বিদায়বেলা
Maa will leave for Kailash again. Pujo is over. Once again the pandal will sit empty, the stage will be strewn with dried flower petals and shindur.
There is one lamp still lit in the dark empty pandal. The echoes of tear stained smiles and dhunuchi smoke still resonant in the flame....The flame of our wait for Uma's return.
বিদায়বেলা এসে গেল। এবার উমা ফিরে যাবে। পড়ে থাকবে ফাঁকা প্যান্ডেল, শুকনো পুজোর ফুল ছড়ানো বেদী, লোকের পায়ে পায়ে ঘোরা সিঁদুর খেলার গল্প।
পুজো শেষে অন্ধকার, ধুনুচির গন্ধ আর অশ্রুসিক্ত হাসি মাখা প্যান্ডেল এ একটা প্রদীপ জ্বলে.... এক বছরের অপেক্ষার প্রতীক হয়ে সারা রাত জ্বলে।
The bittersweetness of Dashami amazes me. People dance to dhaak. The married women in a graceful sway decked up mostly in red while the youngsters go wild dancing. There is lot of laughter all around. The smoke from dhunuchis as the dhunuchi dancers weave patterns out of smoke by deftly turning their hands. But every now and then people look up at Maa and realise that she will leave. Many families also look longingly towards their Uma who will also return to their workplace or own house. This Uma resides in every child who returns home during Pujo.
The crowds erupt in cries of 'BOLO DUGGA MAI KI....JOYYYY' and 'ASHCHHE BOCHHOR ABAR HOBE, BACHHAR BACHHAR ABAR HOBE' as Maa and her children are lifted onto the trucks. Now she will leave for the immersion. The tear stained smiles seem to reflect on the idols' face. But the dance and the dhaak continues.
Finally the truck carrying Maa bends round the last corner and out of our sights. The emptiness finally hits. It feels like a sudden absence of a warm embrace.
But Maa leaves with the promise of returning. And she keeps her promise every single year. And what is love without some waiting?
Uma will come back home again. Uma will bring light again.
Ashchhe bochhor abar hobe. Bochhor bochhor abar hobe.
শুভ বিজয়া
