GOING DOWN MEMORY LANE.....with a heavy heart !!

Here she comes...mommy dearest! Somewhere this festival has become a part of the bengali culture,a part which every bengali household keeps waiting for all through out the year! I too, m no exception.So literally m pretty much upset this year for not being able to witness the grandeur of this fest since m out of home,out of my home town, in a land where there's very little significance of this festival,where the prime focus of a fest has been restricted only to college fests? party squares? weekend outings? Urbanization they say!

Day dreaming has become a part of my solitude this days,going back to my school days,waiting eagerly for the puja holidays.The shopping spree in full swing months before the advent of the puja holidays.Actually the excitement begins from the month of september. Witnessing the creation of the idols at the bhashon pal (much like kumortuli of kolkata), the first instalment of the kathamo,the clay structure,giving it a form..then comes the colour base,covering the clay models with bejewelled saris,paper work ornaments.And then few days after the Vishwakarma puja,comes the invoking of the goddess,MAHALAYA!

Getting up early morning,listening to the agomoni songs,watching the MAHISHASUR MARDINI program on tv.By this time the pandal work begins in full swing..and i m talking of an age when theme puja has not yet been started,so it was just a simple hugely structured pandal with decorating interiors with a huge chandelier,colourful canvas and a broader base where the 5 idols will be brought on the 5th day (panchami) starting from Mahalaya.

Colourful markets,bazars,stalls,roads and shops packed with men,women,children alike. Loading of the idols on the trucks on panchami,going to their destined pandals, where they'll be worshiped for 5 days,and again loading them on the same trucks on the 5th day taking them to the brahmaputra ghat where they'll be immersed one after another bringing at end to the much talked about,much celebrated festival of the bengalis DURGA PUJA! I will miss a part of my life this year. A part i m so used to,since my birth.Will miss the moments i have cherished all through my life..the last moment shopping,pandal hopping,eating outs,night outs,watching all the rituals associated with it..the sound of the drums,the blaring music from the loud speakers,the morning anjoli,pujor bhog,arati,bisorjon er pala and of course my sister,specially this time of the year when we both go crazy!!....everything...just about everything!...hopes alive mommy! hopefully,next year ! Amen!

....Of Radha and Meera !!

"A big budget,lavishly mounted magnum opus from Sanjay Leela Bhansali" screamed the hoardings in 2002 when Devdas was released...and it did lived upto the expectations of being truely a gloriously excessive bollywood epic in the history of indian cinema operated on a scale seldom seen in bollywood ( read Mughal e azam,Pakezaah, Amrapali for past reeferences). The film was outrightly turned down by the critics for doing injustice to the classic masterpiece by the bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. I, for one seriously didnt like the novel when i read it long back during my school days,finding it extremely depressing,doomed and lethargic towards the end. So before the release of the film,i caught up with Bimal Roy's version of the classic starring Dilip kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyajayntimala. Again i found it boring,except for the brilliant performances of its lead players... But much to the dislikes of many critics, i found Bhansali's version to be visually stunning, splendid, not to mention entertaining, though being high on melodrama and over the top performances...but most importantly,i loved the film because of its two leading ladies Madhuri and Aishwarya.

Something about this film which i found remarkable was the beautiful depiction of the two prime characters in the film, Paro and Chandramukhi. Their love,pathos,emotions and struggle encircling the protagonist Devdas. One truely gets to witness Bhansali's eye for detailing when it comes to classic aesthetic sense,marvelously blending the two women within the mythological characters of Radha and Meera,the life stories of whom we all are aware of..

The director (along with the costume designers Abu jani-Sandeep khosla / Neeta lulla and art director Nitin desai) infuses ample textures and colours to match up with this two mythological references from the past..Red,blue,satin,pink,lavender and purple to elaborate the flamboyance and radiant Radha (Paro) while using Orange,Maroon,green and gold for the purity and sanity of Meera ( Chandramukhi).

Radha's longing for a single glimpse of Krishna transformed her into a divine lover,even naming her as 'Srimati' the beloved of 'Sri' Krishna, the crown jewel of all Krishna's consorts, the goddess of 'raas'..,while Meera being a poetess,dedicating her entire life singing and dancing for the everlasting charm of her Krishna, never expecting anything in return,perceiving him as her lord,lover,husband and master...coloring herself with the 'color of dusk'

Now coming back to the film Devdas,many had objected Bhansali's interpretation since he had taken enough liberty with the original classic. Nothing wrong with that, if u are presenting it in a right mode, in a correct context, for example, the meeting between the two women had never occured in the novel while i simply cant forget one of the best scenes in the film,the confrontation between the two ladies at their first meeting and of course, the highlight of the film being the brilliantly choreographed dola re dola number by Saroj Khan,the two women dancing in gay abandon expressing their love for Devdas! The mystic virginal beauty of Aishwarya blending in sync with the magical eloquence of Madhuri Dixit providing the sole for this much touted magnum opus of Indian Cinema.

Agreed that the film was extremely melodramatic,true to bollywood glitches, but if you can keep the commercial aspects aside and look out for the aesthetic touches in the film, then you will surely find a Radha lighting a lamp throughout in the name of Krishna, a Meera, who's inner chambers are a reflection of her devotion towards her beloved Krishna and many more such alike!

That dark dweller in Braj

                                                             Is my only refuge.

O my companion, worldly comfort is an illusion,

As soon you get it, it goes.

I have chosen the indestructible for my refuge,

Him whom the snake of death will not devour.

My beloved dwells in my heart all day,

I have actually seen that abode of joy.

Meera's lord is Hari, the indestructible.

My lord, I have taken refuge with you, your maidservant