আসছে বছর আবার হবে - we will repeat next year! - A phrase and my socialisation by Ankita Majumder

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" আসছে বছর আবার হবে"
we will repeat next year! -  A phrase and my socialisation 

by Ankita Majumder (Sem I, 2023)

This is a phrase we all have heard on দশমী when Durga maa is all set to go back to her husband’s house.

 

Right after সিঁদুর খেলা, many males near my area would shout out this phase which then would cause the little kids to shout the phrase again and again in unison for a while.

 

When I was a small kid myself I couldn’t understand why people would say this phrase so many times. What is so special about it? And why is that this phrase is only used when Durga maa is about to go back? Why not for other gods and goddesses, why only for her? 

But as I grew older I slowly understood the inner meaning of it. The phrase wasn’t use just for the entertainment of the people or because they felt like it was their responsibility or duty.

 

The phrase was use because it displays the hope, the prayers, the love and the feeling that in the next year the streets would again be filled with beautiful array of lights, the fields would be once again occupied with a huge variety of pandals, people would again forget about their differences and would join hands to pray to Durga maa and not just West Bengal but the whole world will orchestrate the different shades of colours that display in the rainbow.

 

Well, one will clearly agree that there is something with Durga Puja as well which cause a ambience of unity from all corners of, not just West Bengal or India, but the world. There is something about the figure of Durga maa which gives million of people the hopes and the strength to fight their respective battles. There is something about the surrounding at those moments which makes the people decide to go for pandal hopping the whole night without a care.

 

And I’m sure that there is something about the phrase which gives the people hope to look forward to the upcoming days knowing that they will be able to very soon forget about their problems and will be able to enjoy the grand festival with their loved ones with happiness filled in their hearts once again. 

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 Ethnographic Experience






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