End of Pujas..

Today is ekadashi. All the hoopla surrounding the Pujas is slowly coming to end, yet again. Maa is returning to her abode and will come down again next year to enlighten us.At times I have wondered,whats so much of this excitement all about? Months before the festivities begin, people flock around the market for new cloths, accessories for only these 4-5 days (actually it varies!) of madness. Do we really need a reason to buy clothes? Of course we don't throw away the clothes after the Pujas end, but neither do many don the clothes before the pujas! When I used to stay at kharagpur ,the Pujas used to end as soon as they had started, because the real enthusiasm used to begin from Saptami onwards as most of the pandals remained unprepared till Shasti.That used to feel horrible at times for the lack of commitment on the part of the people who used to delay the construction till the last moment. My local Puja pandal itself looked a skeleton before Shasti with only its framework standing.They used to work that night and day after to finish it off in a hurry.The end product looked beautiful though I have to say. But nevertheless most of us are carrying forward the same tradition of last minute preparations!
Anyway, coming to the topic, I first realized the elation generated for these small pleasures of life from an incident apparently irrevelant from the present point of view.That was probably during the 2nd year of our college.Our dept. cricket team seemed to be losing by a heavy margin.Loads of runs were required from the final few overs.I for once had left all hopes and was just waiting for the inevitable.But what i was watching looked remarkably foolish.Most of my classmates were still cheering like the most optimistic fools god has ever made! We needed sixes and fours from virtually every ball. How the hell were we gonna make it from here?? Ok,the batsman was trying his best to do the necessary and hitting the runs at regular intervals to keep us in the match.But for how long? God himself has to descend down to earth and take the matters in his own hands.That was'nt going to happen obviously...but it happened! Though instead of himself , I think the god had sent down the devil on his behalf who I think , entered into one of their bowlers soul! Every ball he throwed down the pitch seemed headed for the slip fielders.They were wides, the widest wides i hav ever seen! In minutes , we had got an extra run generator and there came the required run rate , going down and down with each ball. Suddenly it seemed very much possible , and there I went , going berserk with my apparently foolish classmates and cheering my team every single second. I am sorry to say that our team did lose the match finally but not the way I had expected.It seemed mathematically possible till the very last over. But what I had won for myself was a valuable lesson-a hard yet simple fact, that in the small moments of happiness , are sown the seeds of eternal bliss! Whatever seems to be the fate in our immediate future , going down the ways of gloominess will never lead to anything consequential. I wonder why people pray to god in fear on the day of any result being announced.The result has already been prepared, printed on paper.Its not gonna change no matter how much we beg to god! Its not in our hands anymore, bcoz that opportunity has already passed during exam days.
All said and done,that vital lesson leads me to the answer for the craze surrounding the Pujas. Its about coming out of the hectic pattern of life ,although for a few days.but these few days uncover so much energy before and thereafter that you can spent days in anticipation for it without any a hint of tiredness. I realized this to the fullest these few days where the mental strength seemed to stretch me beyond my physical limits.It seems god does descend on earth atleast for we bengalis, during these few days, in an invisible yet illuminating form of energy!