Nine days and nine nights Of festive fervour and bright lights Each day of Navratri a different colour Each day singing verses of valour Durga arrives in nine avatars Lakshmi, Saraswati are not far All the Goddesses descend As one Shakti they transcend Ma Durga is Mother Kali Worshipped as Mahishasura Mardhini Many names but She is one Protecting us from evil demons Krishna arrives with his Gopikas To play the musical raas leela Sri Ram too arrives with Seeta…
actually, there’s no magic involved. both are stories of faith. perhaps the sort of faith that brings miracle. i heard one when i was a child, the other after i got married. as my husband, who is jewish, finished telling me why eight oil lamps are lit on hanukkah, i thought of a tiny pot of yogurt and the tale of madhusudan’s bhar. “bhar” means earthenware pot in bengali, and the sound of “r” at the end is more like…
the idols were lined up on the narrow ledge under the tall windows in the corner room. the ledge was designed to be a book shelf but no one remembered seeing a book on it ever; instead, dust and cobwebs gathered and had a good time on the yellow ochre lime wash, enjoying the slanting sun rays that fell through the shutters. but today, there was not a speck of dust anywhere. nor cobwebs. only eight beautiful idols. eight pairs…