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The South western monsoon is waning and the sky is becoming clear with patches of white clouds. ‘Kash’ flowers on the river beds and sweet-smelling ‘seuli’ flowers in the courtyard are coming up as pleasant surprises. All these developments are pointing to arrival of a time of happiness, get together, pleasure and celebration. The annual Durgapuja has arrived bringing in lot of hopes and happiness for all.
“Durga” symbolizes motherhood. She stands for ‘Durgati Nashini’ i.e. one who destroys all type of distress, sorrow and pain - be it physical, financial, social or psychological. She is visualized as the Goddess ushering in good health by destroying diseases, economic well being by removing poverty, providing “Yash” - prestige and reputation in the society and above all mental peace and all-round prosperity.
“Puja” meaning worship stands for realizing the inner divine strength. Concept of worship in Indian culture originated out of either gratitude or fear. Durgapuja offers an opportunity for expressing one’s gratitude to the divine mother and for seeking good health, peace and prosperity. Further In its real sense, ‘Puja’ mean sacrifice, which is symbolized as offering in form of flowers “Anjali” or “Ahuti” in Yagnya. For an individual, the best form of sacrifice is to shed one’s “ego” and recognize importance of ‘We’ in place of ‘I’.
There is a story about ‘Radha’ once asking Lord ‘Krishna’ as to why he is so fond of the ‘banshuri’ – the flute. Krishna smiled and showed her the flute. Radha got perplexed as she found nothing inside the hollow bamboo flute. Thus, Lord Krishna explained that the ‘banshuri” is hollow inside and that is why he has filled himself within it (banshuri) and remain so deeply attached to it. This episode indicates that “God” remains in the hearts of such individual, who make himself hollow by shedding ‘Ahamika’ or ‘ego’. This reflcts the true spirit of sacrifice and concept of puja in Indian culture.
The third aspect of Durgapuja relates to “sarbajanin”, which stands for universal brotherhood and mutual respect for one another. Durga puja is a rare occasion, when old and young, rich and poor, male and female all come together to celebrate and offer prayers to the All-mighty.Having said so, it is necessary to appreciate the relevance of “Sarbajanin Durgapuja” in todays’s context.
The daily newspaper reflects the contemporary issues of a State. A casual look at daily any of the leading newspapers published in the State indicate three to four major issues, apart from the normal coverage about rallies conducted by various political parties and guess-estimates about the number of persons who attended the rally as a show of political strength.
Two things- relating to increase in number of road accidents and atrocities against women- which come up in the news are really shocking.
Road accident has unfortunately become a daily phenomenon causing loss of invaluable human lives and injury leading to disability. Increase in number of vehicles causing more accidents is given as a reason, which is true to some extent. There are claims for widening the road and making better roads to reduce accidents. However solution to the problem of road accidents lies in imposing self discipline on the drivers and following the traffic Rules. Each person driving vehicle should understand that road is a highway on which several vehicles ply and it is different from a runway, where only one plane either lands or takes up at a time. While driving on the road, the driver has to follow the rules, share the facilities with others keeping in view others requirement in mind as well. Steps for generating awareness on this can bring down the number of accidents considerably. This has to be of course supported by enforcing the rules.
The other area of concern relates to crime against women, which is mainly a social issue. Like preventing road accidents, this also requires a change in mindset and seeing the spirit of “Durgamata” within each woman. In case, family members and particularly father and mother-in-law see the young daughter-in-law as an incarnation of Durga Mata and try to guide, accommodate and adjust, there will be a significant improvement in peace in the family and social harmony which will reduce violence against women. Similar thing is to be reciprocated by the younger daughter-in-law in respecting her mother-in-law. Such goodwill ‘Bhalobasa’ in family will be a much better way of celebrating puja rather than buying costly and fashionable sarees, putting brighter lights and making big puja pendals.
Now turning to the positive news, organization of blood donation camps almost daily by various clubs, institution, association represent the true spirit of puja i.e. making “sacrifice” for saving someone’s life. It is necessary to extend the spirit of blood donation to other areas. Guiding and handholding the children coming from disadvantaged sections, whose parents are not in a position to do so, can be an issue for consideration. By sparing a little time in stead of watching television, one can help and guide children, teach good manners, provide pre school education and promote preventive health care measures. This can be taken up on a large scale on similar lines as blood donation. Under the decision for universalizing Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), Anganwadi Centres are being set up in each para and habitation. This can be taken as the nucleus to provide the basic amenities to the children, which will make the future of the society brighter, as reflected in the words George Bernard Shaw ‘Life for me is not a candle which will glow and get finished, rather it is like a torch, which I shall make it glow as brightly as possible and pass on to my next generation’.
This may be a better way of paying respect to “Durga Mata” and celebrating puja this year.
Written by
S. K. Panda,
VI-4, Kunjaban
(Views are personal)
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