The blessed quarter

Apart from the four principal seasons, there are a few others that make annual visits; like the mango season and the wedding season. There i...

Apart from the four principal seasons, there are a few others that make annual visits; like the mango season and the wedding season. There is also the Puja season. It begins with the amavasya of the Shravana and ends with the amavasya of Aswayuja and falls roughly between mid-July and mid-November. Over 75 per cent of all the major Hindu festivals are crammed into this period. Naga Panchami, Varamahalakshmi, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesa Chathurthi, Navaratri, Deepavali: The list only includes the major ones!

It8217;s amazing that I have 8220;observed8221; each one of these, with 8220;traditional pomp and gaiety8221;, for the last 28 years!

Yet another Shravana maasa will soon come by and along with it the string of festivals. The weariness that I felt toward it last year has now crystallised into a definite unwillingness to carry on in the same fashion. My mother said if it were possible, she would perform the puja in the same manner every day instead of once a year! As an alternative, her daily meditation essentially was visualising the deity. She imagined the Devi as a person of unsurpassed beauty and mentally worshipped her with heaps of rose petals. I now understood what it was that I had missed out in my pujas. But when I tried to visualise the Goddess, only the image of Hema Malini came on!

The break came from my old maid. A reluctant migrant from rural India, she habitually slipped into nostalgic narrations. That day it was the strong winds that set the mood. She spoke of the ripe berries that the wind would shake off the jamun tree. 8216;8216;We used to gather them in the pallav and sit under a tree to eat them. The work in the fields in these months is light. Tilling the land, sowing, replanting, all done with the sun scorching overhead was behind us. The canals were full. There was plenty of lush grass for the cattle and ripe fruits on the trees. There was enough to eat and the leisure for it!8217;8217; she said.

After years of groping in the dark, I suddenly had a clue as to why all the festivals were crowded into this period. For an agrarian community, what better time to schedule the festivals? A slowdown period, topped with nature8217;s bounty, to rejoice in the Creator and His Creations!

Mulling over the new understanding, it occurred to me that I had just reached the delightful Shravana maasa of my life. The hard work of raising the family and putting the offspring on their feet is behind me. The years of focused earning and thrifty living have ensured enough prosperity to feel secure. This quarter of life is the season for celebration not depression. As I smell the blessing in the air, I feel the resistance within, dissolve.