Remembrance

“When you are brought into this world, they say you are born in sin, at least they gave you something you didn’t have to steal or have to win”, words rightly put together by the rocker Bon Jovi which gives a sneak peak to the mundaneness of our lives. Dodging the risk of belittling the impetus that irks us to live a mad life, prioritized by an epicurean vision, what follows in this write up is not a derision to the pleasure we find in philandering with time or money, but the plight of several others, who pass by as mere spectators to our opulence, undone by fate or their own misadventures at some point of time or the other.
Durga Puja in West Bengal has attained the status of a folklore to the rest of India.
Every individual who can relate themselves to the traditions of Bengal, wishes to live up to the legend of exuberance that sweeps the state for those four days and nights. We tend to reserve our best for that tenure, look the best, eat the best, hang out at the best places, in short, make an attempt to take a grab at the best of everything we have ever aspired to have. We wish the halcyon days never cease to exist.
The flipside to the aforementioned gesture is the silent hue and cry raised by that section of the population, who wishes to be a party to the celebration from their inner core, but fails to make the cut due to numerous constraints like local atrocities, political pogroms added to poverty to name a few. They are left with not much but to make silent complaints to the Almighty for being apparently partial with his benevolence. “Every dog has his day” might sound apprehensive on paper, but majority of these people never had their day and many are not apprehensive or expectant enough to have one in near future, their optimism being flushed away by prolonged miseries in various forms.
True celebration is mindless, is probably what they opine of the seemingly ostentatious display the more privileged puts up as an expression of their gaiety. One cannot justify labeling them snooty, because, for obvious reasons people preoccupied with finding a modest meal for their family will always find it taxing to relate to a dinner at some posh Park Street restaurant, it is as incomprehensible as Sir David Gilmour and Himesh Reshmiya residing in the same mental space.
Let me skip the predicament of propagating another soul stirring tale of deprivation and the human tendency to turn our back on the plethora of plights that looms large around, until it affects our own self ! Let the harbinger of life make His best attempts to impart equality in every dimension of life among the masses. On our part, let us do what is least demanding, an act of Remembrance. Amidst this festivity, getting submerged in fun and frolic, let us not be oblivious of those who will be ruing the financial loss incurred because of no work due to puja holidays or those who will be busy reconstructing thatched roofs of their dwellings. An occasional remembrance will not pull them out of their miseries for sure, but might pass on positive vibes that would give them the zeal to put up a brave face before the adversities and realize, human beings are yet to be depleted of humanity.