End of an Era by Saibal Ghosh

END OF AN ERA – One day in the year, when Bengalis ruled Delhi! by Saibal Ghosh

The decision of the National Green Tribunal to ban the immersion of all idols in the Yamuna river starting this year, brings to an end the more than century old practice in Delhi of 'bhashan', ‘visarjan’ or Durga idol immersions on Dashami/Dussehra day at river Yamuna. For Bengalis in Delhi, Dashami had a special significance. Until more than a decade and half ago, when all idols from in and around Delhi converged at Gita Ghat on the Yamuna, near the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) – Kashmere Gate, it was an experience in itself! Many of us earmarked this day to meet acquaintances from far-flung parts of Delhi, who use to make it a point to come to Gita Ghat along with their respective Ma Durga idols for the immersion. A spirit of bonhomie use to pervade Gita Ghat that day. The loading of the idols onto buffalo carts and moving them to the bank of the river, walking on the river silt, gave us a different feeling altogether.

 

Of course, this was an unique occasion happening once a year, when the Bengalis ruled the roads of Delhi!  Almost all the pujo idols of Delhi, carried on trucks along with buses carrying the people, use to converge on Mandir Marg, in front of New Delhi Kalibari. From there, this huge procession of trucks and buses, with the New Delhi Kalibari idol on the lead, use to weave its way for Gita Ghat, through central Delhi. The young members of the Joint Procession Committee (JPC) with red and yellow bandanas tied onto their heads with a red ‘tilak’ on their foreheads, riding on their yezdis, jawas and bullets, use to stop all traffic crossing the path of this procession. We as young volunteers use to dance on the trucks to the beat of the dhaak and very often got down on the roads to continue with our dancing, especially in front of traffic cops posted on busy intersections. The cops had instructions not to interfere with the procession. Later, due to the size of the C R Park puja processions taking on massive proportions, with each puja boasting of 6-7 trucks and 10-11 buses, these processions from C R Park started reaching Gita Ghat directly. It was a greater instigation for us then to be part of our own processions, shouting at top of our voice "jacche kara - Mela Ground"! My friends Partha, Supriyo, Debjit, Aditya, Amiya and others will vouch for these experiences!

 

Another highlight of the Bhashan at Gita Ghat was the procession arranged by the oldest Durga Puja of Delhi - the Kashmere Gate pujo. They brought their idols on huge bullock carts, since this Pujo is located close to Gita Ghat. A group of shehnai players dressed in traditional attire playing the shehnai – known as the Nahabat – led the procession. The men from this pujo were always dressed in dhuti and panjabi, and the women in white sarees with red borders, the traditional attire of Bengalis during the pujas. Incidentally, this pujo is having its 110th celebrations, this year.

 

However, with the Asian Games in 1982 and subsequent advent of flyovers and then the Commonwealth Games (CWG in 2010), Gita Ghat itself was constricted in size, in a major way. Meantime, number of Durga Pujas in Delhi NCR increased massively in the intervening years, with a huge inflow of Bengalis from West Bengal settling temporarily or permanently over here. Durga Puja is also celebrated with fervour by the Bihari community in the NCR and this too added to the pressure on the ‘Visarjan’ ceremony. As a practical alternative, the authorities made facilities for Durga idol immersions at different points on the river Yamuna. All South Delhi idols began to be immersed at Kalindi Kunj Ghat near Okhla. Massive cranes were pressed into service at the site since this place had not been developed into a proper immersion ghat and hence, lacked the necessary facilities. The river bank was made up of uneven soft mud with visitors unable to reach the edge of the river without their clothes being totally mud-spattered. The jaws of the crane picked up the Durga idol by its head and dropped it into the water. Moreover, the Yamuna had become extremely polluted by then with pollutants in the form of white foam floating over the water surface! With this move, a certain element of charm associated with Durga Puja visarjan for us, disappeared forever! After the initial couple of years of this change, I too lost interest in the Bhashan ceremony and stopped attending it.

 

Nonetheless, a common string between the earlier visarjans at Gita Ghat 40 years ago and those at Kalindi Kunj Ghat thereafter, remained the same until a few years back. This was the rivalry between various local groups, which resulted in hilarious situations and later, into serious turn of events, with ‘bhashan’ as the locale for such confrontations!

 

Forming of neighbourhood clubs to indulge in various sports and cultural activities flows in the ‘Bengali blood’. Chittaranjan Park in the 70s and 80s was no different. Amongst the better managed clubs was South Delhi Youth Centre at J Block, known amongst us by its abbreviation - SDYC. SDYC use to organise an annual football/soccer tournament at the J-Block ground, around the end of monsoon and beginning of autumn. Teams from all across Delhi use to participate in this month-long tournament. It was a highpoint in the calendar of youngsters like us in early or mid-teens, who regularly flocked to the J Block ground in the afternoon after returning from school. Our focus was to cheer our favourite team from the sidelines. The team comprising of our elder brothers or ‘dadas’ mainly from E, F G and H Blocks of Chittaranjan Park was known as ‘hoosh corner’! A nonsensical name, purposely chosen, to highlight the free spirited nature of this group of young boys in the range of 17- 25 years of age. Our chants use to follow each move made by these ‘dadas’ on the field “…hoosh hoosh…hooshcorner!” The tournament use to see participation by a few teams from the Minto Road – near Connaught Place – area of Delhi. They use to call themselves ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute Teams A, B, C and so on. Their manager and major face ‘off-the-field’ was a young boy called ‘Dabbu’. This person had a nice physique and was one of the lone voices cheering his team(s) in the tournament. Sometimes the decisions of referees – all professionals hired from the Delhi Football Association – led to teams losing and bowing out of the tournament, which did not go down well with their supporters …and then the mayhem would begin!

 

Dabbu was one of those persons, who could never take the defeat of any of his teams, lying down! He use to run into the pitch agitatedly whenever he did not like any decision. Likewise, SDYC had its boys ready to pounce on him, whenever he ran threateningly towards the referee. This use to result in a melee on the field with fisticuffs running all around, with us, the young spectators, enjoying the ‘tamasha’ to the hilt. Either such matches were cancelled, to be played later, or the teams were disqualified altogether. However, the same teams use to come back to play, year after year, in the tournament, much to our excitement!  Once a disputed match got over, Dabbu use to get into a direct confrontation with the local boys – including the organisers. Many a times a local hero for us teenagers – Biplabda - a gentleman (who use to spend most of his time in front of a mirror exercising with dumbbells or pushing up weights) took matters into his own hand and thrash Dabbu severely. Threats of annihilation flew quick and fast with Dabbu, while leaving the ground with his teams threatening that he would not let any person stay alive when the Chittaranjan Park Durga Puja Visarjan/Bhashan processions would pass through the Minto Road area, on their way to Geeta Ghat!

 

How seriously were Dabbu’s threats taken was to be seen on the visarjan day when our trucks carrying the idols of the goddesses were also loaded with broken bricks, stones and iron rods, in order to face any emergencies, while crossing Minto Road. In reality, I do not recall any fights taking place because of Dabbu’s threats, although mild skirmishes might have occurred. Nonetheless, I did get to know about major fights taking place at the Kalindi Kunj Ghat between people from Durga Puja processions from Chittaranjan Park and other areas, in later years. I believe that some of these fights led to legal cases getting registered with many of the persons even having to spend a few weeks behind bars!

 

With such a colorful and ‘happening’ history of ‘Bhashan/Visarjan’ of Ma Durga idols in Delhi, the practice introduced from this year to immerse them in small water pits prepared in the local areas, will definitely look tame and mundane! However, I did observe this year that many people who had stopped participating at the visarjan ceremony in the Yamuna ghats due to inabilities from advanced age and other constraints were physically present at these immersions. Moreover, with the time thus saved, people spent more time at the Puja pandals giving these a festive look even during the Dashami/Dussehra day. Earlier, these venues use to be deserted, once the ‘sindurkhela’ got over and the idols were taken away for immersion. Let us hope that the acceptance by our community, of this new practice ordered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and implemented by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, will be appreciated by all, signifying the contribution of Bengalis in Delhi, towards mitigating pollution in our river Yamuna.