Most defining Moments of the decade 1947-1957

[Lurker]

Lurker u will find bengali style statues too in fact in muzaffarpur u will find every variety and we have even a competetion informal one where one of the statue is corronoted as winner....

That reminds me DR. Muzzaffarpur had a lot of Bengalis earlier didnt it? In fact the ganga paar area had a lot of Bongs, Bhagalpur too. I am not sure if it had to do economic reasons behind(the area being major saree belt) or just that people settled there. If I am not mistaken the first Indian revolutionary to be hanged, Khudiram Bose alongwith Praful Chakki, were caught in Muzaffarpur planning their assault on Brits. A little history lesson would be greatly appreciated.

Forget muzaffarpur in my village consortium of 3-4 nearby villages are putting durga statuse with quite a fanfare these days.. mind u we are talkin about people here who unfortunately still look for change for five rupee notes .. they still spare donation for durga-pooja so rest assured DP is not going anywhere irrespectve of bengali presence there...... I too am getting nostalgic wo chandni raat returning from durga mela perched on dadaji's shoulder and next day babuji ki dant and in turn dadajee ka babuji ko dantana ki ak din mela hi ghum liya to kya ho gaya..:haha:

It is the same in Gaya. If you ever visit Gaya during DP all you have to ask is at the railway station about the best pandaal in town and they will direct you right at my doors. In fact that pandaal was started by my grandfather right in my living room. So obviously I have great affection for the festival. It is a month long festival with the statues getting erected right there inside the pandaals. The artists used to be primarily from Munger or Benaras or if the money raised was good, Belur Math area. DP in Gaya is perhaps the biggest festival, bigger than Chatth. When the statues goes for the visarjan I swear ladies of most houses start crying such is the attachment. I am planning to be home this DP, if I am I shall take truckloads of pictures. xxx

[Lurker]

Lurks - the 'pratima' style is by no means the universal sign of bengali durga-puja. Last time i saw Durga Puja in Kolkata was in 2002 and there is a very dynamic and creative scene in the Durga Puja.Gone are the days of standard pratima & green-chador pandals. Its more like a free-for-all arts contest with the old school 'pratima' style losing its prominence in many 'iconic' durga puja pandals in Kolkata (such as College street). Btw Lurks, i didnt know you too are a Bong here, apart from me and Dhondy. Who else is a bong here ?

No I am not a Bong CC but I have a great respect for Bangla language and culture. Pound for pound it has been the most influential on Indian culture in past 5 centuries. The best thing that I like about is that Bengali influence has been huge without ever trying to assert itself. Indian literature is indebted to likes of Sharat Chandra and Bankim Chandra, classical music to Tagore, philosphy/religion to Raja Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramhansa etc but never have any of these big a figure that has pushed itself. From Bagha Jatin to Surya Sen the revolutionaries have also been low-keyed. Even Subhas Bose never tried to assert itself, maybe he should have. My personal attachment, apart from my own interest, stems from the fact that my Dad understands Bengali really well. He picked it up at Ranchi University which was almost like a Calcutta University in the time, Bangla was widely popular. Then he worked in Calcutta for a while. So I grew up with "tarpore", "khoka/khokhi" lingo. You would be surprised as to the impact of Bengali culture on Biharis. For a long time Calcutta was our New York. Anytime someone got married he would spend honeymoon in Howrah(upper middle class people went to Darjeeling), shaadi ki shopping was either done at Howrah or Benaras. I f you visit a typical Bihari home even today you would not hear them say "Chawal daal" you will hear them say "Bhaat daal". When I go to do grocery shopping I never say "Sabzi lene jaa reha hoon", it is always "Tarkaari lene jaa reha.." True for most Biharis really. Not to mention the fact that being a die-hard Hindi music fan there is no way anyone can convince me that any other culture has done more for it than the culture that has given us Salil Chaudhary, SD Burman, RD Burman, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Sailenra Mitra, Hemant Kumar, Arti Mukherjee, Bhappi Lahiri etc etc etc. xxxx

[Guest dada_rocks]

That reminds me DR. Muzzaffarpur had a lot of Bengalis earlier didnt it? In fact the ganga paar area had a lot of Bongs, Bhagalpur too. I am not sure if it had to do economic reasons behind(the area being major saree belt) or just that people settled there. If I am not mistaken the first Indian revolutionary to be hanged, Khudiram Bose alongwith Praful Chakki, were caught in Muzaffarpur planning their assault on Brits. A little history lesson would be greatly appreciated.

Muzaffarpur still has a huge bengali tola and dare I say I used to frequent that place for bird-watching.:giggle: In fact my first real social inter-action with a girl who were not my relative happened with a bengali. She used to be my batch-mate on math tuition.Yes we have Khudiram bose chawk, Khudiram bose maidan , his imprint is everywhere. He was mere 19 when he was hangedthree yars after that courageous act. That's some boy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khudiram_Bose

It is the same in Gaya. If you ever visit Gaya during DP all you have to ask is at the railway station about the best pandaal in town and they will direct you right at my doors. In fact that pandaal was started by my grandfather right in my living room. So obviously I have great affection for the festival. It is a month long festival with the statues getting erected right there inside the pandaals. The artists used to be primarily from Munger or Benaras or if the money raised was good, Belur Math area. DP in Gaya is perhaps the biggest festival, bigger than Chatth. When the statues goes for the visarjan I swear ladies of most houses start crying such is the attachment. I am planning to be home this DP, if I am I shall take truckloads of pictures. xxx

Erecting durga statue by single family has to be some feat I happent to know one family near my village who erect the statue themselves they are not even professional, just ur usual govt employee. Talking of crying we used to hear stories as a kid that how statues shed tears night before Visarjan ...

[Dhondy]

No I am not a Bong CC but I have a great respect for Bangla language and culture. Pound for pound it has been the most influential on Indian culture in past 5 centuries. The best thing that I like about is that Bengali influence has been huge without ever trying to assert itself. Indian literature is indebted to likes of Sharat Chandra and Bankim Chandra, classical music to Tagore, philosphy/religion to Raja Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramhansa etc but never have any of these big a figure that has pushed itself. From Bagha Jatin to Surya Sen the revolutionaries have also been low-keyed. Even Subhas Bose never tried to assert itself, maybe he should have. My personal attachment, apart from my own interest, stems from the fact that my Dad understands Bengali really well. He picked it up at Ranchi University which was almost like a Calcutta University in the time, Bangla was widely popular. Then he worked in Calcutta for a while. So I grew up with "tarpore", "khoka/khokhi" lingo. You would be surprised as to the impact of Bengali culture on Biharis. For a long time Calcutta was our New York. Anytime someone got married he would spend honeymoon in Howrah(upper middle class people went to Darjeeling), shaadi ki shopping was either done at Howrah or Benaras. xxxx

Ah, if I could frame that post and keep it somewhere, and read it again and again as an example of how to say so much, using so little space, I'd do so, Lurks. You have truly marvellous powers of expression, you do. Always such a joy to read.

[Lurker]

Ah, if I could frame that post and keep it somewhere, and read it again and again as an example of how to say so much, using so little space, I'd do so, Lurks.

Thanks man. I'd write some personal accounts, sort of a blog sometime. It would be a nice endeavour to share some old memories and create new ones.

Muzaffarpur still has a huge bengali tola and dare I say I used to frequent that place for bird-watching

Hahaha..All Biharis are the same! I also used to visit Bengali-tolas with a keen interest on bird watching. Durga Puja times were the height of such efforts. Waise one thing is for sure, Bengali babes are highly rated by Biharis..and I mean in a good way. xx

[Gambit]

Good series of threads GIB. I've voted for our Independence. It has to be the most significant and defining moment in our last 400 years, let alone between 1947-1957!