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Showing posts from November, 2011
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Exactly three years ago this photo was taken by my father during the festival of Durga Puja.
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Flowers are one of the most beautiful creations of God. Some smell good, some others are known for their colours while a few have both. Some grow in our gardens and the wild ones prefer to grow in the forest. Roses, tube roses, merrigold, jasmine are some flowers that are commonly available in the local market. While a rose beautifies a room, a tube-rose garland adorns an idol in the temple; a merrigold is offered to our God at home and a jasmine garland tucked in a woman's hair makes a morning refreshing. A Jaba or a Hibiscus blooms in almost every garden in Bengal. This particular flower which I am talking here comes in different colours like bright red, deep yellow, soft pink and white which is so very rare. There are a wide variety of flowers which have no English names because they are found only in the villages of Bengal. A few of these are offered to Lord Shiva. Flowers which have long stems like Gladiolus and Roses are always kept in a bucket of water in a flower shop. The...
Once November arrives, the smell of nature changes. It is not only the second last month of the English calender but a month that takes a long time to pass by leaving behind a memory of a year fresh in mind. As the pain of getting older pricks inside, the only incentive that keeps the heart going is a bright December. The month which is so special specially for Christians. December is special for me because I celebrate my birthday and my parent's marriage anniversary. Needless to say I remember Lord Jesus too in this month from the 1st to the 25th. Somehow I feel sad on December 25. I can't explain why. Once I had been to a church on the 24th night, but I had to stand outside because of the crowd. But then December 25, the year if I remember, 1994 it was, was very cold. My father, my mother and I couldn't stand in that cold for too long. The fear was I might catch cold and then fall terribly ill. The December then and now is very different. Christmas in Calcutta during the ...