streets, looking out of the auto rickshaw or even at the Aurobindo Ashram – yellow was what I could see everywhere, what a mood lifter!
