On Mahalaya

The earliest impressions of Mahalaya takes me back down memory lane.

The night before Mahalaya,I followed the routine of reminding my parents to wake me up at the exact time the Philips Two in One stereo came to life emanating the melodious voice of Birendra Kishore Bhadra as part of the special annual program on Akashvani.What usually followed thext morning was my Mom or Dad gently cajoling me to wake up,but somehow I would manage to lose the battle against sleep.I would wake up with a start,try desperately to rub off the sleep from my eyes and then fall back into the bed.Mahisashuramardini had its special effect on my semi conscious state of mind.

Tossing and turning in bed,what finally made me rise was the continuous rhythm of fire crackers being burst at close proximity to my house.It would remind me of the prized possessions of the cache of arms or rather an assortment of chocolate bombs bought a few days back in anticipation of that very day.That was perhaps the incentive I was looking for.It was a time when noise pollution was yet to affect the government or inhabitants of my state.

As I stepped out of the house ,loaded and armed, accompanied by my brother,a thick layer of smoke would greet us outside.The warning about covering the head so as not to catch a cold from the early morning dew would go unheeded.The autumn dew lay around on the grass,and the ground would have a wet feel to it and the air had the smell of sulphur.

Soon we would be joined by a group of friends from the neighborhood each armed to the hilt.There was always a special place of honor for the chocolate bomb which made the loudest noise.

The day was special in so many other ways,it usually marked the onset of a month long break from school.The day I could start devouring the special edition of the Anandamela.Growing up on a diet of Hardy Boys, Tintin and Feluda stories the annual Puja edition of the Anandamela magazine always had a special place in the heart.Almost each day till the magazine was delivered at our door steps, the "Newspaper Chacha" would get a gentle reminder to deliver the Puja edition on time.

Times have certainly changed since then,the last Mahalaya I celebrated was around four years back,in the college hostel,in the company of friends.This year I tried to get up early,not to burst fire crackers,or turn on to Akashvani but just to have a feel of the Mahalayas of the past.The sounds of Mahisahuramardini from the laptop speakers somehow did not have the same effect of the analog recordings played on the All India Radio channel.Perhaps the day has become just another day when we wish our friends through status updates on Facebook/Orkut/Gtalk.

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