RAJNIGANDHA

RAJNIGANDHA 

 " Rajnigandha phool tumhari mehke yuhi jeevan  mein..........

This beautiful bollywood classic song explains the beauty of this fragrant Rajnigandha flower and how it strirs heart strings. 

Let's go down to my memory lane. 

I am taking you all today to a beautiful Bengali marriage reception.

My father's close associate, friend, brother what not was he. Our dear Kaku and Kaki Maa.

Our Kaku used to stay in a remote village of Bengal. How he came in contact with Acchan I really don't know as I was a small kid then. My Acchan as I have described to you all before, was  hell bound in helping anyone. And he did so in a graduer manner too. So when our Kaku( Kayal Uncle) was getting married. Acchan arranged his reception in Kolkata and his wedding night in our home. 

Acchan wanted Kaku's wife to be received as a Bahu or Bau Maa in a grand manner and that, she should also see the beauty of the Kolkata city. Thus he arranged everything. Our house was decorated beautifully with lights all over and beautiful flowers malas. The entrance to our building too was very beautifully decorated

I have a very vague picture of all this. I remember, the house bustling with noise and children running around I think people might have come along with the groom and bride. Amma as usual was busy in kitchen and attending guests. 

Now coming to the part of my story.  As a child what I remembered the most is the fully decorated bed for the couple. The bed was decorated beautifully with Rajnigandha flowers nettted beautifully into a cover hanging from the top to bottom as a pardha( curtain) with rose flowers in between propping up. The fragrance of Rajnigandha was mesmerizing.I cannot exactly pen down the beauty. There were small diyaas all over lit up beautifully. And room was smoked with Chandan incense sticks. The room was really beautifully decorated as I have seen in movies  for the newly wedded couple, and I was fascinated by it. I wanted to touch it, wanted to climb on to the bed, I wanted to experience the feel of a new bed cover. But wasn't allowed to even go nearby I was cautioned by Amma every now and then.

A small Pandal too was set up in our terrace for the dinner, I suppose, for I remembered having dinner sitting there on a bench and it being difficult for me to reach the table. 

Now the time to receive the Bau Maa arrived all ladies qued up with Aarti trays blowing conch, and sprinkling rose water and making ululation sounds.  The bride was taken to her decorated room. She (Kaki) was sitting her head covered in beautiful red saree) I could only see gold bangles adorned hands and her alta painted feet. So beautiful it was. Wanted to peek into her face too bit wasn't allowed by the elders. The crowd crowding there was disbursed off and the bride waited for the bride groom.

Next morning I waited eagerly to watch the bride. Kaki was very sweet she called us all children to come near her we all rounded up around her and was quietly watching her beautiful face, her jwellery, her saree so beautiful she was. 

They thanked Acchan for the beautiful arrangements and they still do, till date. They remember it as the best part of their life. 

We siblings had met them three years before in Kolkata what a warm welcome they gave us siblings. The warmth and affection was very heart felt. They miss Acchan a lot and remember him always.

Rajnigandha has always been a favourite of my Acchan. Acchan always used to keep up his commitments  even in his busy schedules. He would be sending a bouquet of Rajnigandha flowers ,on birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc. to his friends and near ones without fail. His small gestures had always spread the fragrance of love and warmth in everyone's heart.

Which is remembered by our family and friends even today. It's been a long twenty two years now since Acchan left for his heavenly abode. But the gesture he showed is swaying and spreading its fragrance like the Rajnigandha flowers.

A vase full of Rajnigandha flowers used to adorn a corner of our hall always.

And it's still our favourite. Some is blooming in my terrace garden.

Pic courtesy: Google images 

Vishwakarma Puja

VISHWAKARMA PUJA 

 It's been a very very long time since I have penned down something on my blog page.

Sometimes you simply lost the way of expressing your thoughts and penning it down. 

A memory flashed back and am penning it down 👇 

Once again taking you all down my memory lane.

Going through my old posts you all must have come to know about my family and my Acchan's profession. My Acchan had started a business after working for a decade and a half in the early 70's. 

Kolkata as we all know,  though a heaven of Bengalees, was mostly inhabited by the business class people, called Marwaris. They were mostly the cloth merchants wholesalers, goldsmith and jwellery shop owners all flourishing well and occupying almost 45% of Kolkata and Kolkata people.

As coming to my part of the story my school friends were mainly Marwari kids who would be showcasing their valuable things and would be posing as richi rich kids always boasting about their father's business.

Now since my Acchan too had turned into doing business and had set up quiet  a large factory outlet. I too was feeling wealthy and rich. I had a very narrow mindset then. I looked upon the people working for us in a very bad manner, feeling no gratitude or humbleness towards them. I just considered them as paid workers working for us, and  felt  what's so great about them? I was just flying high in that state of mind. This attitude of mine was further hyped by my Bollywood films who showcaseses the rich in a very rich manner exploiting the poor.

I wait the whole year to set myself into my princess role on the occasion of Vishwakarma Puja in front of the factory workers.

Vishwakarma Puja comes in the month of September on 17th. Vishwakarma Puja was a Puja done for the prosperity of yourself and your business and to all the employees working with you and who all help you to achieve your success. Thus it's a festival mainly of the workers. They take a great pride in setting up the Pandal and to do the Puja with a grand feast. The focus was mainly on the feast. Bengal and Bengali festival is nothing without a grand decoration and a sumptuous feast. So a week planning is all set to make the occasion grand. I used to love the ambience and also the feast.

As my Acchan was the owner, he and his family is called specifically to honour the occasion and is greeted in a special way. We all used to reach the factory in my Acchan's car by 11am. I would be dressed in my fine attire all bloomed up with pride, waiting for the car door to be opend by someone, and lol, I will zoom out in a filmy heroine manner, without giving a glance to those people and would rush to the office cabin of my Acchan. We all would sit around Acchan and people will bring the welcome drink sweets and what not. They would be so perplexed on what to be served and how to please us and how nicely to greet. These all honour felt to me like I being treated as a princess.

I felt pride when they called my Acchan Bade Babu and us all Didi ra... I will be on cloud nine. There would be lot of entertainment programs and music would be played the whole day in the Pandal. All workers would gather around to have a glimpse of their Bade Babu's family all would politely greet us with gesture. I loved the feast a lot . They put all their efforts to make it very tasty and sumptuous. But what was the most  important to me was the attention gained and a day being honoured as princess. This felt somehow very nice to me and I used to feel like some big shot. I would eagerly be waiting for the next day in school to tell my tale to my class mates in an exaggerated way. 

The wait continues for the next year Vishwakarma Puja, for we family members visited the factory only once in a year.

As I grew up and when I started doing job in a different state around different people, thus could I make out diffrence of being humble and modest and the value of workers. For now, I myself was placed in their shoes and was myself a small employee under the threshold of somebody and my co- workers.

I am a changed person now with lots of gratitude to all those workers who had put down their efforts to gain their bread and butter and worked day and night to our progress and prosperity. My Acchan was a godily figure to them he was the most humble and a good caretaker.

I am focusing here how the surroundings of school and school friends, their talks, effects a child and how their thinking changes entirely. The thirst for attention and hype is what mattered most to them, due to their ignorance as a child. 

My Amma and Acchan were a epitome of sympathy care and humbleness which I started understanding when I was into my late teens. I learnt a lot from them and am blessed to be their daughter.

...............x...............x..............x..............x...........

Pic courtesy: Google images 

Please readers do give your valuable comments in the comment box below 👇