It is an exciting time in India as the country gears up for the start of the festive season. It is an especially thrilling time in the city of joy. Kolkata is all decked up and dazzling for the Durga Pooja. The streets are lined with thousands and thousands of lights, people out and about with their families, dressed in the same colours to honour the Navratri tradition.
At the same time, India, the cricket worshipping nation celebrates the widely loved sport as the country hosts the ODI World Cup. The Indian cricket team do their part to raise the excitement level with their winning streak in the tournament.
Navratri, the nine day festival in India that celebrates Goddess Durga holds a unique significance when it comes to colour. The nine days of the festival are designated with a colour. Each colour has a special meaning. Pink symbolising kindness, blue for prosperity, yellow to represent abundance, maroon for bravery, orange for joy and so on. Resonating with the 10 different international teams that are here in India, all representing their own traditions and ideas. The anticipation is even higher as the Pakistan cricket team arrives in India for the first time in seven years, amidst a warm welcome by the Indian fans.
The Oberoi Grand, a luxurious hotel in Kolkata which is also a historical landmark, is circled by the New Market. The market is abuzz with crowds as they treat themselves with new clothes and accessories to celebrate the festive season. A few kilometres away the Eden Gardens stadium is echoing with the sounds of hammers and drills as the Cricket Association of Bengal works in full swing to redevelop the stadium for its first World Cup match on the 28th of October.
The two grandest festivals, Durga Pooja and the Cricket World Cup culminate in this city to create an unforgettable experience for anyone visiting Kolkata to watch a match at the Eden Gardens.
The Indian team gave a fitting start to the festive season as they locked horns with Bangladesh on Maha Panchami, signalling the official start of Durga Pooja. They will add to the intensity of the festivities as they take on New Zealand on the day of Mahashtami in Dharamshala. The men in blue will also battle it out against England on the day of Laxmi Pooja on the 29th of October.
In the thrill of it all, not just Kolkata, but the entire nation comes together to celebrate the biggest festival of cricket and the country. Only in India will a cricket World Cup be celebrated just as much as the religious festivals. There’s a saying that goes “Cricket is not just a sport, it’s a religion” and no other country but India is proof of it. Durga Puja pandals along with traditional decorations display giant posters of the Indian team. Children and their parents pray, along with the wellbeing of themselves and their families, also for the Indian team to lift the World Cup trophy. Yesterday at a shoot for RevSportz in a Kolkata family pujo, a banedi barir pujo, as they call it in the city, a young boy of class eight spoke on camera passionately and knowledgeably about the ongoing tournament. His name? A guess? His pet name or daak naam, as his family affectionately called his name- was Yuvi. A young boy in his festive clothes and eyes bright at the thought of the next India game. Do we need to say any more?