#365DaysOfWriting – Day 153
Durga Puja celebrations are on in full swing
I’ve just been scanning the Facebook timelines and Instagram accounts of my Bengali friends today – mostly Divya Srivastava’s – and it’s wonderful to see all the great pandals and decked up Maa Durgas. So much time and effort is invested in each one of them. At the risk of getting a slap on the wrist from my Bengali friends, I have to say it reminds me a little of Ganesh Chathurthi in Mumbai. Although there are great Durga Puja pandals in Mumbai too!
That’s one thing I love about Indian festivals – it brings out artistry of a different kind.
In terms of craftsmanship and storytelling, artisans are at their creative best during festivals. Sometimes the creativity gets the better of them – I don’t know why Mamata Banerjee was depicted as a Maa Durga, for instance – but it’s great to see them come up with such great concepts for pandals. It reminds me of the kind of work we do at ad agencies. If you were to look at the bare bones, then just like them, we come up with a creative idea and execute it artistically, WITH a deadline in place. The only difference being of course that they get to work on the same brief every year…
I digress.
Even in my home state, Kerala, we get very creative during Onam. Onam brings out some of the most beautiful pookalams – flowers of different colours are arranged in homes like a rangoli.
Now this is a beautiful, yet simple pookalam. There are far more elaborate designs and decorations – there’s apparently a Guinness World Record for the largest pookalam!
That’s what I love about all of this.
