Today is Mahalaya and the day had its own typical beginning with booming firecrackers tearing apart the sleeping town in the wee hours. Last night I went to sleep quite late and because of the incessant firecrackers I had had a very fitful sleep during the few hours that was at my disposal. I woke up feeling groggy and my eyes burning. The firecrackers went booming all through the early morning but gradually they fell silent except some occassional ones in the neighborhood which never failed to startle one. I soon found out there was going to be some sort of celebration in the house to celebrate the occasion. Pisi (my father's only sister), her husband, who had returned from Kashmir, where he is posted, a few days ago, and their children Deva and Aparna came over to our house. In the morning luchis were prepared for breakfast and later at lunch we had chicken. With so much heavy duty eating I was not feeling much comfortable at the end of the day.
As Durga puja returns every year so does the Mahalaya, invariably seven days ahead of the former. It is an invitation to the mother goddess Durga to pay a visit to the earth which is considered as her parents' house. This day sets the mood for the coming puja, which , needless to say, is the biggest festival that we bengalis have. This is the time when all the schools, colleges and offices around the state announce puja vacation. Durga puja for bengalis means five days of paying homage to the Goddess and her four children, pandel hopping in new clothes, meeting with friends and relatives, having a lot of fun and of course eating a lot of junk food from street side kiosks that spring up during these days of celebration.
Mahalaya is incomplete without the customary ' mahalaya' program that is aired on every tv channels and also on the public radio in the early morning. However I missed that one.