Homesickness and Durga Pujas

One who leaves one's hometown and moves to a city to make a living, does undergo homesickness. The ties that bind one to the roots is something that none can ignore. Perhaps, Bengalis are most affected by it when Durga Pujas is around.

DURGA PUJA is the most important festival of Bengali people. Their sons and daughters, who are scattered across the globe try to come back to their homeland to enjoy the festivities among friends and relatives. Once the date comes near, the homesickness grows – phone calls and exchange of messages increase.

Homesickness is a disease that practically every person experiences at some time or the other. Whether a man or a woman, the close ties that bind one to his or her roots is something that no one can ignore. It begins right from childhood when a kid finds itself in totally unfamiliar surroundings.

The brave ones feel the absence of known faces like the parents or governesses or grandparents, but they adapt quickly to the new setup. When the child grows into a young man or woman, the feeling of loneliness continues to haunt it. However, it has to pass through the portals of colleges located far away from their homes. They have to adjust to the new place, which involves embracing new cultures and living styles. Even food habits need to be modified to suit changed surroundings. Then, there is homesickness of the young brides. After marriage, they land up in an alien environment and embrace the new life with a smiling face. The ease with which she transforms herself proves her strength. Even if she feels homesick, she has to grin and bear it and wipe her tears in silence.

Bengalis are probably the worst sufferers of this malady of homesickness. They are tied down by the apron strings. That is why, they hesitate to venture out of their known and familiar surroundings. When they get employment out of West Bengal, they grab the opportunity, but in the back of their minds lurk thoughts of how to return back to the home soil. They put in applications to higher-ups for transfer to a place nearer home quoting compassionate grounds like ‘seriously ill parents with no one to take care of them’. Sometimes it does bear fruits, but in a majority of cases it does not.

Earlier, homesickness was inevitable. Today, the situation is not that bad because everyone is connected by mobile networks. Moreover, physical movement between far-off locations is not a factor when air connectivity has improved with every passing day. Still, when homesickness strikes one has to find remedies. When in colleges, they establish close links with other families in the place where they stay. These may be distant relatives or friends and acquaintances of the parents or relatives of local classmates.

When the college session spreads over a number of years, the bond that is created sometimes lands the person into problems – at times, the proximity with the other families does not get acceptance from his own family. That results in heart breaks.

To beat homesickness, there are artificial means like possessing cassettes and DVDs representing the life that one has left behind. Video clippings help fight the disease. However, the desire to have those mouth-watering dishes that your mother prepared is missed (there is no suitable replacement of it). The sweets may look the same, even the taste may be very near to what she made, but there would be something missing.

The father may have been secretly branded as a tyrant, but there would be times when you would miss his presence and his ’never-say-die’ spirit. He always remained in the background to extend the unseen support and indirect encouragement that allowed you to become a performer. His self-confidence wore out on you to help you make yourself into what you are. He also accounts for your homesickness like the school and college friends who you grew up with through thick and thin. source: merinews.com