The raison d’être of this article that it sets out to achieve and consequently narrate is so enmeshed in multiple layers of consciousness and meanings that the entire point of penning this piece is in danger of portraying a biased outlook on an issue that is, honestly speaking, more than an issue to the writer himself. If you are still trying to figure out what the hell the writer is talking about all you need do is cast a fleeting glance over the title of this article as well as the name of the author who penned it. And bingo!!! A Bengali writer trying to wax eloquent over the single most spot of prominence that a Bengali almanac can possibly dish up to anyone. Crammed with festivity of every sort it is humorously said that Bengalis have thirteen (13) festivals in their religious calendar, which incidentally has only twelve months! However, the present article endeavors to concern itself with the biggest, the most significant and the mother of all festivals that Bengalis do enjoy that is “Durga Puja” or “Durga Pujo”. But this article is not an attempt to chronicle the convivial merrymaking in which all Bengalis do seem to revel during the Puja/Pujo in a year in year out manner. Rather it will delve deep into this mare’s nest with the hope of finding out “what does Durga Pujo actually mean to him or her”.

What does Puja mean to him? Does it mean anything at all to her? Does it contrarily mean everything to him? Or can it at all be understood by remaining within the confines of a “meaning”? Is it then a feeling only? Or a sentient, I presume. If it is a feeling then how is it different from others? Or is it an expression then of something bigger which cannot be penned but realized from within? Or is it a sign of something else? A symbol may be then. It may be symbolizing a synergy of some things. Or is it a thought then that recurs to our life once in twelve months? Does it revolve us with an orbital duration of 365 days or do “We” revolve around this “thing” with a recurring span of 12 months? Does it happen to us or we happen to it? Why the sky suddenly seems heavenly blue? Why the smell of air suddenly seems extra refreshing? Why the river seems to meander to a new tune? Why the sight of a dewdrop on the top of a flower makes a refreshing impact on a Bengali mind especially in a specific time of the year?  

Can we find answers to all these questions? Let’s make an honest effort.

The essence of Durga Puja is fundamentally connected with one of the greatest intangibles of our human existence: that is the sense of joy, the spontaneous outpouring of joviality. The sheer imponderables associated with the sense of “joie de vivre” in this regard make it incredibly hard to dissect and dwell on. However, the grandiose extravagance and the material varying opulence so inalienable a part of this unique festival come subtly packaged with differing purposes of meaning to each and every individual. Yes, we all enjoy the occasion but our enjoyment is conditioned and coloured with hues and shades of reason and purpose. Let me explain. For someone who is coming back to his home - after staying abroad for a long time - during this auspicious time of the year the enjoyment assumes an added, undeniable sharpness and intensity both for the person and the persons with whom he/she is going to unite. The invocation and worship of the goddess assumes a totally different dimension to those who have the luxury and tradition of celebrating it within their house/family as many families in Bengal are blessed with the rich tradition of celebrating the Pujo within the four walls of their own house. Words will fall short to describe the sheer sense of collective joy that only the members of those families feel privileged to experience. Perhaps more than a collective sense of joy it’s going back to the roots for them, a sort of way to pay their respective respects to the age-old and unwritten canons of tradition of their own bigger family. For those expatriate Bengalis it is an opportunity to indulge not only in mirth and rituals but also to feel nostalgic about those halcyon childhood days spent all the way back in Bengal. For someone who is just a part of any Pujo Committee the mere sense of being involved in the whole process is enough of a dividend to him. For someone it is an affirmation and strengthening of the state of being a Bengali since this is the quintessential festival of the Bengali community. For them it is a beautiful coalescence, a meeting of many strands of existence woven into a common joyous form.

However, there are some sections of people even among Bengalis whose sense of joy have mixed commercial overtones. It may be hugely disturbing as well as controversial to drag the notion of trade and commerce into something which is meant to celebrate our sense of aestheticism. It is to be noted right here that I do not doubt their aesthetic commitment towards the cause of Puja. Rather these sections of people are the ones who metamorphose this cult of goddess into an exercise of artistic expression. I am talking about all those sculptors, the skilled artisans, the expert craftsmen, the master electricians who all contribute so heavily into this extravaganza of religion, culture, artistry and camaraderie. However, since these people also make a living out of doing things mentioned just above the commercial aspect of this entire thing cannot be sidestepped. And in these cases the sense of joy while giving way to a definite shape of artistic expression (sculpturing for example) still assumes a slightly nuanced implication that is better left unsaid.

I have endeavoured to make readers understand what Puja means and brings to a Bengali. However, as I said in the second paragraph of this piece that any attempt to capture the essence of Pujo is futile in itself since the essence in question outgrows the meaning. If anything it is an expression of many strands of divinity and humanity all symbiotically rolled and woven into one. It is an expression of something bigger, something unexplained, something inexplicable which can only be felt and realized but cannot be penned or given concrete shape through mere words. The Pujo happens every year but it does not fail to capture our heart, our imagination, our longing and our undivided devotion. The entire experience is actually an uncanny sense of déjà vu in its purest form. And precisely herein remains the divine charm of beatitude that the entire episode so beautifully encapsulates.

Webster dictionary defines superstition as a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance or a false conception of causation. In spite of living in an age of logical reasoning, we all, to a varying extent are susceptible to superstitious beliefs and practices. Viewed from a broad point of view, superstition provides the very basis upon which our religious faiths including the faith in God are based. To put it simply, superstition has become an inseparable part of our diurnal existence.

In ancient times when nature and universe all seemed unintelligible, superstitions not only ruled the day but importantly they also bridged the yawning gap between cause and effect for human beings. However, while we have been able to make sense of much of this universe, a significant portion of it still remains unintelligible and beyond human comprehension. The forces of nature though stand explained, are still not necessarily within our control if recent earthquakes and tsunamis are anything to go by. So, as long as there remains a gap between our intellect and comprehension, superstition will always find its way to cling to something else.

However, it is important to note as well as understand that the array of influences that superstitions wield over our life transgresses the so called man-made barrier of reason and logic and establishes a deep affinity with other concepts - equally illusive and arcane. For example, the idea of fate and coincidence do enjoy a strange rapport with a multitude of superstitions that often get enacted- in our public life- in an endeavour to orchestrate a favourable outcome of things. From a specific point of view that in itself is redolent of superstition, the idea of fate and coincidence do seem interconnected since some coincidences are too coincidental to be accepted with a bucolic naivety. However, our refusal to accept the universe and its workings at its face value does challenge on the contrary the idea of free will and the randomness with which the universe selects its options. So the idea of superstition when viewed and dissected from a broader and transcendental standpoint does seem to disturb and shatter some of our preconceived notions about superstitious beliefs and habits.

However, lack of comprehension does not necessarily justify each and every superstition that we happen to practise in our daily routine. In fact, some superstitions are embedded so deeply in our psyche that they have become an extension to our personality. And any sudden attempt to dislodge them or even to neutralize their influences over us may well prove counter-productive. So, at the end of this piece it can safely be concluded that superstitions to a varying extent are important and still irreplaceable. However, the same cannot be said about each and every superstitious habit. So, in a general sense we should learn to rely more on the merits of reason than the unknown charms of some amulets and talismans.

"Holi Hai", is the most common voice that can be heard in the streets of India during the Dol-Purnima, which was 23rd March of this year. The Color Festival of India. Much like the Halloween of the West but differs far in the origin and history.  I remember my first "Holi" festival with my brother and my friends when I was 5. We played along the streets painting faces of each other with different colors and this is the day when you can paint any other person you encounter in the neighborhood without any jinx. This ancient tradition starts the day before when people starts piling up dry twigs and leaves and prepare a statue of the evil and burns at night, locally known as "Nera-Pora" in Bengal. Its delight becomes more enjoyable when people gather around during the burning and dances with rhymes in their mouth, "Aaj amader Nera- Pora, Kal amader dol, Purnima te chand uteche, Bolo Hori bol" which means "Today is our Nera- Pora, Tomorrow is the Holi, Full Moon is over the head, and Lord Hari I Praise you". The following day we celebrate from the morning. Children prepare themselves with colors in their hands, elders play with "abir" meaning the color of dusk, a traditional color for this festival. Also there are traditions like drinking "Bhang" a preparation of cannabis with milk, ghee and spices. Many neighborhood arranges games like "Handi Bhanga" or Pot Breaking where a clay pot filled with color is hanged up high with ropes and competition starts with breaking it by building a human ladder. In many localities this is how the festival starts for the day. Children love to eat traditional "Moth" a type of triangular, hardened sweet of various colors.

The origin of this festival is still properly not known but the custom can be traced back as "Holika" to the ancient religious manuscripts like Jaimini's "Purva-Mimamsa-Sutras" (300 - 200 BC) and "Kathaka-Grihya-Sutras" (around 500 BC). This day is also memorized for many imporatant events in the religious context related to the Lord Shiva turning Kam Deva into ashes with his third eye , "Holika" the sister of Hiranyakashipura, a demon king, tried to kill Prahlada the child devotee of Lord Vishnu. etc. Most scholars think that this festival has been initiated in Vrindavan by King Indradyumna, where it is celebrated for 16 days to memorize the divine love of "Radha" and Lord Krishna. This day is also known as the birthday of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, 1468 AD a devotee of Lord Krishna.

In most of the localities the celebration is ended by the noon. In the afternoon people wishes each other "Happy Holi", neighbor visits each others home with sweets and thus the celebration of colors are completed with the tint of the sunset in the west.

Introduction

Poetry many a time gives a gloss to sex. A veneer that hides the real meaning. This was more so in the medieval age when sex was not so open as today, particularly in Europe which with the advent of Christianity was caged in a wall of puritanism. Ancient India was way ahead and what America is today, India was miles ahead at that age. India appreciated art and sex and enmeshed them together. It was not so in Europe  and during the medieval age a poem titled " Song of Songs" was written. Theoretically this poem refers to the love between God and the soul. Poems  in that period had to bring in God, so that the church did not come down heavily on the poet. This poem expresses love between the soul and God. It gives an analogy of this love like between the love of  a bride and bridegroom.  The poem eulogises the love of the soul and God and compares it to the most intimate moments of carnal love between a bride and a bridegroom on the nuptial night.

The composer of this poem was Barnard of Clairvaux. Who was he? He was  a French Abbot and a reformer of the Cistercian order. Barnard wrote this poem in an inspirational mood and today it is a poem that draws the greatest attention for the latent meaning of love. Barnard could not finish his work and died just when he was beginning the 3rd chapter. Never the less the poem arouses great expectation and is considered a work of art.

The Song and Lusty Sex

The song created ripples in the art world in the 19th and 20th century when the renaissance movement of reality was ushered in. People began to read it as a lusty celebration of human carnal desire. There are hints and clues and reading the poem will bring a reader to the depth of the soul. The poem alludes to the sex acts of the Shulammite women with Solomon. By Shulammite, the writer refers to the women of Jerusalem and the acts of pleasure with Solomon who was the ruler.I may point out that this was the period of the orgy and the Pagan dance made immortal in the movie "Solomon and Sheba".

The poem or song presents carnal intercourse as a mystery, as well as a obsession. In modern times the mystery has gone, but the obsession has remained. Now all are aware that sex is a clash of bodies and exchange of fluids. There is no magic in it, but the song presents this as a mystery. It represents the mood at that time which was puritan.

All said and done the song is however an exponent of lusty sex, albeit hidden in the love of God for the soul of man.  Probably if this song were written today, like the poetry of Iris Murdoch the verses would have been more open and god may perhaps not have figured.

The song is great literature and it also teaches a lot. If I may add this song is the essence of erotic literature. The message of the song is that the body when in the act of love is all powerful and the centre of everything. The song brings out the power of a physical union as Solomon who is the lover throws away everything in the world to just love his bride. The poem says that Solomon loves deeply and he discovers  and gets a glorious insight into the soul inside his bride. This theme is the beauty of the song and gives the song an eternal look and feel. As per the poet the strength of love (physical) is greater than the forces of death.

Allusions to God

The poem repeatedly brings in God or alludes to him.  These verses are certainly not for the puritan for God in his wisdom invites his beloved to the "house of wine". All around are forests, orchards and figures in temples. What a lovely scenario. One is almost reminded of the Indian temples of Khujaraho, with nude carvings in the most explicit depictions. Wine adds impetus to the act of carnal knowledge and God is pleased. The poem brings out the power of carnal knowledge disguised as a reference to god.

The song brings out the fact that sex is something deeper and in that respect Christianity was way behind Hindu tantra and philosophy, which accepted sex as a path to salvation or moksha. The puritan church in Europe would not allow it and so we have this charade of love of god for the soul. The song is a great way to have a fantasy and reading it with a beloved with a glass of wine is an afternoon well spent.

Last Word

The poem is also a great study of human nature, of passion and desire. These are the qualities that must be allowed to flower and not suppressed. The song plays a central role in fertilizing the imagination which in the main is sexual in nature. For there is no doubt that a physical union is the greatest way to be liberated and that is where Tantra comes in. 

I will close by writing and recommending all to read this song. It is archaic English, but in the company of a girl who understands the language, it can be a great and elevating experience.