New Delhi: Once upon a time pujas meant an innocent celebration of joy and fun. New clothes. New movies. Eating out. Freaking out with friends and relatives for non-stop 'add'. " It was the one time in the year that you actually got to see, up close, the most breathtakingly exquisite bangla beauties from those traditional, north Kolkata bonidibadis(Kolkata's rich families)'' swears an enthusiastic, veteran, kolkata based, puja- tracker, adding'' for most of the year, these sublime creatures were either heavily chaperoned or in purdah! God, how we looked forward to our trips to the North kolkata Puja Pandals. Shotti Phataphati!'' Apart from bird - watching, it was also the onetime in the year when status, colour, creed, community or caste was junked, along with everyday tensions and hassles, to embrace, full-on, the true spirit of the occassion. ''Oh'' continues the enthusiastic flash-backer ''the pujas were also a huge match-making setting and countless weddings owe their allegiance to Ma Durga! ''Overall, it was a much-awaited and eagerly-anticipated 4-day whoopee, a refeshing break from the rigours of everyday life, filled with excitement, fun, laughter".
Today, as we once again step into puja mode in year 2013, do we feel somewhere, somehow - a change in the puja celebrations-in terms of form and content, look and feel, style and substance? Has the character of yesteryears innocent fun, simple pleasures, community camraderi and bonhomie been savagely replaced by commercialisation and show-biz? Has the essential cultural, religious and social aspects been hi-jacked by heavy -duty corporatisation with big-ticket FMCG players providing their own mantras? Has kumartooli (Kolkatas revered setting where the worlds finest Durga Clay models are created by skilled artisans) been sacrificed at the altar of trade and commerce?
There are differing voices.
''In our time'' flashbacks an oldie from Delhi's Kolkata-C.R. Park, ''the first whiff of breeze that indicated seasonal change signalled the advent of Pujas. Mahalaya of course was the real trailer before the main event! puja meant new clothes, fun with family and friends, visiting pandals, eating out, watching theatre and bangla movies late into the night at the neighbourhood pandal, offering prayers with our near and dear ones.... It was simple, spontaneous, pure, innocent untramelled by the gaudy, vulgar showy opulence that marks today's puja celebrations. Modelling Durga Ma's image to look like film stars Hema, Madhuri, Ashwariya or Rani Mukherjee... Chee Chee! Kotai Nebey gachay!(where has the standar dropped?)'' Adman Swapan Seth (while unable to conceal his amusement at this attack from an elderly,) believes that such harsh words only represent, old-fashioned stuck-in-a-time warp radical thinking. ''Lets face it. Todays Pujas are hi-spend, hi-throng occasions and big brands will naturally want to grab a piece of the action. As long as it doesn't conflict with the basic cultural and religious kernels, it's cool''.
Interestingly the 'corporatisation of the pujas' started around the mid-eighties when the Big FMCG Dadas realised that the pujas (as a mega event) drove mega consumption of products and services like there was no tomorrow! Wouldn't advertising and publicising their brands in such a fabulous ''Captive target base,'' be just purrrfect? That's when it began and soon a deluge followed! Next up was awards, prize money and publicity for best displayers of Puja pandals and the movement took off. Today, two decades later Kolkata has emerged as a major retail hub with consumption of lifestyle products going through the roof, during the puja season. A big shot retailer had an interesting observation. ''Before the Pujas, Bengalis focus heavily on clothes, food and gift items. Afterwords, before Diwali, metal objects hit their wallets and come in for a boom.''
So, is the 'commercialisation of pujas' after all a reality? Kolkata based Management consultant Partho Sen believes that the answer has to be an unqualified 'Yes'.''To be truthful if it weren't for brand support the festival couldn't have ever happened in such a large scale. The flip side is that tradition- in some fashion-will take a hit. The much cherished 'Anondomela' of my childhood has practically disappeared, fleetingly alive in some Delhi pujas in close-knit building associations. However, let's salute the corporates who systematically sets aside a chunky budget each year for socially relevant activities.''
Delhi based H.R. consultant Sanjay Chaudhury believes that Pujas can never ever be commercialized ''because one worships the essence of the idol NOT the idol itself!'' He feels that if by ''Jazzing up the protima (and the entire celebration mode,) one can manage to attract more people, so be it. In these cynical and frighteningly self - absorbed times, it is at least a forced engagement with a force who one frequently tends to ignore, neglect, forget, overlook, and avoid,-shamelessly rushing for help only when one's arse is on fire!''
At the end of the day, everything considered, Puja 2013 has to be ''contexted'' in the environment, age and times we live in. Today, the Puja celebration is hardly perceived as a religious festival but a full-on celebration - of culture, food, bonding. Commercialization has only elevated it to a national level with celeb endorsements, big sponsors, top artists, international cuisine, glamorously embellishing the occasion. From Moghlai, Kaberaji to Mach Bhaja. Hard Rock, Bollywood anthems, Bangla Pop to Rabindra Sangeet. Dhoti-Kurta, designer wear to dare, bare, flesh-flashing stuff - Pujas today is a platform popularly perceived as a carnival, mela and ramp! A high decibel, high profile, pan-India festival-Pujas offer something for everybody. To try and figure out whether it's really a religious ceremony, festival, event, hip n' hot happening, showbiz or a big, fat spirituality bazar is to attempt hara-kiri in very slow motion.
So as we get into the Puja fever, the best thing to do is (as the timeless hip-hop bollywood chartbuster invites us to do), "Just Chill! Durga Mai ki jai!"
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