To kill a dog you need a gang of boys from the slums, a dog which did not oblige and hence could be termed mad , a length of rope, a thick club to bludgeon the dog with , two brutish leaders and a gaggle of excited boys to cheer them on.
They would have cornered the dog which would have been snarling,angry at first, snapping a little later when the pestering got out of hand, foaming at the mouth with rage and fear ,showing its teeth, a little later and then the chant would begin "mad dog!"; in a matter of minutes ,the noose would have been flung around its neck and secured to a tree or post.
Then, the pelting with stones would have started ; the dog thrashing around,trying to get away and failing - the children excited at this unaccustomed revelry ,chucking stones , bricks, whatever came to hand, the men joining in,while the dog would have howled in agony.
When it would have hung limp ,exhausted ,wracked by pain , they would have untied the rope and a man in black pajamas and a dusty black kurta would have wrapped it around his wrist, for the final act.
Joined by two thuggish looking teen aged boys in singlets,shorts and hair tied in ponytails, the macabre cavalcade would have taken off ,at a run ,dragging the dog, the children cheering , one of the boys, bludgeoning the dog in the hindquarters from time to time .They would have accelerated around the corner and drawn up full speed at the corner where the road meets the golf club wall.
Saving the best for the last .The dog would have reared up up one last time on its hind legs,aware of the limitations of the possibility of escape , with a phenomenal surge of strength , and, throwing its head back ,would have let out a last unearthly howl which would have been cut off as the teen aged boy would have battened its head in with the thick beam of wood ,bashing the skull and watching with glee as the brains oozed out and the children howled and cheered .
It is the same blood lust, lack of logic ,reason and sanity which prompts the forming of a mob - which acts no differently with a man than it does with a helpless cornered animal . It is the that thick palpable fear which attracts an unimaginable bestiality when even the most rational man can lose his sanity and become capable of looting,killing ,raping defying all reason and rational thinking . Today it is religion or a regional parochialism that gives a different name and characteristic to a man who has lived alongside you for years. Tomorrow it could be the food you eat or the way you dress or how old you are ,which might define the standard of whether you are allowed to exist at all.
Side by side with the murder and mayhem of Kandhamal, Maharashtra and Bihar and the jarring incident of the mad dog bashing on a side street in Golf Garden( which is an infinitesimal speck in the much bigger picture of man killing man, yet important as a livid example of blood lust ) is the celebration of Chandrayan- Space Odyssey India ,wherein India seeks to say "Yep , I also ran".
Note, we are not saying to the rest of the world that we are running with Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia and Rwanda too .
2008/10/10
Puja now and after..
If I were to paint her , I would first sharpen my pencil to the finest point to draw her features - slanting eyes , a small sharp nose , a curved mouth set in a heart shaped face that we call paan pata in Bengali which literally translated means betel leaf shaped in prosaic English . She would be an intriguing blend of demure daughter , a minx and a raging fury .
On Panchami , which is the fifth night of Navaratri , the image comes - a small clay statuette , slim hipped, many armed , bare of any embellishment .
Over the next two nights , artisans work to create her finery - decking her out in her beautiful clothes , adorning her with traditional jewellery , creating a work of art which is an absolute wonder.
The flower trays for the worship
The seasonal flower - shiuli - small white stars with bright orange centres
The one hundred and eight lotuses for the sandhi puja ,Rama's worship of Durga before his battle with Ravana, leaves of the bel tree , three to a stalk carefully checked for any blemishes ; the blemished leaves go into the basket for the anjali
Flowers - jaba and aparajita traditionally a part of the ritual worship
More flowers used in the worship , this time marigold, lotus, tulsi and bel leaves
On Dashami , the puja before Durga is prepared for the journey ahead back to Kailash, from her parents' house . The bhog comprises of panta bhaat , cooked rice with water poured over it and gandharaj lebu and slit green chillies for frangrance , kochur saag ( stalks of the arvi plant ) cooked with coconut , flaked rice mixed with mishti doi and batasha ( sugar candy ) - ,( all these are cooling foods which are appropriate for the journey ahead ) sweets made with chhana , naarkel naaru and fruits - banana , sweet lime , grapefruit , apples ,pomegranate and cucumber.
There is a pathos in the mantras which the priests chant - the lament of Durga's parents as their daughter prepares to leave , the invocation to nature to be gentle as their daughter takes the long path home to her husband's house, the entreaty to come again the next year - the priests are in tears as they prepare the bowl in which the symbolic immersion takes place - water is mixed with turmeric and a small silver mirror is angled so that the tiny aalta ( a red liquid used by married women to paint their feet and toes) smeared foot of Durga can be seen .
It is now time to bid adieu
Babughat is a total mess . The idols are taken out of the lorries , one after the another , and then carted unceremoniously by the coolies - there is a strange helplessness about the idols and they look almost human as they are hauled to the river bank hurriedly - the more they dump the more money they get- and then eased head first into the shallows, to be immediately stripped of the trappings , separated from the wooden frame and straw , and left to disintegrate back into the mud. On the banks there are huge piles of shiny toxic weaponry and finery , hopefully to be carted off in the morning .
For now the memories of the revels remain - the shining lights , the glimmer of light on the idol's face from the spotlight , the new clothes of the children , the childlike dressing up of the adults - a surreal setting . Today the market has crashed , there is an explosion in Pakistan .. so it is really back to reality with a bang
On Panchami , which is the fifth night of Navaratri , the image comes - a small clay statuette , slim hipped, many armed , bare of any embellishment .Over the next two nights , artisans work to create her finery - decking her out in her beautiful clothes , adorning her with traditional jewellery , creating a work of art which is an absolute wonder.
The flower trays for the worship
The seasonal flower - shiuli - small white stars with bright orange centres
The one hundred and eight lotuses for the sandhi puja ,Rama's worship of Durga before his battle with Ravana, leaves of the bel tree , three to a stalk carefully checked for any blemishes ; the blemished leaves go into the basket for the anjali
Flowers - jaba and aparajita traditionally a part of the ritual worship
More flowers used in the worship , this time marigold, lotus, tulsi and bel leaves
On Dashami , the puja before Durga is prepared for the journey ahead back to Kailash, from her parents' house . The bhog comprises of panta bhaat , cooked rice with water poured over it and gandharaj lebu and slit green chillies for frangrance , kochur saag ( stalks of the arvi plant ) cooked with coconut , flaked rice mixed with mishti doi and batasha ( sugar candy ) - ,( all these are cooling foods which are appropriate for the journey ahead ) sweets made with chhana , naarkel naaru and fruits - banana , sweet lime , grapefruit , apples ,pomegranate and cucumber.
There is a pathos in the mantras which the priests chant - the lament of Durga's parents as their daughter prepares to leave , the invocation to nature to be gentle as their daughter takes the long path home to her husband's house, the entreaty to come again the next year - the priests are in tears as they prepare the bowl in which the symbolic immersion takes place - water is mixed with turmeric and a small silver mirror is angled so that the tiny aalta ( a red liquid used by married women to paint their feet and toes) smeared foot of Durga can be seen .
It is now time to bid adieu
Babughat is a total mess . The idols are taken out of the lorries , one after the another , and then carted unceremoniously by the coolies - there is a strange helplessness about the idols and they look almost human as they are hauled to the river bank hurriedly - the more they dump the more money they get- and then eased head first into the shallows, to be immediately stripped of the trappings , separated from the wooden frame and straw , and left to disintegrate back into the mud. On the banks there are huge piles of shiny toxic weaponry and finery , hopefully to be carted off in the morning .For now the memories of the revels remain - the shining lights , the glimmer of light on the idol's face from the spotlight , the new clothes of the children , the childlike dressing up of the adults - a surreal setting . Today the market has crashed , there is an explosion in Pakistan .. so it is really back to reality with a bang
2008/10/05
Durga Pujo
For little over a month , the mandir in our neighbourhood has been a hub of activity - meetings , rehearsals, adda ( the magical word for chilling out , in Bengali ) plans and more plans , strategising , fiscals .
In between there were the children..
Stuart Little
Friendships and bonding
Looking for a broken finger with AG in tow
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