Oh, how I
wish we kids had cameras back then. I tried going through all my old photos and
am bummed to find out I have absolutely no pictures of us friends in our famous
pujo attires of yesteryears. Those pictures would be priceless based on our
sense of fashion back then.
Pujo fashion
in Kolkata was of course dominated by the latest Bollywood styles. I think it
was 1990 - the year of Maine Pyar Kiya - pujo shopping in Gariahat, the street
vendors crying out loud, “didi, come take a look at the kabutar ja salwa
kameez” - the one Bhagyashree wore while singing that famous song. No, I DID
NOT purchase that. I cannot remember if it was my choice to not buy it or I
wasn’t allowed to. But whatever the reason was - thank God!
That
definitely did not stop us from trying to pick up some of that fashion when it
came to our hair and makeup. I have specific images of those big hair bows with
nets at the bottom to hold your hair into a bun. I think that rage started with
Divya Bharti in the early 90’s as well. Anyone remember her? I also remember
sporting that hairdo at the Golf Green pujo pandal one year - got a
non-facebook “friend request” from one of the senior dada’s there - SCORE! I
wonder if it was the hair or those big button-style (for lack of better words)
earrings that did the trick - LOL!
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Now I cannot
remember who started the whole matte lipstick phase paired with a darker shade
of lip liners - but boy oh boy - we were all over that one, especially me. I
had every shade of brown matte lipstick there could ever be. Followed by those pastel, short-sleeved churidar kameez from Dil to Pagal Hain.
I was surprised to see the same trend after I moved to Sacramento
a decade ago. The year of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam - Jaya Bhaduri sarees selling like hot cakes at the Berkely
saree stores for aunties and the Kareena Kapoor outfit for the youngsters. Now,
now, aunties - please don’t get mad at me for calling you an auntie. If its any
consolation to you - I think I’m one now as well.
So, its that time of the year and I miss all the craziness. I have
no idea what’s “IN” these days anymore. I mean, based on the recent Bollywood
movies I’ve watched there is no way on earth I can sport some of those outfits
worn by Kareena Kapoor or Deepika Paudokone. I miss those days when Bollywood
actresses had some meat on their bodies and wore clothes maybe some of us could
carry off. I guess I really AM an auntie now.
If you haven’t already guessed, the first thing pujo is all about
amongst many other things is
fashion. The crazy shopping and planning of new outfits to be worn all 5 days
of Durga Pujo - that includes
separate morning and evening wears. As kids, we used to keep a tally amongst
friends as to who had the most number of new outfits that year. Ronita almost
always won.
As much as pujo was a time to spend with family, our friends
always got precedence. Our group of friends had a schedule down for those few
days. Mornings were to be spent with family and anything remotely religious
that was expected out of any of us. Evenings were reserved for friends and
pandal hopping with them. As we grew older, we convinced our parents to have
sleepovers and were out all night in the city going from one pandal to the
other with expectations to out number last year’s count as well as to determine
which locality had the most number of good looking males.
Pujo was also about relationships. Extended families came together
and it was a time to reunite with cousins you would normally not meet the whole
year. It was about friendships – both old and new. It was also a time for
romance. I think the last one took precedence over the rest. It was a time for
folks to fall in love – time for the guys to muster up the courage to finally
tell a girl they liked them. It was a time to feel giddy with excitement
knowing someone had the hots for you, a time to openly check out and be checked
out without being judged.
Bengali’s are foodies. So it comes as no surprise pujo was also
all about food. I still wonder how the “bhog” always tasted as heavenly as it
did, without fail, each and every time, year after year. But what was most
delectable were the rolls and fuchkas being sold on the streets. You can never
go hungry those five days of pujo since street food is available all night
long.
Apart from these pujo to me was waiting for baba to arrive along
with waiting for Durga’s face to be unveiled, Thamma's crisp white sarees with red borders, going to see
the new protima at mamoni’s house in Tallygunge, Dadubhai’s ear plugs, those
blaring loudspeakers, narkeler naaru, maangsehr jhol on nabami, the beating of
dhaaks and dhunuchi naach, the friendships, the lights and sounds, Jodhpur
park, Babubagan, Golpark, Ekdalia, Mudiali, Maddox square - the heartbeat of my
most favorite city – Kolkata.
I wonder if I could ever explain to my daughter what these few
days meant to us. Starting this year, mainly because she is beginning to
understand things better and has opinions (how did that happen? She’s still
5!), I plan to introduce some of my pujo experiences from back home. It will of
course not be the same, pandal hopping will have to be substituted by pujo
parikrama on the internet – but we can start our own new traditions and it will
be as much fun for her as it was for me growing up.
I guess its time to start with shopping…
Disclaimer: Photos have been randomly picked from the web
