Celebrating the Homeland

“Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong…..
Take me home, down country roads”

                -Went the lyrics of the John Denver song that Gargi Bose started listening to- with earphones plugged in- being played on the FM app of her mobile, as she ascended the stairs leading to the security checking area of the Bagdogra Airport, boarding pass of her flight to Bangalore in hand.

                Ms. Bose, a senior manager of an ace pharmaceutical company, had flown in to Bagdogra just a day earlier to attend a special business conference with the key area managers of the concern’s eastern zone- held at Mainak Tourist Lodge, Siliguri, in the evening. She was a Bangalore based person, who had moved in to the city in 2002 post her marriage to Mr. Arnab Bose, who worked as a superintendent in a P.S.U. there. 

The words of the song struck a chord- it was the very song that she as a teenager loved listening to, while being a school student in the 1990s. Though the singer had longed for his own country home in the song, it made Gargi yearn for the country home that she knew- her ancestral home at Andul.

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Gargi’s parents used to stay in Calcutta for her father’s job and her schooling at South Point. However, their ancestral home in the countryside at Andul frequently turned out to be their destination for spending the weekend. In that country home, resided Gargi’s paternal grandparents together with her uncle, his wife and his son Satya, who was a year older than Gargi and studied at a local high school. 

                Those were times that “tripped by on rosy wings”. All the joyous festivals and rites typical to a Bengali household used to be observed at their Andul home with great pomp and gaiety, and with the family always being together on such occasions. The quintessential ‘baro mashe tero parbon’ (the thirteen festive occasions in the twelve months of the year) were celebrated thoroughly, together with some more. Gargi used to keenly observe and follow with immense interest- the rituals of the festivals, the recipes of the delicacies being made on such occasions, the traditional attire being put on by the men and the women, and everything else associated with the festivals. 

                With time, however, the pursuance of higher education towards building of a career and similar other compulsions took predominance over such tender joys- in the lives of both Gargi and her cousin Satya. Satya, went for doing an M.C.A. from K.I.I.T., Odisha, while Gargi choose to take up B. Pharma from Jadavpur University, Calcutta.  Soon after completion of the B. Pharma course, her parents convinced Gargi to marry Arnab, the groom they had seen for her. Thereafter, a new life awaited Gargi at Bangalore. 

                In the meantime, Gargi’s grandparents passed away and her uncle too shifted to Calcutta (now rechristened as Kolkata) with his wife. The family finally sold out the land and home at Andul- albeit with a heavy heart, owing to increasing difficulties in managing the property. So, Kolkata was the only paternal home for Gargi now. The country home was no more!

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                It was the first day of October 2019. Durga Puja, the biggest annual festival of the region, was just a few days to go. The distinctive fragrance of the ‘shiuli’ (night-flowering jasmine- also known as ‘parijat’) flowers, which grow in abundance and signal the advent of autumn in eastern India, wafted to Gargi’s nostrils. The setting up of pandals on the roadside and the sight of ‘dhaakis’ (professional drum beaters) standing at bus stops with their ‘dhaaks’ (traditionally decorated drums)- as seen on her way to the airport- had reminded her of the upcoming festival. Musing that though the divine ‘daughter’ Uma can visit her paternal home with her children for at least four days during autumn, not all daughters of the land are as fortunate, she sighed.

Just upon reaching the top of the flight of stairs leading to the security checking area of the Bagdogra airport, a placard placed there caught her attention. It read: ‘Esho esho aamar ghor e esho aamar ghor e’ (a line from Tagore imploring- “Come, come ye to my home, my very own home”).  It was part of an enterprise of the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal to beckon travellers en route to various destinations to contemplate making visits to places of attraction in the state. And quite nearby was a store that displayed interesting traditional artefacts related to rural Bengal. It was the ‘Biswa Bangla’ showroom. This was an endeavour of the Government of West Bengal to showcase handcrafted heritage products from the state for connoisseurs of the world today. The interesting bright and colourful artefacts on display- showcased at the store immediately caught Gargi’s attention. Finding that she had some time in hand, she decided to walk into the store. 

The offerings at the store indeed echoed the heartbeat of Bengal- via its art, craft and culture. Visitors/connoisseurs coming in can verily get connected to the lives of the people of the land and their myriad expressions simply by browsing over the items on offer. What is more welcoming is that while the products retain the deep-rooted elements of the state’s heritage, yet they are strategically developed or slightly modified thoughtfully- to suit the contemporary requirements, tastes and preferences. 

At the showroom were dolls from various parts of the state, ‘dokra’ handicrafts, traditional household metal utensils including Puja/worship paraphernalia, muslin products including handkerchiefs, dhotis, boxer pants, bed sheets, and apparel for men and women. The Carmichael Rumal, a handkerchief made of Murshidabad silk- a product being revived- was also there on display! Besides, attractive packets and boxes of the world famous flavourful Darjeeling tea were there. There were also masks made by craftsmen of various districts of the state- mainly of various gods/demigods. The aroma of the collection of attar- perfumes unique to the state- mesmerized Gargi.  

Finding bottles of the cherished mustard sauce or ‘kasundi’ on the shelves of the showroom made Gargi feel nostalgic. She remembered how her grandmother used to prepare this item at home, quite painstakingly, during the auspicious period of Akshay Tritiya in summer- using raw mangoes, mustard seeds etc. as ingredients. This was something she missed quite dearly now, in a faraway land.  Also available in the store was special honey sourced from the forests of the Sunderbans. 

Gargi found to her surprise that packets of ‘Gobindobhog rice’ were also there on the shelves. This lustrous, short grained, aged, fragrant rice variety of Bengal favoured by the mortals and (presumably) immortals alike, has been a quintessential element of all festivals. In an instant her mind went back to the days when festivals/Pujas in her home at Andul would just be unthinkable without the rice. And the most coveted preparation made using the rice would be payesh- a sweet rice pudding typically included in every celebration.  Payesh made with the savoury nolen gur (liquid date palm jaggery) available during the winters would taste heavenly, she reminisced. Just then, some brightly coloured tubes stocked on a shelf caught her attention. And, lo, it was the very delicious nolen gur that she longed for- packaged in special toothpaste-style tubes, which increased its shelf-life greatly- making it available round the year!

Further, in the showroom, copies of CDs and esteemed literary works of the celebrated musicians/singers/writers/poets/thinkers of the land of Bengal- down the ages- were also available. Gargi had been an avid reader and quickly picked up some books of contemporary authors- of her choice. Such books in her native language just could not easily be procured from elsewhere. 

Overjoyed and bewitched at getting to check out and buy from the wide variety of quality offerings here, Gargi left the store after purchasing many a thing to her heart’s content. The encountering of the showroom seemed nothing short of an opportunity bestowed by providence to her, and thus had to be made the best use of!

                With all the ‘bounties’ collected, the weight of her hand baggage might have increased by a few kilograms, however, the feeling of heaviness that had developed in her heart at being unable to be at her home during the festive season yet one more time, felt significantly reduced! After all, she would not be missing on the celebrations during the festival this year! While her people would be ecstatically observing the Pujas some twelve hundred miles away, she too would be celebrating in her own way, with great fervour- celebrating her homeland in its entirety- thoroughly savouring the land’s cherishes! 

                Gargi went ahead to enter the security check area for boarding- while spontaneously reciting from a work of esteemed poet Jibananda Das- “Aabar aashibo phire….ei Banglay”, pledging to return….to this (beloved) land of Bengal- her homeland.