Today
Today was Eid. I am Hindu and I practice my religion with complete faith in it and so I mark today as the first day of Navratri. Navratri or Durga puja is the most important festival for me so I woke up earlier than usual just so I could take shower and mange to do my puja before I leave for the day. I have lived in Calcutta and that's why this festival is of special importance to me. I have also grown in a neighborhood
which w s very secular and I had friends of every religion while I was a
kid. I woke up listening to Azan every morning during my schools and
college days, as my dad believed in "Early to bed and early to
rise-makes a man healthy wealthy and wise". I never entered the mosque
but I knew people who prayed there and I knew what all they are cooking
for Eid - I also waited for Moharram eagerly to see the decorations and
possessions across the street the whole day. While I talk about it I
hear the Moharram drum pounding while the drums of Durga puja pandals
echo in my ears simultaneously. That's how I grew up. Today our
neighborhood streets used to be flooded with people dressed in new
cloths hugging each other while the schools are closed for the Eid
celebration. It is a national holiday in India. At the same time India
also gears up for Durga Puja celebration - the almost ready Pandals with pretty much all the decorations is missing nothing but the goddess
herself for the arrival, which is at the verge of completion. Everyone
in our family started the Puja right on the 1st day till the 10th day.
During these 10 days, we would shop while the City of Calcutta gets
ready for the most important time in the year. Our house will hold the
smell of incense while we notice the sprouts growing from the rice
grains under the Kalash in front of the Deity.
I checked the pictures of Eid being celebrated and also became aware of
the most important Jewish festival which was yesterday. I was surprised.
Is there any reason why these three ancient religions chose to celebrate
almost at the same time of the year? I wonder. Is it a way to mark the
departure of summer or a welcome to autumn? Whatever it is all I know is there has to be some common roots which actually connect human race long back before the books on religions were being written and the practices
were being announced to follow. There was a time when people shared one
common bonding and a common human way of displaying sorrow and
celebrating the pleasures just because it is a way of life and not
because it was scripted in the religious books.
For that reason - I celebrate today, being human and part of this
diverse culture.
which w s very secular and I had friends of every religion while I was a
kid. I woke up listening to Azan every morning during my schools and
college days, as my dad believed in "Early to bed and early to
rise-makes a man healthy wealthy and wise". I never entered the mosque
but I knew people who prayed there and I knew what all they are cooking
for Eid - I also waited for Moharram eagerly to see the decorations and
possessions across the street the whole day. While I talk about it I
hear the Moharram drum pounding while the drums of Durga puja pandals
echo in my ears simultaneously. That's how I grew up. Today our
neighborhood streets used to be flooded with people dressed in new
cloths hugging each other while the schools are closed for the Eid
celebration. It is a national holiday in India. At the same time India
also gears up for Durga Puja celebration - the almost ready Pandals with pretty much all the decorations is missing nothing but the goddess
herself for the arrival, which is at the verge of completion. Everyone
in our family started the Puja right on the 1st day till the 10th day.
During these 10 days, we would shop while the City of Calcutta gets
ready for the most important time in the year. Our house will hold the
smell of incense while we notice the sprouts growing from the rice
grains under the Kalash in front of the Deity.
I checked the pictures of Eid being celebrated and also became aware of
the most important Jewish festival which was yesterday. I was surprised.
Is there any reason why these three ancient religions chose to celebrate
almost at the same time of the year? I wonder. Is it a way to mark the
departure of summer or a welcome to autumn? Whatever it is all I know is there has to be some common roots which actually connect human race long back before the books on religions were being written and the practices
were being announced to follow. There was a time when people shared one
common bonding and a common human way of displaying sorrow and
celebrating the pleasures just because it is a way of life and not
because it was scripted in the religious books.
For that reason - I celebrate today, being human and part of this
diverse culture.
Comments