WELCOMING THE ARRIVAL OF GODDESS DURGA

I did see them today morning. Those KASHFUL, as if, being ecstatic had managed to engulf the bed of the Yamuna. Instinctively the sky commanded attention of the eyes. Probably to find out is this really the advent of Bengali’s ‘SARAT-ritu’. The senses tried to feel whether the dawn’s “HEEM” could render a bit more pleasantness to the sunshine.


SARAT – A season, like summer, winter etc, between Rainy and Winter season in Bengal, INDIA (generally the months of September and October)
KASHFUL – A kind of FLOWER with slender stems that grow along river beds during the season SARAT
HEEM – a Bengali Word for morning dew


It happens every year. Probably from time immemorial!!!! Always “SARAT” bestows them from its repertoire to commemorate the arrival of our “MA DURGA”. The restiveness that the sky and the winds exhibit in SARAT is probably its unique style of portraying its immense enjoyment. Those dancing KASHFUL, suspended by the mild breeze of the dawn, probably want all of us to join in this unrestrained, sublime and unpretentious delight.


MA DURGA – Goddess DURGA worshiped by HINDUS during SARAT



However even when the ambience is redolent of the festivities that is knocking our doors, it probably would not be irrelevant at all to delve onto some current issues that are very much germane to our society. In fact, over the years this has been the practice that facilitated the process of wiping out gaps between castes, creeds, races, religions, countries and continents. In the process, our PUJA could surmount the confines of our families to become SARBOJONIN in the real sense.
Today the vibes of conflicts between Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Democratic Values etc. have assumed a diminished and subdued presence. However this probably has paved the path for ‘terrorism’ to sneak into our society. Under the aegis of ‘false’ religious sentiments and agenda such terrorism continues to strike the ‘social fabric’. Uninhibited consumerism and a system that suffers from a vacuum in upholding creative thought-process, particularly to its youth, have bolstered and facilitated propagation of such terrorist acts and schemes. As if strong currents cruising through narrow crevices, it has grown to assume such proportions that surpassing the limits of countries and continents it is a universal truth today.
And this has disallowed paying requisite attention to many other similar potentially disruptive issues; those that if remained inadequately attended might lead to more severe cataclysm. For instance, ‘Global Warming’. The very process of much discussed ‘inter-state water distribution’ would become redundant if in another twenty years or so the glacier at GOMUKH melts off thereby making the GANGES perennially devoid of its water. Similarly, the earth that recently Sunita Williams experienced during her voyage to the ‘space’ and then shared with us would assume a different portrait if places like the SUNDERBANS gets submerged by the oceans, leaving aside the irreparable losses to ‘ecological balances’ such incidents would lead to. Building an appropriate barricade is therefore the need of the hour.


GOMUKH – The source of river GANGA (The Ganges, INDIA)
Sunita Williams – Americal Astronaut (of Indian Origin)

And we will have to succeed in that. Otherwise, subsequent to switching to the ‘open-economy’ model, the vibes of an economic revival that is now being felt will not be sustained. And if we fail to do that, then we would continue to witness incidents of mass suicides by farmers of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and elsewhere.
But if we can, then will it not be the supreme way to pay homage to our “MA”? Only then will HER arrival get the right meaning if WE consciously respond to the unfortunate families of those poor farmers and victims of mindless and coward terrorism. Residents of our Society, all those who have been there before and also those new ones who would join us this year for the first time, through their prayers to their beloved “MA” would definitely endeavor towards finding answers to these questions. The collective efforts would surely light up HER abode (our SHRINE).

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra – States in INDIA