Monday, September 28, 2009

Durga Puja '09


Today is the last day of Durga puja'09.
'Pandal hopping has been the way of life' during the puja days for most of the people in
eastern India, especially Bengal(irrespective of bengalis, non-bengalis and their religions)
.
Everything comes in huge variety at this time of the year, starting from the fashions of Devis and Devs to the style statements of the alive Dev Devis....:), the variety of materials used by the puja committees to make their pandals(where the deities are kept and worshipped and we the people visit them after standing in long long queues for hours..) ranging from wood, clothes ,paper packets, mirrors,tabla,bamboo sticks,conchs and sea shells, bricks,marble,ceramics, plaster of Paris,bottles anything and everything that comes in human imagination (sometimes things are forcefully imagined,and you can well imagine what disasters they make.).

But the days of Pujas are for pure fun and enjoyment. It seems that the city filled with joy,colors, lights and sumptuous delicacies stored and restored all its energies and enthusiasms for this time of the year only. Jovial faces, sparkling smiles, pranks are just too common everywhere. Also Huge number of polices are visible. Dont know where they hide for the rest of the time of the year..!!!(have a look at a pic on right).
You cant be sombre for a moment here at this time. Another thing of the season is the 'ogling session', guys at dudettes and gals at the dudes. Well its somehow a love season, sometimes lost love is revisited and some new loves are acquired.
For me, its the time when I sleep long long hours after pandal-hopping for several hours,
having all the foods I want (having Biriyani for consecutive days forgetting those extra kilos).

In the over-crowded buses,trains, metros and trams you can see lovey-dovey couples everywhere.
Well this puja I went for outings with family only, so didn't have much to talk and observed a lot
(especially faux pas es) which somehow harmed my eyes (though many looked best and many played safe without experimenting much with colors n patterns). May be those are the latest
fashionistas' recommendations, but I some Hated them. Some of them are :
#A big tummied girl wearing a deep purple Top along with ochre yellow Capri, golden sandal.
sky blue painted toes and carrying a maroon handbag...[yuck...!!!]

#A girl showing her underwear label intentionally from the front of her low-waist jeans(not an ultra one, though...[thank God It was not..!!!] ),a
green ice cream spoon tucked in her hip-pocket..[ She tried hard to be a style icon..but alas
for me me she failed..:P]

#A middle aged woman displaying blue undergarment through a deep necked golden yellow blouse.
[no comments please..]

#A young girl wearing a pink legging with a strange geometric patterned long black top.
[Well this one is the most tolerable amongst the others though it looked really weird to me]


Among so many joys and grandeur this year another thing was worth a notice in kolkata, The
number of beggars...Perhaps they have increased exponentially (though many says most of them
are frauds, remember Slumdog??!!). But they are really everywhere(from puja pandals to all over the footpaths) and soo many.Especially
little handicapped children n old ones, You cant help being sad seeing them, yet you cant help
them. A friend of mine said they are all a part of a community which is just meant for that,
and they all have other side businesses. God knows. What does Puja mean to them, for them I wonder often.
Is it merely to income some extra bucks...!!??
P.S: Subho Bijoya To all.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

are those your photos Rimz? coz they're well taken.
there are joys of festivals and sadnesses.. the sadness is to see so many beggars i guess...

Manju said...

durga puja is such a quiet thing over here, just prayers in the temples, that's all. it's so different! and i agree, you took these pics really well!

oh can i ask you a favour plz sweetie? can you just quickly drop by my blog, stop following, n then follow again.i'm so so so sorry for the hassle, but so many ppl r not getting my feeds. i feel like killing blogger pfft >_<

that aside, have a lovely week ahead
xxx

Ajai said...

Lovely ah? You know after reading that I've decided that atleast once in my life I'm going to be in kolkata for Puja. :)

SiMbA tAgO said...

durga puja is just a season of love..romance...sex for some .... betrayal for some.... god coming .... faith.... disasters .... blogging 24*7 for me..... sleeping and only sleeping for some ... dandiya for some .... and many more mixed expressions ....

and as fr the description of those girls are concerned, don mind that i say that , many girls like the ones u experienced are jus the crowd-gatherers ... their intention is jus to ooze out the sex in them in the worstest possible lust form .... may be they think they can have guys at this... NO ... and those aunts aged wnuf that they shud teach their daughters of this themselves come out in such outrageous stuffs that OMG .. cant say that ....

m not criticizing any but yah the truth beholds facts ....

anyways hope u had a nice and great fantastic durga puja ...being a bong is best stated only on these occassions .. i miss them ... miss her ...

have a great time...

P.S .- clicks were superb

Rohit Dassani said...

Hey... good to see the pics of Durgo Pujo!! Hmm i guess we should ignore all that and concentrate on the festivity!! I guess the beggars are refugees from bangladesh.

Anonymous said...

yes durga pooja is for fun enjoyment and yes show off.....
but I have question..did u observe only females?..(its a innocent question... mind it)

HAPPY DURGA POOJA
HAPPY DUSSHERA
HAPPY DIWALI
HAPPY HOLI(??)....

The Solitary Writer said...

happy dussehra nd vijayadasami to u ...

Meow said...

Very well written Rimz :) It was like I could see all those scenes you've narrated excluding your observations of females dressed up in a weird manner :P

Loved it...

Indian Pundit said...

Hello Rimz
First comment in ur blog.
Awesome post.
Good one.

Subho Bijoya to you

Great pics too.

Cheers

Madman said...

Hey rimz what about the men's dressing sense ;) you are nice girl ehei.

After seeing the beggars cant help but worry

Guria said...

Subho Bijaya :)

And a very nice post!

I was asking if I could link this post in a post-puja post of mine? :D Only if you have no problem. :)

rimz said...

@leo:
Yes i took the photos of this one.Yep my 1.3 MP did a pretty decent job..:)

@Manju:
Thanku manju...Okk i'll stop followin n den agn follow ur blog...:)
u too tk cre..:)

@AJai:
Yeah u shud come, I have a keralite frnd who saw durga puja for the 1st time dis yr n he was like child in candy shop, loving evrything he saw...:)

rimz said...

@Simba:
I agree with u somehow. its the truth dt ppl wanna show off more dan anything else...
thanx for likin the pix..:)

@Rohit:
yeah puja was grt.. i too think dose ppl r frm bangladesh mainly..

@Rahul:
HAPPY DURGA POOJA
HAPPY DUSSHERA
HAPPY DIWALI to u too....
n d rest answer is in ur blog...:)

rimz said...

@The solitary writer:
thanx and same to u too dear..:)

@Meow:
thanku dear... i m happy dat u loved it..:)

@IP:
thanku fr droppin n commenting.

rimz said...

@venky:
Actually boys wid bad dressing r soo common dey dnt deserbve spcl mentions u kno...dts y i hvent mentioned abt dem, I cudnt hve stopped if i started abt dem haha...
Btw i never say wat i am..,It upto others to decide..:)

@Guria:
thanku dearie.. n ya ok u can link dis one with ur post.. i dnt mind..:)

Maya said...

now thats a nice account of durga puja, in our part of the country its not celebrated tht much.. may b u shud have taken and posted pictures of those u were mentioning,, it wud have been a time pass

divsi said...

beaUTIFUL pix buddy:))
hope u had a great durga puja!!!:)))

p.s: i got to eat the long awaited khichdi:)))

Onion Insights said...

Hi Rimz

We at Onion Insights (onioninsights.blogspot.com) are always happy to come across bloggers like you. We are also glad to inform you that your writing skills can now be put to good use and you can make some extra money too.

Get paid to shop, dine and report and make some extra money using your writing and observation skills. The concept is pretty simple. Top retail chains, five star properties and fast food chains in India hire our services to get their stores evaluated through the eyes of a normal customer. We are looking for people in Kolkata who frequently visit these outlets and write well.

Every week there are a certain number of reviews in your city. Based on your availability and interest, you can choose to perform a review for us. You visit the outlet and notice what’s going on. You then go to our website and fill in a report which has a questionnaire and comment boxes to help you document your observations.

Within 15-20 days you will be paid a pre determined shopper fee which will include an reimbursement for any amount spent in the store plus an additional shopper fee. That’s how the system works.

Follow the below mentioned steps to sign up as an OI reviewer

Go to this link http://www.sassieshop.com/2dcs
Click on new shopper sign up
Click "India" under new shopper and click on "go"
Enter your basic information in the form and click on "sign me up"

Please call us at +919769781001 or shoot us an email at support@onioninsights.com if you have any other queries or any difficulty while signing up.


For more details log on to www.onioninsights.blogspot.com

Warm Regards,
OI Team

rimz said...

@uncommon sense:
well i dint get a chnce to take ol d snaps of the mentioned ppl. I took a few, but it wil b very rude to post dem all here.
thanx fr visiting nd commenting.

@Divsi:
thanku dear fr likin d pix..
ya i had khichdi 2 days...:)

rimz said...

THANK YOU OI TEAM. Will visit you soon...:)

Madman said...

@ Rimz

what a serious reply :D i was jus kidding dear

Pramoda Meduri said...

Hey..well taken pics and happy dasara to u, belated.

well composed write up and yeah, i agree that it hurts when you see beggers along side ..and are cared by no one.

S said...

LOL on the fashion statements ! It's wonderful (awfully) to see some 'Aunties' and the so called 'hot-chicks', the 'dudes' and the most handsome them all 'the all new rejuvenated 'Uncles' and how can I forget the Jasmine perfumed air ! LOL ... This is what keeps me back from too much Pandal hoping, and I have always limited myself to South Kolkata's pandals and watching the rest of them on local channels !

Site of beggars on such occasions are so common, not only in Kolkata but in every corner of our country, it seems these people are the most badly hit crowd by RECESSION ! ;)

Nice post, made me nostalgic ! :)

P.S. Did you see Guria's post, she has so many good pictures on her blog as well .. brilliant job, you both made me feel there, really :)

Samadrita said...

Talk about atrocious fashion sense.There's a junior in my college who's horrendously fat and yet she always sports skin-hugging ultra-short midriff-baring(a bit) tops and super-tight jeans.She got picked on by my friends quite badly last year.(I admit it wasn't a good thing but er some people just need to be told how horribly they dress).
For God's sake wear whatever looks good on you instead of following fashion trends so blindly. :X

Subho Bijoya anyway!Nice snaps too!

Swapna Raghu Sanand said...

Loved your post on Durga Puja, especially the bit about what people wear, whether carelessly or not, makes an impression of sorts on our minds, doesn't it? Sad to read about the beggars. Your post helped me to see everything so clearly because you wrote very well. So, cheers to you!

Shruti said...

My sec time here!!
Lovely photos!! Loved them a lot!

Those female observations are awesome!

Anoop said...

nice picz :D

rimz said...

@Venky:
i too was not at ol serious dear..:)

@pramoda:
thaku dear for liking the post.. yea d sight really hurts.

@sourav:
yah seen guria's piece its very nice..
hope u'll b njoyin durga puja nxt yr wid ur near n dear ones..:)

rimz said...

@samadrita:
yep i do agree wid u, ppl shud stand in front of camera while dressing..:P

@swapna:
thanx for droppin by n liking the piece.:)

@guria:
yep have checked dem n commented too.:)

rimz said...

@shruti:
ahh thanku dear fr dropping by, n thanku fr liking d post(fr 2nd time..:)..)

@anoop:
thanku ...:)

Uday said...

Nice post! I am a visual guy a few pics of the fashionistas and their faux pas would have helped, especially the undergarment ones. Just kidding ..;).Good Job..

Anonymous said...

[url=http://ivlkrwnnz.com]RgJUI[/url] - djucizFZcWJYZ - http://hhmgziigpu.com

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin