Riddhi di arrived a week before the puja.
Since her arrival, Kavya was kind of lost to us. She seemed to have completely forgotten about two of her best friends. There were just glimpses that I caught of both sisters, but no formal meetings. But we knew she wasn't to be blamed. Her sister had come home after almost a year. Riddhi di had passed out from high-school and was attending a college in Kolkata by then. Her life there had become so busy that she could hardly find any time to come home. So her visits were limited to the minimal.
Kavya undoubtedly missed her. They had been so close that this sudden distancing was very hard on her. So she was using all the time she could afford to spend with her sister.
By the time our vacation began, I found myself without friends. Even Dhruv got busy with his puja shopping. This gave us almost no time to meet. Day in and day out I just sat at home, bored out of my wits, surfing through the useless uninteresting channels on the idiot box and waiting for my friends, anyone of them. But then disparity had its own strange games played on me.
Finally, one fine morning brought forth the arrival of Dhruv to my house. At first I was annoyed. Why shouldn't I be? I had all the right in the world. What kind of a friend forsakes one to boredom? But then there's this thing about anger. It melts away as soon as it develops. At least that was the way with me. His apology made things even better.
Later that day we even met Kavya. As we were leaving for our evening strolls, we were stopped by our name being called from behind. We turned around to face her. The formal greetings followed. Both me and Dhruv had our fake angry look on. She apologized for having neglected us for the past few days and all was well. We said that we understood her predicament. That's what friends do. They understand. She asked us if she could accompany us and we agreed. How could she not? She completed our pack. Even if she hd not asked we had already decided to drag her along, from the very first moment we saw her.
The evening was like all the other evenings that I had been missing for so long. Though it had just been a couple of days, but to me it was more than just that. These few days made me realize what my friends meant to me. The fun part of my life was just them. As I returned home that night, I was more than just happy to get them back. All my thoughts were cornered upon by the promise to meet again the next day. The eagerness and the longing of waiting had its own prize of delight.
Durga Puja had arrived. The most awaited festival in the entire state of West Bengal. Though celebrated throughout India as Dusserah, the craze this festival generates in Bengal, is inexpressible. Words do not do justice to the grandness and auspicious nature of this ten day long period of holy ethnical and cultural celebration. If anyone has to visit Bengal, it should be during the time of this festival. Only then can one have the complete grasp of the true Bengali cultural integrity and spirit.
Though celebrated for a span of ten days, the last five days are the most essential ones. Sashti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dasami- the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth day respectively. Apart from the pujas, these days were utilized for self enjoyment. These are the times to give to oneself or to the families, and to enjoy the wholesome festivities.
We had planned to meet on Saptami and spend the entire evening together, so it was quite natural that I was quite excited throughout the day. It had the same effect on Dhruv, who had been spending his entire of the last two days at my house.
And it wasn't until that day that we got to meet Riddhi di.
