1st Saraswati Puja Away from Home

Missing home on the eve of my 1st Swaraswati puja away from home.. missing my old buddies, paaglami, panadal hoping and the sight of tiny kids in basanti saaree and dhuti panjabi... missing the hint of mischief in the eyes of the boys who get their passport to girls' schools only for this day.. missing the sight of lovebirds walking in the street holding hands...missing the smell of different brands of shampoos from long un braided hairs..missing bani niketan, the fine art show and cultural programs..missing the loud music from the para pandal..missing the tiny and svelte terracotta idol of d goddess my mom worships every year...missing the mandatory fights wid my mom for refusing to go for puspanjali... missing irritating her by giving my explanation of Saraswati Vandana.. Missing my dad who'd stealthily sneak into my room to collect a few books for the puja..missing Bondhudadu and the wonderful discussions with him which will inevitably turn into argument followed by absolute misery on my side...missing khichuri and kuler chatni..missing uli pisi..Missing having lunch outside home and then having it again for the 2nd time after coming back...missing the reclusive sucharita and the troubles we had to face to persuade her to come out of her room and join the bandwagon of mass madness..missing the sight of the utter disgust of her face being transformed into contentment .. Missing amrita(sans rudranath) , monami and deedee... Missing the the trill of successfully avoiding unwanted people .. missing the joy of hugging long lost friends.. missing the PNPC .Mising my alma mater, Santragachhi Bhanumoti Girls' School(and to some extend Tarasundari Balika Vidyabhaban),,missing Projapoti and Pum, the only 2 relatives from the 300 year old chakroborty bari who turned into my friends...missing Moumita Aunty , the friend philosopher and guide of my childhood years(but then I always miss her on this day since she ceased to be my teacher from class 8) , Missing those days when we'd celebrate this day as a giant joint family , missing the times Ujan Sangeet Chakra clebrated Puja in our house when chakroborty bari wasn't divided by a concrete wall...


Old memories of the "Bengali's Valentine's Day'  are obscuring the Tax PDFs in front of me.


And strangely enough even though I didn't spend a single saraswati puja wid u, m missing u the most arijita ,,, looking forward to the day we meet again..carpe diem !