Durga Puja is a celebration of everything that is unique about Bengalis. The way the city of Kolkata changes during the week of Pujo cannot be imagined unless one has actually experienced it. It is a festival of love and passion and beauty and above all bangaliana – a word that signifies what is so special about being a Bong.
A very important part of this very special festival in the life of any Bengali is what is termed as pujor bajar, or Puja Shopping. This is not the same as a trip to a mall, this is a separate event in itself and an integral part of any Pujo. This is the time when you sit down and try to remember every relative and acquaintance that you have and what they mean to you. Each one of them is special and hence, each deserve a gift from you. Pujor bajar is not just buying something fancy for yourself and your extended family, it is the celebration of every relationship you hold dear and giving it its due.
As such, it’s a moment of great joy for any teenager to go on a shopping trip with your family and hop from shop to shop buying this for your mesho, and that for you pishi, while you snap something fancy up for yourself too while your mom is not looking. Or maybe just try something on. If the collection is fancy enough.
Pantaloons has long been the place we go to do our Puja Shopping. The collection is great and the ambiance even better. No matter what they tell you Puja Shopping is quite a bit taxing. But the ease of buying something at Pantaloons just makes it so much easier. The way the clothes are located, the sheer variety of collection and the huge range products makes it a one stop shop for anyone, at any time of the year. The supreme helpfulness of the staff just adds to the delight of customers. They are always polite, always helpful and always ready to provide any sort of information with a smile on their face.
Pantaloons, which is an Aditya Birla Group brand, just made pujor bajar so much fun.
To learn to speak:
Each of us face many challenges in our life. Some of them are forgotten the very next day, some stay with us for life, always there in the background pushing us, motivating us, reminding us that we can be more than we are today, that no challenge is too difficult to overcome, no challenge so great that it would successfully resist a spirited attempt to solve it.
When I was a kid, in 5th standard I think, I had this problem of stammering. Now, mind you, this was no small thing. For a child who was not the most social of the lot, this was an added impediment that reduced my confidence and made me shirk responsibilities. A small issue of not being able to properly pronounce certain alphabets seemed to me to be this huge demon that’d forever hold sway over me and prevent me from doing anything properly.
Many a great men have put forward their view on the challenges. You can read them, re read them, feel motivated by them, but when it comes to actually overcoming a difficulty in your own life it can often seem insurmountable. No fancy words work there, no great quote comes to mind, you’re there alone facing down your demon and hoping you can just sneak through. More like a thief than a hero with a blazing halo behind his head.
And thus, I tried this and that, roundabout ways of solving the issue. They all led back to the same place. Only after much trials and tribulations did I realize that running away was not the solution, I need to acknowledge the problem and try to overcome it. And so began my fight with this demon who had haunted me for life. It took months, maybe even years, because the improvement is so gradual you never really notice it. So any progress you make is on blind hope rather than empirical results. Finally though, I was speaking comfortably and without any stops and gaps. The day I realized that I had overcome my problem was the happiest day of my life and it continues and will continue to motivate me throughout my life.