Sharadiya

Today is "Mahalaya", which signifies the end of the "Pitr-Pakshya" and the beginning of the "Devi-Pakshya". It is said that on this day, Maa Durga leaves her Kailasha abode to start her journey for her paternal home on the earth. 
Mahalaya also marks a stipulated, quite predictable routine for many of us. Waking up early and listening to the "Chandipath" (Rendition of Shlokas for the worship of the Goddess) by Shri Birendra Krishna Bhadra, feeling the crisp autumn air which seems to proclaim the advent of the much awaited festive season....the much anticipated Durga Puja ( or Navaratri, as it is otherwise known in many other parts of our country). This year, the wait is even more important and special for me. After 3 years, I will be going home for the Pujas. There is nothing like spending this time of the year with your family. I have known the pain, of staying far away from the family, missing them much more during this festivities, so the reunion this year is so special......only if my husband could join me too in the trip back home...that would surely have completed the joyous moment. Guess for me, not every good thing occur at once. I have some and I lose some...
But here's wishing everyone reading this piece a very happy, peaceful and safe festive season. May the reverence of Goddess Durga touches our lives. 




Image Courtesy : aumkaar.wordpress.com

9/11

Year 2011 - USA is commemorating a decade of the horrifying tragedy that rocked the heart of the country....stole many innocent lives...near and dear ones gone forever....

This 9/11, I am in this country and cannot help watching the live coverages from Ground Zero on TV, and wondering how strongly this country has moved on...without forgetting a single moment of that fateful day.

Real people, with their stories of loss and longings, tear my heart apart. Our world is repeatedly being assaulted by these heinous acts of terrorism. The present time has so become vulnerable in the hands of people who probably themselves do not even know what they want... 

Looking back, in the year 2001, the day when all these happened, I was in Kolkata, and I remember that was my 1st day in my College Hostel ( Our favorite PCGH )....I knew nothing much then about the WTC but know that it was something very important and surely knew how terrible a thing had happened. Several years later....in 2009, when during a trip to New York city, I visited Ground Zero, I felt a severe surge of emotion...I watched the Freedom Tower being built and I realized that this is going to be a mark of sadness and hope, of holding on to the past and moving on to tomorrow,of never forgetting the moment and becoming stronger by the day...all blended together. 

I look forward to seeing the light of that day, when we do not have to have tears in our eyes remembering something so heartbreaking and inhumane..."You may say I am a dreamer....but I'm not the only one..."