" pujo aasche"...21 days to countdown.The clear sky has already started to show itself off...and peeping amongst it are the cottoned-white clouds.Every year as the "pujo" comes,it makes me (not only me,perhaps all bengalis) feel that we are bengalis.A sniff of the air,and we know it..."pujo is coming".
It feels like a nostalgia,to recall all the 'pujos' that i have seen in all these 21 years of my life.Except for last year,i have been in my native city,Asansol,during the festive season.
This year too,unlike the last year,I'll be in Asansol,celebrating 'pujo' with my family and friends.
Someone asked me the other day,"Why is 'pujo' so important for the bengalis?".I couldn't explain it to him in words.Instead I just gave him five phrases to chew upon.Want to know what they are?...
"Notun jama,pandal parikrama,bondhuder songe adda,proti bochhor notun prem ar jomiye khaoa daoa."
Well,for now,it feels as if these 21 days are being stretched as 21 long years.
"please maa, joldi ghore eso"...