Diwali

Diwali brings together a lot of things. Mostly happy memories. Back in Kgp, Diwali is a magical affair. Captured in the lighting up of thousands of diyas in a few seconds. The transformation of darkness into form and light. For most of us in the village it is a time away from home. We hardly get any vacation. So for the student community, when the sleepless nights of hardwork and days of planning finally crystallize into that magical diya lit composition, the longing for home takes the back seat, even if momentarily. And even if we mull the same topic every year, Illu or no Illu, being a part of the whole process and watching the thousands of diyas, lighting up in a few seconds to give form to the shapes on the chatais and life to the story put together by all the chatais... it all seems worth it.

Back home, theres a Kali Pujo in the para. And theres a different set of things to be worried about out here. For me its a much needed breather. A little time-out to enable me to stop and breathe a little more. Other than the flurry of activity centred around the para pujo its laid back and free from the precipitating tension of the world outside. Give to a villager this picture and he (and the very few she's) shall name it heaven. Now, almost at the end of college (haan yeh movie waala effect hai, with background music for the punchline:) i realize that most of us crave for times like this. And within a few months time we will be all too far away from it....

Over the years a lot of my friends and myself too, began liking the stay at Kgp during vacation times. The peaceful calm that pervades the village during vacations is in sharp contrast to sem time. Its a time when you can go to bed without the impending thoughts of assignments to be done, guide to be met, football practice to wake up for, worry about your future and realize that IIT didn't make much of a difference, somehow the ticket you thought you had got was lost now... and then curse yourself and wonder where you're headed. Though the worries are shared by almost all of us, the art of grim thinking is my area of specialization.

With college coming to an end, one is often flooded with such profound and scary questions on a regular basis. The good times to mull over such important issues are meal times, it helps the digestive process which begs for support as the battle to eat and digest mess food rages every single day of hostel life.

And therefore one has come home to escape the voices in his head from doing all sorts of shit to him... and eat good biryani and mangsho and sit by the lake under a firecracker lit sky...

Happy Diwali to you all...

Sorry for a long and winded post. Has been a long time, with a lot of things on my mind...