As Americans look forward to their long-awaited Christmas holidays, the Bengali community also recently celebrated one of their biggest festivals of the year.
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As an international student from India, I feel like the holiday season will be very hard for me. I am away from home, my family and friends. I come from Kolkata, which lights up during Christmas but I am afraid the lights won’t look the same in Los Angeles and I will end up craving familiarity.
So, today’s story is about the familiar sounds of my language that I heard in October during the Durga Puja festival celebrated by the Bengali community of L.A. The festival is celebrated with gusto in my city, much like Thanksgiving and Christmas in America. I hope to carry the sound of my mother’s language that runs off my tongue with ease, into the new year, when just like L.A., my city would dress ornately to douse the darkness out of people’s hearts.
The Durga Puja is a homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and celebrates her victory over the deceitful demon Mahishasur. Everyone in the city, no matter which religion they belong to, come together to spend a few days in harmony.
Rahul Ganguli, president of the Bengali Association of Southern California says this year’s festival helped Bengali Angelenos reminisce about their time in Kolkata.
Rahul Ganguli: I do miss Pujo in Kolkata very much. Amar mone achhe [I remember] that way back in 1991 was my last Pujo. I remember it very clearly because that was the time when I went away from home to attend college. I miss my friends and family more than anything else because. And maybe to a certain extent, pandal hopping, which is sort of a very unique thing. I remember very clearly. But yeah, you know, the friends group that you have, the camaraderie that you have. That’s something I wish I could go back to. I wish I could go back 25 years.
But while the years have passed, he is glad the value of traditions has not yet gone out of style.
Ganguli: The sense of community that this Pujo is able to bring up, you know, within the Bengali diaspora, it’s very precious, it’s a home away from home for a lot of people. It’s great to see little kids dressed up in Bengali clothes. It’s great to see the traditions being passed on and just having a forum for people to come together.
“Pujor chhuti”, our festival holidays and any Indian festivity is dull without colorful attire and the women of the Bengali Association take their fashion very seriously! Just ask Bhuvna Rao about how Bengalis’ attires shone in all their glory.
Bhuvna Rao: We watch trends in terms of what’s popular in India, but also we make our own styles here. Today you’re seeing that all of us are wearing different styles. I’m wearing cotton, they’re wearing silk. And we accessorize with jewelry and whatever catches our fancy.
Next to her is Mitra Nag, dressed in a beautiful green silk saree. She looks forward to wearing sarees every year during the festivities.
Mitra Nag: We wear sarees. That’s the first thing. And it’s always great, we are waiting for this day in the whole year to wear new sarees, new clothes. It’s fun to be here and dress up as much as we can.
The Bengali diaspora also extends its camaraderie with open arms to Americans with Bengali spouses and others alike! *fade out ambient voice before she speaks* Amy Sarkar, from Champaign, Illinois, visits the Pujo every year and has even been to Kolkata to witness the joyful craziness! She says it’s like a mini Christmas whereas the real deal is back in Kolkata.
Amy Sarkar: It’s kind of like when you’re immersed in the American Christmas, where all the stores are playing music and everything is decorated. Every house has lights versus a house that may just have a miniature Christmas tree on the kitchen table. So this is a little bit like a miniature Christmas tree where it’s a taste of the festival, but it’s not the full immersion that you get in Calcutta.
After a complicated year for many, the festivities bring joy to all, albeit in their own, unique way...no matter which corner of the world one lights up.