This Durga Pujo was always different.
A new state leadership of West Bengal has resulted in a paradigm shift in ideas wherein new leaders have come in with a new vision and alternate plans. The directives leading up to the grandest festival of the Bengali calendar have hence undergone several modifications as well.
Changes in the months leading up to the event had left people somewhat confused as to what was and wasn’t acceptable conduct. Multiple new rules were instituted regarding the inauguration dates and acceptable food in stalls around the pandals; some rules were revoked even before they got implemented. Many people and opposing parties challenged the diktats saying new rules need not be brought up for an age-old tradition and Bengalis do not need to be taught how to celebrate their biggest festival. Some said that the music, décor and lights were subdued, some disagreed vehemently and brought up comparisons and highlights citing the opposite.
This author refuses to indulge in corroborating any side and leaves this to individual recognition.
But all this and more, could never dampen the spirit of the Pujo revellers.
The general working population that slogs through the whole year to manage 4 days of leave – Saptami to Dashami. The Probashi populace that buys the over-priced flight tickets just to participate in their neighbourhood ‘Dhunuchi naach’. The elderly family members who bring out their traditional finery for ‘Ashtamir Anjali’ and the children on their school break looking forward to running around with friends the whole day with food, friends, sweets and fun activities. You cannot take away their anticipation and contain their annual excitement ever!
This Pujo too started out in the usual way, college goers in sarees and new clothes thronging the streets and pandals, middle aged folks looking for good food after a few pandal hops, people planning get-togethers and night outs.
That is when the Saptami night news flash brought things crashing down.
At Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav, one of the hyped pandals in the north of Kolkata, a rush for shelter after heavy rains left 20 people dead and over 25 injured. The pandal was at the end of a narrow lane and involved descent to a lower level via steps to exit. A huge influx of people and insufficient crowd management had led to a terrible stampede, where for the first time in memory there were lives lost during a Durga Pujo, right in the heart of the state capital.
Reports said that temporary restrictions had been imposed on crowds, but conflicting announcements, unprecedented sudden heavy rains and huge number of bodies in a constricted space resulted in this catastrophe. Was it the stairs descending towards the exit that caused the bottleneck, was it the extremely low lighting within the confined space, was it the push from the crowd waiting to gain entry and respite from the rains that caused people to fall forward in the mad rush, or indeed the narrow lanes around the area, we do not truly know. Eyewitnesses also alleged that announcements from the people in charge were inadequate and confusing. They allege that police presence was lower than needed and emergency response management did not provide timely support.
What went wrong is something that the ongoing investigation will probably unearth. What should also be investigated is the hype that the content creators create for rich dividends, however that is a topic for another day.
But what we do know is that the tragedy has shaken us to the core.
Bengalis live up to many of the stereotypes that are attributed to them. We have a very distinct cultural lifestyle where we spend leisurely afternoons engrossed in books, cinema or live football – hogging the annual pujo magazine published by different media houses or ‘Pujabarshiki’ during pujo holidays is a favourite pastime – evenings over umpteen cups of tea where topics of discussion can range from Amitav Ghosh’s latest book to the imminent risks of nuclear war, we raise the dust and our voices freely. Our utter love for food varies from maacher jhol to raj kachori chaat, and our cities are complex and cosmopolitan. We have produced the bravest freedom fighters, the best doctors and engineers, multiple Nobel laureates, the finest writers and the most soulful of singers. Traditionally we are averse to confrontation and would rather reason than react.
However, some things remain sacrosanct – Netaji, Tagore, Ray – right up to the annual festivities surrounding the ten-armed demon-crushing deity we adore. The one who we look up to every time to eradicate the darkness and bring us into light, to avenge us against all that is evil, how could such a heart-rending incident happen under her watch? Is she telling us something that we should hear but are being too dense to understand?
Imagine being dressed in new clothes and going pandal hopping with your spouse/sibling/parent and in the space of an hour or two, you are just a statistic on a news report! The youngest life lost was all of seven years. Can we even begin to imagine how the affected families are coping with the aftermath?
While we look for the probity to find the right answers, and better planning to execute pujo next year onward, more onus and care from concerned emergency personnel, this shock will take time to pass.
This is and will remain one of the darkest days associated with one of the country’s brightest festivals and no amount of time will likely be enough to make us forget.
Manobina Nanda Ganguly
Manobina is a Computer Engineer by profession, working for over two decades. An avid reader since childhood, she loves reading both fictions and non fictions. She can be reached at manobina@gmail.com.
