Reverence for the Divine, Apathy for the Real

In a season of celebration, we honour Maa Durga but fail to protect her real-world forms. The festivity dims as we grapple with the hypocrisy of revering goddesses while neglecting women's safety and dignity

- SIDDHARTH DEV VERMAN

We are in the middle of yet another hectic season of Puja revelries. This year has not been kind and especially in the streets of Calcutta the shadow of recent events will mingle sadly with the haze and smoke of the dhunachis.

For a moment though the hurt and the tragedy of a young life lost in the most meaningless of manner will be drowned in the noise of the dhols however muted.

For me, the Durga Puja was a time of fun and frolic in more ways than one. Raised in a cosmopolitan family and environment, October ushered three variants of the festival into my home. From my Nepalese mother, we received the blessings of Dashai or dassein, the main feature of which was the sacrifice of a buffalo, preferably killed with a single stroke of the Khukri. I remember the time spent in Nepal when assorted animals were sacrificed and boars were hunted by my uncles to kick start the festive season. Later in school, I would wander from house to house with my Nepali friends as a singing troupe who performed songs and dances in exchange for cash and the odd bottle of rum for the more adventurous kids!