One Navratra

Its autumn at MANAGE...

There is a light early morning drizzle, the leaves begin to turn, the evening draft carries a slight chill and puppies are born...

However, more importantly, it is the time of Navratri, Dandiya and Garba and MANAGE basks in festive glory...In my second and final year, I'm already nostalgic about Navratri, last year...It seems so far off now...Dressed in a pink suit, wondering whether I'm overdressed in danglers, conscious about my inaptitude in handling the Dandiya sticks, I remember walking into the Puja...In a thrice, the festive fervour caught on...There was cheer in the air and all my seniors and friends gathered around chanting shlokas...Piety had never been my forte, though strangely, that night I prayed for Ma Durga's blessing ! And blessed, I was...Perhaps my prayers were heard that night and Ma gave me a wonderful year ahead...Sprinkled with laughter, a few stray tears, memories and friends...I'm grateful...

I prayed again this Navratri...And I thanked...

Dandiya Nite turned out to be entirely different from what I had in mind...It seemed a decision of the last hour to dress up in a saree and a wise decision it was...There was gaiety all around and the girls took their own sweet time to look their best ! I missed Mousumi Ma'm, Puja Ma'm and Rupali Ma'm and suddenly the realisation struck that we wont be around next year...And I hoped, somebody would miss me as I missed my mentors...

The party took off with the Puja...Namrata and Pushpanjali chanted shlokas and we echoed with alacrity...Chants of "Jay Mata Di" resounded...Images of Ma were decked up, framed with a maroon Bandhej dupatta...Flowers were scattered and incense sticks burned...We all did the 'Aarti' and had 'Prashad'...Mona did the 'Tika' on our foreheads and slowly the crowd dispersed for a sumptuous dinner prepared by Khan Saab...

Shirin looked resplendent in a Green Chiffon Jodhpuri Bandhini, only to be matched by a Sap Green Kurta clad Aditya...I joined the couple and after several photos and some good hearted camaraderie, all of us joined in the dance...I hadn't imagined how much fun it would be prancing around in a saree repeating the same steps over and over again ! With Gupchup, Fruit Salad and Orange Juice as energisers, we danced all night long, cluck-clucking on heady Dandiya beats, oblivious to Vikram Singh's warnings and messages through Alok Bhai !

At 3am, the party finally drew to a close and the two batches gathered around for a picture...As we decided to walk back to our rooms, a heavy drizzle stopped us...Shirin was apprehensive about the rain but suddenly Aditya grabbed her wrist and ran towards shelter...The spontaneity amazed and amused me as well as several others on the path...Maybe, these were some moments I'd prayed for and Ma answered my prayers...Yet again...

God bless !