My heartbeat automatically synchronized to the rhythm of the Dhak, my ears straining to the direction of the Pujo melody and my footsteps rushed as I strode towards Ealing Town Hall in Broadway, London. To anyone who did not know where the London Sharad Utsav was celebrating Durga Puja this week, the scores of Bengali women hurrying down for the “Sandhya Aarti” would have been the most accurate GPS.
Huddled in gold-embroidered saris, with kids toddling beside them in pretty ruffled ghaghra cholis and kurta-pyjamas and men brandishing their Bengal pride in ethnic dhoti-kurta, the Ealing town hall was almost home-coming to my “Bengali” soul. The scent of Jasmine incense sticks filled the Victoria hall on the second floor, chandeliers glinted off the polished silverware offering various delicacies laid at the feet of Maa Durga. And there in the heart of the pandemonium draped in the quintessential red Sari with the lion at her feet and her behest, she conveyed the age-old message: “freedom from fear”.
“Ei baar amra shob pushpanjali debo! (Now we will offer flowers to the Goddess)” White and purple petals were distributed and I stood there stunned as I heard children as young as 5-year-old reciting after the priest in fluent Bengali with their eyes pinched shut.
And Indraroop Roy had driven down a solid three hours from Birmingham with a group of 15 people for “pandal-hopping” in London and will stay in the city for two days. Originally, from Kolkata, India, Roy works for TCS and has been in the UK for 5 years now.
“Durga Pujo is the festival where Maa comes to her maternal place and the best thing about this is that it is a reunion of Bengalis oversees and Ealing Pujo is our heart!”
But for parents like Indraroop, the significance of Durga Puja is not limited to pandal hopping and bhoger khichuri, it is about imbibing the mythological values of the Bengali culture in their children.
“Throughout the year, our children study in the UK schools so they have the know-how of the English culture, which we definitely like, but these festivals are the occasions when we can show them how truly Bengali we are,” he said. And such is the enthusiasm for the pujo that they ship their costumes from Bengal.
Camphor, shankha, and folded hands clasped together in prayers, all conspired together to weave magic into the air as the priest offered his aarti. And she stood there with her army, and in that moment of British cultural influence, she appeared to me as the Indian snow-white with her four-dwarfs beside her- Lord Ganesha, Lord Karthik, Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi.
As crowds filed down in lines to create space for more worshippers to come in, I spotted a young couple, retreating down the stairs. The white turban that peaked from the rest of the crowd is what piqued my interest. Curious I approached Asa Willoughby from Reading, a British-Pakistani citizen.
“I am a Bharatnatyam dancer and for 10 years now, I have been performing at Durga Pujas in the UK and now I am learning Bengali as well. I have studied at Kolkata's Kalamandiram so now I have decided to explore more of the culture.” Asa said.
Meanwhile, his partner Kanupriya who has shifted from northern India to pursue her Ph.D., attended her first ever Durga Puja this year. Exposed to the literary writings by Tagore in her childhood, she had a vivid imagination of the Bengali culture but here at Ealing, her heart was a “bountiful”.
India's got talent in the UK
But like they say, no Durga Puja celebration is complete without cultural events and Aarav Basu, a student of Orley Farm School infused the East and West in his powerful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Playing the flute to Eric Clapton's instrumental melody, Aarav was dressed in an ethnic Kurta Pyajama. Born in Malaysia and having travelled across the world, Durga Puja he says is special to him “as he gets to play and perform among his community people and gorge on all kinds of sweets!”
“Prabashi - Bhalobashi”
But while Ealing Town Hall is a celebration of diversity, hike down to the Prabashi Pujo in Hounslow and the muted celebrations reflect of the preservation of culture unlike anywhere else.
Probably the authentic Bengali “Adda” over “Cha” is most seen here with clusters of chairs strategically arranged into circles. Women are busy posing, flaunting their “latest buys” for their Facebook profile pictures as husbands snap onto their DSLRs. Children roll down, playing in circles and amidst the hula hoop is a mother-daughter duo right in front of the Durga Idol.
Dressed in a canary yellow sari draped in the Bengali style with a bunch of keys hanging off the end, sidhoor (Vermillion) on her forehead, is Sheuli Roy with her 5-year-old daughter Aishi. Shakha pola (red and white bangles) adorn her wrists and her entire assemble is the epitome of the Bengali culture most prevalent in the rural areas of Bengal, India that she is proud to showcase here in the UK on the one day when she says “she won't look odd wearing it”.
“I am just explaining to her about Loki Maa and Kartik but my daughter she is more interested in what wrong did Mahishashur do. At a young age it is difficult to explain the intricacies of the story to them, but I am delighted that she knows something.”
The puja in Hounslow may not be the same for her as the celebration in Kolkata. But flying down home is not a cheap affair for her husband who is working at an IT company in London. And considering the distance from where the family stays in Harrow, their pandal hopping sessions are restricted to Saturdays and Sundays only.
And this is one of the reasons why puja organisers here do not follow the actual Hindu calendar and celebrate Durga Puja on all the nine days. With people rushing back and forth to work during the entire work, attracting a decent crowd to these Puja celebrations is virtually not possible. And that is why the closest weekend to Pujo dates according to the Hindu calendar is selected as the ideal time for the celebration.
Basingstoke Indo Cultural Association
Basingstoke Indo Cultural Association (BICA) celebrated their 13th Durga Puja at Brookvale Village hall, Basingstoke on 13th and 14th October. On 13th Saturday, the festival began at 11 am with a prayer and lunch was served to all visitors. This was followed by a cultural event in the evening that included song, dance, guitar, keyboard performances by kids and adults alike. Dinner was served to all the visitors.
On Day 2, 14th Sunday, morning prayers were offered to the Goddess and her children which was followed by the age old ritual of ‘Sindoor Khela’. As part of this ritual, women smear each other with Sindoor (Vermillion) as part of the Bengali Hindu tradition. This was followed by a drama “Maa Kali Boarding” presented by members of BICA and was a laugh riot.
Around 350 people attended the event over these 2 days and people came from places as far as Cambridge, Kent and Manchester.
Others
The Camden Durga Puja that was celebrating its 55th year, was attended by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. The Utsab London puja in Orpington's Crofton hall, celebrating for the first time, witnessed hundreds if not thousands of visitor across the Asian community from surrounding areas attending. Their bhog was supplied by the Bengali restaurant in Covent Garden, Little Kolkata.
Bilete Bengali, a group for NRI Bengalis in the UK organised an award for the best Puja in the UK and their first year winner was Royal Berkshire Bengali Association (RBBA).
