Firsts in Mumbai!

The Durga pujas went by last week and I haven’t had so much fun in days. Well, for firsts, both husband and I were working all the days, so we could not really venture out in the day time… but we did pretty well for ourselves methinks! This was the first time I saw durga pujo in Mumbai. Well, you’ll think what’s the difference?? Believe me, lots… the city makes all the difference. Am born and brought up in Delhi and there the “Pujo” (as Bengalis fondly call it) has its own amazing colours. I am not much of a Bengali, believe me, but when it comes to Durga pujo, this is one event when i become very "bengalish".
Well, for the uninitiated, Durga pujas basically mean five days (and nights) of pandal hopping, seeing the beautiful idol of Ma Durga (Indian Goddess of valour and courage, who was created by the Gods to kill the demons.. yep, the good vs. evil bit), standing in long endless queues for bhog, gorging on Bengali delicacies and snacks, meeting friends, chatting endlessly, watching cultural shows in the night, gorging some more food and showing off new clothes each day morning AND night (and there are 5!). Well, this is in Delhi... My experience of the Kolkata pujo was lot different, and that’s another story, altogether.
Despite lack of time and crazy days at work, we managed to pack in as much as we could! That’s what surprised me the most actually. There were days we were both dozing off in the cab, but we still had to go. We completely kept to the tradition of pandal hopping and gorging on yum food … though I never expected to do so. Food yes, but not pandal hopping, basically because each pandal is located at one corner of the city.
Now there are only a handful of pujos in Mumbai. Most of them are organized by the Bengali personalities living in Mumbai. The most popular ones are those of Abhijeet’s in Lokhandwala and of Rani Mukherji’s in Santa Cruz. Whereas the former had an air of mela atmosphere, the latter was more traditional and more exclusive. Then there is the traditional pujo held each year at Ramkrishna Mission at Khar. The idol was made in a traditional style, and still beautiful. There is another in Bandra organized by Shakti Samantho and Basu Chatterji. And this one I liked the best, in terms of the décor (with Jamini Roy paintings, huge traditional lanterns), the scale (not too huge and yet spacious enough) and huge food stalls. Then we went to the pujo at Chembur. This pandal is on its 87th year and somehow, one can feel the difference in the fervor here!
But nothing prepared me for the Durga pujo at Vashi (New Bombay). We started for Vashi at 9:30 pm and battling the crazy traffic reached in one and half hours. And the place is huge! The place was so startling may be because I am yet to see so much open space in itself in Mumbai. There must have been more than 2000 people in the entire pandal at 11:00pm, and yet we could not even feel the crowd! This place was amazing.
And the amount of food I ate this time is not funny actually. From begunis (deep fried slices of brinjal with a coating of gram flour) to biriyani (Awadhi style), from mishti doi (sweet curd) to gulab jamun, from kebab wraps to an expensive Thai fare. A gastronomical delight!
Well end of the day, I could definitely skip the traffic snarls (we spent more hours in a cab than in the pandal!) any day. But I did not know there was such a large Bengali community living in Mumbai. I might still be missing the Durga pujo (can’t help if I am biased), but the Mumbai Durga pujo might just made up for it –almost!
Well I am only discovering Mumbai, and enjoying every wee bit. This was only one page among many! Here's to firsts, a city i fall in love with each day. :)

Trip to Kasauli

Have you ever felt one with nature? Or may be just very very small? Somehow this indescribable feeling leaves me wondering who could create something so beautiful... Nature might be the only factor, which makes me want to believe in the prescence of God, of a greater spiritual force, against which I cannot do much, except feel for with a sense of awe and respect. Nature humbles me, just as much it gives me joy and peace.

This picture beside is from Kasauli... breath-taking place! Isn't there something magical about this tree? Like right out of those Enid Blyton fairy tales you used to gorge on?? There might be a fairy or two prancing in the grass.. Hiding themselves due to human intervention, may be. Anyways, I can still feel the wetness of the mist if I close my eyes.

Sit by my side

Come, sit by my side
Quietly
Patiently
Calmly
Keep an arm on my shoulders
So I can rest my head on yours.
Let us sit away from the crowd
For a while.
Away from responsibilities
Respective schedules kept aside.
Let us not run on the beats of time
Let the seconds tick away,
Let this time be just ours.
Let us forget all our fears and anxieties.
There aren’t any, at this point of time.
Let us play in these stolen moments,
Let us start all over again.
Imagine this is the first day we’ve met
What will you tell me?
Something, anything,
You haven’t already said?
Let us sit next to each other
And communicate.
But, you need to feel the need
To do so first.
You need to have the feeling
That there is something to share.
We might love each other a lot
But our expressions are different.
We need to find a common language
To give more meaning to our love
To find our passions for each other.
To discover each other anew each day.

A baby step

Here I begin... what seems like after an eternity. I finally lay down the foundation stone, with what is my first ever blog post i have written. I do not know what I achieve to get out of this, though I hope I do manage to reach out to people to whom I matter. And to those I do not know. Yet.

A baby step it is. Yet to get my balance here.. Still trying to get the hang of this place. I wonder what has stopped me to venture out to this space before in this way. Though I knew I always wanted to. And so I begin this journey. Nothing auspicious about it, but extremely important for me. I am trying yet another medium of communication here. Though right now, its only me listening to my own voice and no one else has entered the room!

I find this place like life actually.. You do not know what to expect, but you are still excited anyways!

Raising-a-glass-to-myself,
Indrani.