"Oh my gosh! I am in Bengal already!! This has to be Kharagpur!"
And it was. The train came to a jerky halt at the Kharagpur station. The buzz amongst the various chat and churmur vendors was unmistakable.
"Ah Bengali language, at last!"
I was returning for the Puja holidays to my homeland, after about 3 months. I am a B.Arch student doing my course at The School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh and that time I was in my first year. My 3 months stay in Andhra to be honest had not been an easy one, given the fact that Vijayawada was such a place where Telugu speaking people were mostly dominant. I had to manage my brief stay in the city and also in the college campus speaking mostly English and at times tutafuta (broken) Hindi. My batch-mates and I had to face whatever the students of first year were supposed to, in the hands of seniors. I won't go much into that, let's just say I had found tad bit difficult at the time of settlement. But now I am going back to my city, Kolkata!!!
This was That Month when the entire city is made to look like a bride, this was the time of Durga Puja, the biggest festival among us Bengalis! Even getting to hear the local dialect used by the station-hawkers in Bengal made my heart dance with joy. Ah! Bengal at last and Bengalis! I loved my Bengal during this season of autumn. The golden sunlight makes the murkiest of streets glitter, makes the fields fill themselves up with golden grains! The clouds looked like cashmere cushions with the hint of pink and the Ganga looked as if someone has poured gold dust in it! The sky is amazing, azure, blue and one can hear the distant sound of the dholak floating in the air. The smell of the white Kashful added to the glamour!
This beauty of Bengal is natural at the time of our Festival. One should see her daughter, my Kolkata as she is decorated with the jewelry of the bride-queen! When there's dusk, the light shows begin all over the City of Joy. The streets, street corners, even the houses, gardens and everything are decorated with lights of different colors and in different, awesome patterns. Small bulbs of red, blue, yellow, green, orange and many other colors would flicker in intervals giving the impression that the patterns are in motion. The Puja pandals are the artist's canvas that time. With the myriad themes that the different Puja management clubs follow, Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata becomes artistic. The pandals and the idol of the Durga Ma become lively with all the splash of color and the outstanding decorations with light bulbs. It's just not the pandals, even in the houses of people there's this festive touch! The beautiful Bengali brides of the traditional families appear to be even more stunning as they make preparations for this festival, swinging their long black wet hair in the air and flaunting ivory white Tant saris with crimson red border and golden colored thread detailing.
The red kumkum on their forehead, the gold jewelry and the red alta on their feet adds sweetness to their already sweet smiling faces. The children of the houses play around wearing the most colorful and bright dresses and for men it's either embroidered dhotis or well cut and designed shirts and trousers, that had been newly purchased for this occasion. When it's evening, people from all over the city would flood the streets with their Pandal hopping. And this would go on till the early hours of the next day. Kolkata gets visitors from the other cities and villages of Bengal. At day time, it's the beauty of the white Kashful and the sound of dholak that floats in the wind and enters the ears and night is when the city would light up in the most colorful and royal splendor! My own family members would be so pleased to see me after so many days. My mom and dad are awaiting my arrival in the station with eager anticipation! My mom had promised that she will wear her favorite maroon and gold chiffon sari which I had gifted her on her birthday.
My excitement increased exponentially as I was reminding myself of all these visual treats that I am going to savor! My mind drifted back to the present situation where I was in, that was the lower side seat in the second class AC compartment of Coromondal Express, with the second jerk with which the train started to leave Kharagpur Junction. I couldn't help giving out a little smile, out of sheer happiness and that I was about to step on the streets of Kolkata, in about 3 hours from now. I leaned back my head against the vineyard coated partition wall and turned my face towards the wide window. The light of the midday autumn sun that had brightened up the train corridor, revealed the blue sky and the pink silk clouds. My lips parted again to give a smile as the train made its way through the golden fields. I am going home and back to my mother who colors up my life.
And it was. The train came to a jerky halt at the Kharagpur station. The buzz amongst the various chat and churmur vendors was unmistakable.
"Ah Bengali language, at last!"
I was returning for the Puja holidays to my homeland, after about 3 months. I am a B.Arch student doing my course at The School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh and that time I was in my first year. My 3 months stay in Andhra to be honest had not been an easy one, given the fact that Vijayawada was such a place where Telugu speaking people were mostly dominant. I had to manage my brief stay in the city and also in the college campus speaking mostly English and at times tutafuta (broken) Hindi. My batch-mates and I had to face whatever the students of first year were supposed to, in the hands of seniors. I won't go much into that, let's just say I had found tad bit difficult at the time of settlement. But now I am going back to my city, Kolkata!!!
This was That Month when the entire city is made to look like a bride, this was the time of Durga Puja, the biggest festival among us Bengalis! Even getting to hear the local dialect used by the station-hawkers in Bengal made my heart dance with joy. Ah! Bengal at last and Bengalis! I loved my Bengal during this season of autumn. The golden sunlight makes the murkiest of streets glitter, makes the fields fill themselves up with golden grains! The clouds looked like cashmere cushions with the hint of pink and the Ganga looked as if someone has poured gold dust in it! The sky is amazing, azure, blue and one can hear the distant sound of the dholak floating in the air. The smell of the white Kashful added to the glamour!
This beauty of Bengal is natural at the time of our Festival. One should see her daughter, my Kolkata as she is decorated with the jewelry of the bride-queen! When there's dusk, the light shows begin all over the City of Joy. The streets, street corners, even the houses, gardens and everything are decorated with lights of different colors and in different, awesome patterns. Small bulbs of red, blue, yellow, green, orange and many other colors would flicker in intervals giving the impression that the patterns are in motion. The Puja pandals are the artist's canvas that time. With the myriad themes that the different Puja management clubs follow, Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata becomes artistic. The pandals and the idol of the Durga Ma become lively with all the splash of color and the outstanding decorations with light bulbs. It's just not the pandals, even in the houses of people there's this festive touch! The beautiful Bengali brides of the traditional families appear to be even more stunning as they make preparations for this festival, swinging their long black wet hair in the air and flaunting ivory white Tant saris with crimson red border and golden colored thread detailing.
The red kumkum on their forehead, the gold jewelry and the red alta on their feet adds sweetness to their already sweet smiling faces. The children of the houses play around wearing the most colorful and bright dresses and for men it's either embroidered dhotis or well cut and designed shirts and trousers, that had been newly purchased for this occasion. When it's evening, people from all over the city would flood the streets with their Pandal hopping. And this would go on till the early hours of the next day. Kolkata gets visitors from the other cities and villages of Bengal. At day time, it's the beauty of the white Kashful and the sound of dholak that floats in the wind and enters the ears and night is when the city would light up in the most colorful and royal splendor! My own family members would be so pleased to see me after so many days. My mom and dad are awaiting my arrival in the station with eager anticipation! My mom had promised that she will wear her favorite maroon and gold chiffon sari which I had gifted her on her birthday.
My excitement increased exponentially as I was reminding myself of all these visual treats that I am going to savor! My mind drifted back to the present situation where I was in, that was the lower side seat in the second class AC compartment of Coromondal Express, with the second jerk with which the train started to leave Kharagpur Junction. I couldn't help giving out a little smile, out of sheer happiness and that I was about to step on the streets of Kolkata, in about 3 hours from now. I leaned back my head against the vineyard coated partition wall and turned my face towards the wide window. The light of the midday autumn sun that had brightened up the train corridor, revealed the blue sky and the pink silk clouds. My lips parted again to give a smile as the train made its way through the golden fields. I am going home and back to my mother who colors up my life.
ur a good writer...roshni...really i can imagine bengal and its beuty with this...........i like this....eager to travel bengal......
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