A cat has nine lives, I have many more – 4

This happened in 1979. It was Mahalaya – a day when people pay respect to their parents who are no longer with them. It would be a first time for me because I had lost my father the previous year. Therefore, I decided to drive on my scooter to Ram Kund in Nashik. This place is on the River Godavari and considered a holy place. On days like this, there are innumerable priests available to perform the rituals. One of my friends wanted to accompany me. He, like me, had also lost his father the previous year. We decided to leave our township by 6am, drive down to Ram Kund, carry out the tarpan and be back by 6.45 am. That way we could return in time to attend our duties at 7am.

At such an early hour of the day, the traffic on the highway was less. It was the Mumbai-Delhi National Highway No 3 – and it had only two lanes. Today, it is an 8-lane highway. Anyway, we reached the holy spot, did the tarpan and began our journey back. It was the start of another day and traffic had increased on the road. I was driving the scooter and as I approached our township, I saw a truck ahead of me. It was moving at a slow speed and I wanted to overtake it. As I edged out towards the right, I saw another truck coming from the opposite direction. Instinctively, I tried to squeeze into the space between the two trucks – and succeeded. Of course, the drivers let out expletives and I did not wait to hear them out. I had to hurry because the time was nearly 7am! I added this incident into the category of other similar near-death incidents in my life.


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Mahalaya means Chandi Path

Mahalaya is the auspicious day when the Durga Pujas begin with the artist drawing the eyes of the idols of Goddess Durga – and, the panic sets in inside the Kumartuli where the idols are painstakingly made ready. In case of sudden rains, which is not uncommon, the artisans have to not only protect the clay idols safe from the rainwater but also have to resort to artificial drying by heating with blow torches to dry the paint.
Simultaneously, on this day, there is a special program broadcast over Akashvani (earlier All India Radio). It is called Chandi Path and it starts at 4am and goes on till 5.30am. It is the invocation of Goddess Durga and describes, through devotional songs, about her journey from Kailash to annihilate the demon King Asura who has the ability to change his form at will. He is an evil force and, like all evil, can change the form to attack others.
Durga Devi, armed with ten weapons donated by ten different Gods, succeeds in eliminating Asura and continues to the abode of her parents in Bengal.
This early morning program was totally Bengali one but, subsequently, other stations of Akashvani (like Delhi) began – only, it starts half an hour later and while the commentary is in Hindi, the songs remain original Bengali songs.

Another aspect of Mahalaya is the ritual of ‘tarpan’ that people perform on the banks of the River Ganges – this ritual is in remembrance of one’s parents, relatives and ancestors who have passed away into the nether world. The usual practice in Kolkata is for people to listen to the ‘Chandi Path’ and then proceed to the banks of the Ganges for the ‘tarpan’.
And – ye another important activity connected to Mahalaya is the shopping. Usually, this is the time when employees get their bonuses and, shops offer discounts. Obviously, there is a mad rush and the crowds have to be seen to be believed. These shops do not cater to the moneyed class and credit cards are seldom used. (to be continued …)

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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