Mahalaya is the day of paying homage to the ancestors through food offerings. However in my childhood, I was absolutely ignorant of the significance of the occasion. Rather I used to treat Mahalaya synonymous with the iconic ‘Mahisasura Mardini’ programme which gets relayed through radio from Akashbani Kolkata since 1931 on this occasion!
Vividly, I do remember how we used to wake up before the break of dawn to hear the immortal creation graced by the Who’s Who of Bangla musical world.
In my birthplace, a feeling of early winter used to set in from late September itself. So under the warmth of blanket, we used to hear the programme with rapt attention. And just to remain awake, the child in me was permitted to have tea just on that single pre-dawn of Mahalaya! What an amalgamation of divine songs invoking Ma Durga to take on the Mahasasura, Sanskrit mantras, warm tea with darkness outside! And the programme ending with victory of the good over the evil with the early light of dawn also piercing the earth to remove all darkness! What a setting! Not to forget the joy in consciousness as if Ma Durga has started her journey with her children to stay with us for four days!
In the meantime, lot of water has flown down the Damodar or Hooghly. The hugely popular and universal radio turned into an antique property of sorts! With passage of time, lot of stress strain and tension have also arrived in life, killing the childish enthusiasm and romance around Durga Puja. Though the ‘Mahisasura Mardini’ songs and stotras will continue to remain with me throughout life, still I have lost the magic embedded in that eternal creation just because of it’s repeated use everywhere around Puja days!
Also on maturity, I started comprehending the actual significance of Mahalaya which is nothing but a religious ritual to commemorate our departed ancestors. Though in personal domain, I remain at the furthest distance from all sorts of rituals, still my heart feels a bit heavy on remembrance of the departed ones.
A man passes away. The man is gone, gone forever, never never to return in our fold to grace the planet. The only thing that he has left behind is nothing but trails of memories.
The noted Algerian writer Mouloud Benzadi pens “When the pretty birds have flown/ And you feel hurt and alone/Be strong and carry on / And remember that life goes on!” Yes, absolutely true. Life, world, nature continue to go on in their own pace despite personal tragedies which was felt by Rabindranath Tagore also. While travelling in a night train few days after the death of his young son Shamindranath, Tagore noted how the moon continues to shower its beam on the world and how the nature remained absolutely unaffected despite the absence of his son reminding the unfortunate grieving father of the laws of life ie move on and move on.
On the dawn of Mahalaya, the children offer homage to their deceased ancestors. Again nobody can vouch for the existence of the soul high above, but there lies no doubt that such a thought indeed applies a balm to the heart as if the ancestors are appreciating our respect and in turn blessing us just as they had done when alive. This thought or idea of Mahalaya is certainly an inspiring one and a nice way to pay tribute to the departed ones by walking on the path of life through their ideals.
We must take a vow to lodge protest against the evil, provide support to the force which is good and sane and also take very very good care of our parents and senior ones when they are alive and conscious enough to appreciate our warmth.