Come autumn or Sharad Ritu in Hindi and its time for Sharad Navratri. It heralds the beginning of festival season marked by 9 days of offering worship to nine forms of Goddess Durga viz. Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skanda Mata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.
Sharad Navratri brings whole lot of nostalgia of my childhood days to the fore for it was time for the first school break called autumn break or Dussehra holidays. The nights in Delhi were crisply cool and it was Ramlila time, nine days of celebrating Lord Rama’s life culminating into assassination of the demon king Ravana and burning of the effigies of Ravana, his brother Meghanad and son Kumbhakarna on Dussehra day.
Ramlila staged by amateur actors happened in almost all the localities. Of course, there were more professional ones at Ramlila ground and DCM, where well known actors played the characters from Ramayana and there was good grandeur and use of gadgets for special effects. Going with friends after dinner to watch this show that lasted well up to midnight over groundnuts is an unforgettable experience. And watching burning of the effigies of the aforesaid three evils on the last day was accompanied by the mandatory treat of kadai hot jalebis though by the end of the day, spirit used to start sagging as it was school time again the next day!
In Kolkata it used to be total shutdown from the sixth day onwards during the day, with the city coming alive at night with hordes of families doing pandal hopping and eating savouries.
In Mumbai, it was all about 9 days of dandiya that presented colourful pageantry.
Readers must be wondering the use of past tense in this blog. Because while Delhi , which I left in 1986 and Kolkata, where I last stayed in 1999 are all in my memory, Mumbai, where I have stayed for last 2 decades is sensibly staying away from all this celebrations to defeat Corona virus. Like Lord Rama killed the demon king to liberate his beloved wife and goddess Durga killed Mahishasura, we the ordinary folks will have to emulate our revered gods to kill this demon coronavirus by wearing mask, washing hands, maintaining social distancing and staying safe so as to celebrate Ramlila, Durga Puja and Dandiya next year and convert the past tense into present once again.
Happy Navratri!
Arvind Arya blog 
Great Sir. Again I can correlate similar childhood in Delhi. Weather use to be cold and we mostly were carrying peanuts and shawl to protect ourselves from winters.
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Thanks sir. Those memories will never leave us
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Touched heart…..
Wish u & family a very happy Navratri & Durga pujo too.
God bless, stay healty.
Regards
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Victor missing pujo of Kolkata
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Wish you a very happy navaratri.. stay blessed 🙏😙💐
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🙏
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Nice Article, really miss Home town Durga Puja. Thankyou so much Arya Sir..
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Glad you liked it
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The memories flash back of my earlier period of life, when we used to enjoy similar festivities particularly in Delhi Shahdara at my graduation level upto 1970. I enjoy your nicely worded feelings. Best wishes to you and your family members for Navratra and Devi Pooja.
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I have also spent good time of my life in Krishna Nagar where my grandparents lived
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Oh those were the days!! There was so much fun and enjoyment in Durga Puja. I vividly remember that by Durga Puja we had our half sweaters out.. Nostalgia
Wishing you and family a very Happy Durga Puja
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Yes
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A very happy Navratri and Durga Puja, Sir.
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Same to you
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A very happy Navratri and Durga Puja, Sir. Kolkata is so special during Puja but this season it is little subdued.
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Yes Raza
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It’s really great to see and read your Blogs Arya sir , all of them are full of festivities and real life experience, It touches heart and takes us back to the memory lane, old days old times . Thanks sir
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Thanks sir
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🌹🙏🏻A very happy Navratri and Durga puja🙏🏻🌹
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Thanks Meena
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