Durga Pujo – the one time in the year, the Bengali diaspora in the world comes out in resplendent colors and simply gorgeous ethnic dresses and congregate around wherever the local festivities are being held. I suspect this is equally true for Bengalis in native Bengal but I have not seen a Pujo in Bengal for over half my life – so, I cannot speak from personal experience.

It is also, I suspect, the season for Facebook to upgrade their backend hard drives to deal with the sudden deluge of FB picture posts and profile updates of scintillating ladies and not-to-be-left-behind-in-their-looks husbands. At a very high level of pixel granularity too, thanks to the latest phones that I am yet to figure out how to make a quiet phone call from 🙂

But to me, this is also a great way to say “Hi” to a lot of old friends and families that I barely get to see during the year and make some new friends. I have to admit that with my terrible ability to remember names, the meeting of old friends and families often becomes embarrassing. However, I am the first one to admit that I am going to hit 50 in a few more months and therefore, I should be given a excuse 🙂

My most delightful moments in life is still with kids. Today, I was able to spend an hour with my runner friend Manas’s daughter. Frankly, I do not know (or rather do not remember) her name. And she had no ability to communicate with me – unless spitting at me is considered to be a form of communication. Some might actually concur 🙂

It is not the cherubic beauty of babies that gets me. It is their inability to understand TIME that mesmerizes me. Look at her. She has no comprehension of what is time. She does not know what five minutes back means. She has no idea of an hour from now means. She is absolutely in the NOW. There is no time for her than just NOW.

“That shiny thing on him? Interesting!! I am going to pull it.” She has no comprehension that it is the watch that someday will tell her time when she is supposed to have food – whether she is hungry or not. As of now, it is something to tug at.

“That black looking thing under my chin? I wonder how it tastes. Let me stick out my tongue to find it out.” She has no idea that a few minutes back she had already tasted my shirt and decided that it was not eminently edible. She has no ability to talk about “experiences”. Her mind is but a blank slate.

She is absolutely in the NOW.

For the folks who have a deeper understanding of spirituality (regardless of the religion you profess), would probably realize this to be the ultimate goal of meditation. Control your mind to live the only moment that is true – NOW.

Every time we fold our hands and close our eyes and bow our head to Ma Durga, that is what we are trying to do – focus our mind to be with the ONE.

And with that picture of a rather startled baby trying to understand why the uncle (and her dad) was disrupting her actions to get her to focus on some weird rectangular stuff her dad was holding … “Happy Durga Puja” to all of you.