Every town, every place has its own unique stories which can't be told to or explained to anyone else. It can only be felt over the years and then cherished. I belong to a small town in the Eastern Part of India and as I am writing this post, I am coming more and more close to my family.
I remember as a kid I used to wait the entire year for Durga Puja. For me Durga puja meant holidays, sweets and lot of fun. Planning for dress used to start 2-3 weeks back. Among our friends we used to discuss who is getting what. We were never tired of discussing which pandal looks the best. Few pandals had very beautiful idols others had unique themes and concepts. The entire night of Ashtmi and Navami, we used to roam around with our family and the next day, onlyt topic of discussion would be which pandal did we visit, what did we eat in Mela, what did we see and so on. All in all, we spent entire time with our families and friends etc.
Another aspect of Durga Puja during those times was the aspiration to celebrate Durga Puja the way they used to show in TV. I remember, I used to think how cool it would be to live in some metro city where there are big buildings, busy people, a lot of modern technology and so on. I used to think how cool will it be to live in a big city, where I can first go to some Bengali Pujo Pandal and then go and attend some Garba and Dandiya event and then may be eat in some theme restaurant. I had thought that the technology will certainly bring us closer.
Time flies very easily. Times have changed and I am now one of the many Indians who spend 10-12 hours a day in front of laptop. As a part of employee engagement events, we were taken to a place which was given the look of a village. Initially I was excited to see everything there which reminded me of my childhood but they didn't have the same feelings. They had gola, but the gola wala didn't share the same bonding with me which the gola wala near my school gate used to share. There was a puppet show but i realised that more than enjoying the show, i was busy taking pics and videos so that later I can put it in Facebook and Instagram. I realised that yes I know there are Garba nights here but those are more like a checklist.You have to do it because everyone else is doing it. Going to restaurant is easier than getting someone to talk to you on non sense topics for 15 mins.
At times it is good to be whimsical. That night I came back to room and immediately booked a ticket to go home. As I was packing for my journey, I made up my mind not to take my Laptop or Tab with me. So here I am writing this post on a borrowed PC. For last 3-4 days I din't watch my favourite shows or movies, Didn't use enough of social networking sites, didn't play games on my Tab. But one thing that i did in ample is to be together with my family and enjoy every moment of it.
Watch this awesome video by Kissan which will make you think:
