Me and My Durgas
The world is full of people whose strength can be compared to that of Goddess Durga. In this story Nabarni Das narrates such people in her life whom she feels are symbols of strength.
Devi Durga went back to Kailash recently, keeping us waiting until next year. I’d ask, what’s the first thought that comes to your minds? Cliché- so, no. I’ll start with a stereotype of what people think- Music, dance, food, huge idols, new clothes, spending time with family, decorations, drawings etc, but what about the Goddess herself? She was created to get rid of the world from evils that other Gods could not do, all powerful, beautiful and smart.
Let’s change our topic. Why? It is because when we write articles on Durga Puja, we usually write about our experiences in other celebrations or, the history of goddess Durga, etc.
I’m here to talk about something else. I will talk about some of the strongest people whom I know who has been my inspirations. The Goddess herself is a symbol of strength hence I feel all these strong people surrounding me are versions of Goddess Durga.
Let me start with one of the most important person in my life, whom I have seen in my ‘almost’ 15 year life span. She’s always been the strongest woman I’ve ever known, from dealing with geriatric psychology to the childish pranks of mine, and trust me dealing with a teen ager like me is quite a lot of work indeed. I have seen her ignoring her passion to ensure my needs are taken care of. She literary left everything she loved only to take care of me. I have never seen her break down. There are times she was hurt, but her strength is such that she never made it obvious to others. As a matter of fact, her expressions portrays as if nothing has happened. She’s done everything. There is so much I can say about her but that would continue till the end of the world. So let’s move on.
Next I talk about some of my closest friends. Let’s call them R, S, D and J. I have seen situation when they were in mental stress, but when one of our friends called them crying for help regarding something, they rushed to do so and made that their first priority forgetting their own stress. Selflessness is something I learnt from them. S and D had to leave the place they grew up in, and shifted their house. Being a teenager, that is extremely hard on one’s mental state. Yet, they were there when we needed them. R dances through the hard times in her life, quite literally. J quietly listens and lets everything out from the other ear.
Not only women, men too have their own ways of sacrifices which makes them our heroes. From dealing with my mental breakdowns to buying me sweets because I like them, he’s done everything for me.
One day I would like to say to them, what Atlas said to Lily in ‘It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover, after her long struggle, ‘You can stop swimming now, Lily, We finally reached the shore’. But if it comes to a point where we have to keep swimming, I know all of them would save others and drown themselves. That is why they are my Goddess Durga, my inspiration, my moral supporters, my everything.
This Durga Puja, I believed in celebrating the Puja by appreciating all those strong women and men who are our biggest influencers, our strong points, those who have been there for us through the worst and the best, let us appreciate those who were nothing less than Goddess Durga for us. That my readers is the way I celebrated. What about you?
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