29th October 2021
Me: Khub miss korchhi. Please get well soon.
Kaushik da: 👍
Durga Pujo was still a restricted affair last year because of social distancing norms. My friends from the Bandra Durga Pujo messaged me to come on Ashtami to pay my respects to the Goddess. Boxes of bhog had been ordered for donors and volunteers to take home and eat. They very sweetly gave two boxes for K and me.
‘Where’s Kaushik da,’ I asked.
I was talking of Kaushik Saha. The ‘bhog in charge’ of the Bandra Pujo.
I learnt that he was unwell and in the hospital. Hence the messages that you just read.
He called me on 29th June this year. He was looking for a good continental place for lunch in Bandra. I told him about a new favourite of ours. He went there and messaged me back.
‘Kalyan lovely place. Perch. Enjoyed the food. Thanks for the recommendation.’
I got a call from him the day before evening. Saptami. I took the call and smiled. I knew what to expect. A booming and jovial voice, pretending to be angry, but soaked with love. I knew what it would say, ‘ki Kalyan. Dekhlam na tomake. Ashtami te esho kintu. Bhog dite hobe.’ You didn’t come today. Will need all hands on deck tomorrow. It’s Ashtami. The big day. Do come.
I was wrong. It was his wife, Rashmi boudi, at the other end.
‘Kalyan, this is Rashmi here.’
‘Hi, how are you,’ I replied cheerfully.
‘I don’t know if you know, but Kaushik passed away in September 10th. He had health complications. Dialysis had reduced his immunity. This time he couldn’t come back.’
‘What……’
K looked at me perturbed from the other end of the room.
‘He loved you a lot. I thought I should tell you before you went to the pujo and heard it from someone else. I’d been caught up with everything. I want you to know that he was very fond of you and loved you a lot.’
I told K about the news once the call was over. She was shocked too. Kaushik Da would look out for her as if he was my elder brother. Cognisant of the fact that she might be a bit lost among us Bengalis. He would talk to her and make sure that she was well fed.
I last saw him during at the Bandra Durga Puja in 2019. He was wearing a cap. Sitting on a chair and directing the bhog volunteers with his walkie talkie.
‘Why is line 3 moving so slow. People are waiting for long to eat.’
‘Counter 2 needs more khichuri. No one should go unfed.’
‘Counter 1 needs replacements in the beguni and chutney counter.’
I stepped in to help. I’d never seen him sit before but the last couple of years had not been kind to him health-wise.
‘We are serving on behalf of ma (the goddess Durga) and she’s looking after us. I’ve trained the next generation now,’ he told me when we had lunch together on the stage after everyone else was fed. He came up with a huge plate full of beguni and alur chops. Kaushik Da always had something special made for his army of earnest hard working bhog distributors. Filled his plate and sat to chat with me. The significance of his words didn’t strike me then, but I guess the goddess had told him that she would need him upstairs soon.
I’ve been going to the Bandra Durga Pujo for the last 25 years. Ever since I moved into Mumbai. That’s half of the life of this puja which completes 50 years this year. It became my parar pujo, my neighbourhood puja, in 2011 when Samudra Sen read my blog post and invited me to meet the people organising the Pujo on Lokhi Pujo which was on 12th October that year. ‘This is Kaushik. He is in charge of the bhog,’ said Sam to me and we have all been friends for the last 11 years, even if I met them largely only during the puja days and not much otherwise.
Kaushik da and I hit it off from day 1. He would always welcome me with a big smile and a hug when I went to the puja pandal. He would want to know what I was working on. Take a lot of interest in it and would smile happily in response to what I said. He would proudly introduce me to those around.
If I had come with friends or family, then Kaushik Da would ensure that they would get served fast and well. I felt comforted at the pandal when I had anxiety attacks ten years back and would go and hang there rather than being at home. Largely because of the warmth I got from him and everyone else. I felt safe and looked after.
He made it a point to come all the way to town to my book launch at the Kala Ghoda Fest. Got the pandit at the pujo to bless a copy of my book when I went to the Pujo with the copy and turned to him as I had no idea what to do. I was looking forward to meeting him at the Pujo this time and tell him about the book I am writing now.
I once interviewed him for my YouTube channel and learnt that Kaushik da had been a part of the Bandra Pujo’s bhog distribution system since the age of 7! Starting, as we all had, with serving salt, chillies and lime. He told me then that he’d been in charge of food for 27 years. Which means that when he passed away at 57, he would have been in charge for at least 30 years.
K and I watched the video at night. We still could not believe that he was gone. I realised that he reminded me a lot of my father and how he would get fully involved in the pujo whether abroad or in Kolkata. Such people are giants among men as they say. Their shoes are too big to be filled. We can only learn from them.
I was astounded by how hard he worked despite his Gonesh-like girth and age. How full of life he was. Waking up before dawn broke to take all the supplies. Get Gobindo Da (the cook) and his team started early in the morning. Taking part in the Pujo ceremonies. Spearheading the bhog distribution. Eating at the end with the volunteers. Going home for a short while before he was back in the evening. On doshomi, he would change into shorts and a tee shirt, put on a cap after the final bhog distribution was over. Dancing all the way to Juhu for the bishorjan. And then heavenwards one day.
Today is Nobomi, the penultimate day of the Pujos. You will see pictures of brilliant Durga puja pandals and protimas and ‘lighting.’ Images of people queuing up to see the Thakurs. Of the food stalls and bhog queues. The cultural programme in the evenings. Pujos today are measured according to the crowds who visited, awards won, sponsorship money raised, history of the Pujo, range of food stalls, social media influencers, celebrities and political head honchos (in that order? 😉) who visited, most instagrammed etc
But something tells me that for Ma Durga it’s the countless faceless Kaushiks, working selflessly behind the scenes to give her devotees joy and happiness, that are closest to her heart.
I will go to the pujo today. His pujo. Our pujo. And go and say a prayer for him. I am sure he will be busy marshalling the bhog bitoron to the gods upstairs. ‘Line 3’e khichuri aano. Joldi.’
Kaushik da. Khub Miss korchhi. ❤️
Video from Kali Pujo 2015