The Pearls of Catharsis Times Issue 01, Oct 2016 | Page 24

The next day was the main and most important day of the Puja, Ashtami. I woke up early in the morning and the first thing I did was that I got ready for Puja. I wore a saree that day and so did all my friends in the locality. The rest of the day I spent with my family and my relatives. After the anjali( offering to the goddess) we all gathered in the community hall for the bhog. The whole day I was looking forward to my cousin who was supposed to visit us that day and when she finally arrived in the afternoon, we caught up on the latest happenings in our lives and finally went out to a much awaited dinner. Nabami / Navami( the ninth day) never comes but with a tinge of sadness. It has a strange duality to it – the tingling sadness that the Puja is about to end, and an equally strong desire to celebrate the most, make the most of the festivity that is yet there in the atmosphere. Nabami sees the height of festivities and sees us in our gorgeous best. It is as much about celebration of the festive spirit as it is about spirituality. On this day every year there is huge family get-together in our house and there is a gathering of about fifty people. What a day it was! Time went by in a whirlwind and left me in a daze. The last day of the Puja is Dashami, and is always very depressing for me I almost feel like crying. Why only me, it is depressing for everybody. These four days of the Puja my house was decorated with lights and flowers. In fact, all the streets of Kolkata are decorated with colourful lights as if the city is in a complete jovial mood forgetting all its miseries and grief.