Durga puja

All of India is in the midst of the most important festival season. In Bangalore schools are closed for the ten days of Dasara and the streets and markets are busy with shoppers. With Diwali only two weeks away, I have a feeling this will extend into a non-stop month-long party.

In North India, this festival is celebrated as Navaratri which runs for nine days, while in Bengal it is Durga Puja, the most important festival for Bengalis. Artisans work for months to sculpt and paint life-size statues of the goddess Durga. Each family or community buys an idol to worship during the festival before immersing it in a river or lake.

There is an intriguing collection of images of artisans in Calcutta working on the idols here. If you liked that, you can see more here.

Saraswati's blessings

Today is celebrated as the first day of spring - Vasant panchami - in many parts of India. It is also the day that the goddess Saraswati is worshipped. As she is the goddess of knowledge, learning, arts and music, this is an important day for schools and students, as well as artists and musicians.

Saraswati puja is an important holiday in Calcutta and the state of Bengal where it is a public holiday. Schools are closed because on this day books and pens are not touched. These are placed before the goddess so that she can bless them and bring academic success.

My friend Rumpa told me about a special ceremony which is done on this day for young children before they learn to write. Saraswati puja is considered to be an auspicious day to begin a child’s education. A priest visits the household and using chalk and a slate, he takes the child’s hand and writes the first three letters of the alphabet. She had arranged for a priest to come to the house on the morning of Saraswati puja to perform this special ceremony for her 4-year-old son. The auspicious time for the ceremony to take place was before 9:30am. She got all the things needed for the puja ready and waited. By 9:25 there was still no sign of the priest! Of course priests are very busy on this day, because there are many four-year-olds waiting to be initiated into the world of knowledge and learning, all before 9:30am! So Rumpa took matters in her own hands (literally) by seating her son on her lap in front of the statue of the goddess. She put the piece of chalk in his right hand, and helped him write A, B, C and the first three letters of the Bengali alphabet on the slate.

The priest finally showed up around 10am. She told him she had already performed the ceremony. She told me that normally women are not supposed to do this ceremony but her son’s future academic success was more important!

Images of Calcutta

Two typical modes of transport

A house in Ballygunge

Republic Day

Roadside barber

Preparations for Saraswati puja

Afternoon nap

Calcutta Coffee House

In the midst of popular and ever-growing coffee chains like Barista and Café Coffee Day, there are still some veritable Indian institutions which have stood the test of time. One of these is the Calcutta Coffee House. Located close to Calcutta University just off College Street and the bustle of its booksellers, this meeting place for students, writers and intellectuals has been around since 1942.

An unassuming sign above a doorway leads to a rickety staircase which climbs to another time and place filled with clouds of cigarette smoke, wooden colonial-style tables and chairs, ceiling fans suspended from ropes, waiters dressed in white uniforms and tall turbans, and walls of peeling paint.

Many of India’s great thinkers and artists have sat at these tables and sipped coffee while discussing art and politics under the gentle breeze of the ceiling fans. Some of the regulars included Nobel prize winners like writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore and economist Amartya Sen. This was also the hang-out of freedom-fighter Subhash Chandra Bose, filmaker Satyajit Ray, actor Aparna Sen and singer Manna Dey, amongst other famous Bengali personalities.

The simple décor doesn’t seem to have changed much since 1942. There has been resistance to plans to renovate and redecorate this historical café which has fortunately preserved its old-world atmosphere.