An autumn not for celebration

Sharate aaj kon othithi elo praner dware
Ananda gan ga re hridoy ananda gan ga re
This is how Rabindranath celebrates the arrival of the Sharat or Autumn. In the United States, known as the Fall, it is the most favorite season to many because of colourful foliage, crisp air and the first frost. Yet Sharat is special in this part of the world. In the northern hemisphere, the deciduous trees shed their crimson leaves to make a thick carpet of fascinating motif. No, trees in this land do not at all go through such radical transformation but there is one feathery grass flower that has become synonymous with the queen of the season. Called kashful in Bangla but catkin or wild sugarcane in English, this serves as the crown of the queen of all seasons.
Kashful with whiteness incarnated on the banks of the rivers, canals, lakes, ponds and wetlands, on fallow meadows and everywhere propitious transports its viewers to a world of fantasy. Is it possible to gather so much feathery and weightless whiteness at a place? The ethereal whiteness is also not at all motionless, it tosses to create wave-like patterns of an undulating sea. But the flower has a match above in the azure sky. Patches of clouds as white as those can be spread all across the sky, connecting the heaven and earth to the same tune. Sometimes they simply stay where they are but then they also sail leisurely or in a hurry.
The bond of whiteness between the earth and the beyond is incomplete without sheuli or shefali. Known as parijat in Sanskrit (night-flowering jasmine), this nightly wonder wafts fragrance fit for heaven and sheds in the dawn. This is why it is called parijat. No surprise, it also heralds the arrival of Devi Durga who to the Bangalee Hindus is both a deity and a daughter. As a deity she kills ashura or demon. But as a daughter, she makes her yearly visit with her sons and daughters to her parent's house. This is a unique occasion of celebrating the freshness and whiteness of Nature. The bracing air of autumn is accompanied with whiteness that stands for purity and innocence. Sheuli's appearance symbolises purity and its intoxicating scent peace and tranquillity.
This year, however, the worship of Durga that aligns with the aesthetic unfolding of Nature will not bring the joy and religious fervour to many of its devotees. This is because of the arson, vandalism and looting of homes, temples and business establishments in several pockets of the country. Even those not affected by such communal attacks are yet to regain their composure as they are still apprehensive of the lawlessness. Although reports of students and other members of the majority community, including those with no such credentials in the past, are keeping vigil against such insanity, the environment is hardly propitious for the devotees to concentrate on the celebration of their greatest religious festival.
Much as the chief adviser may assure them that all are members of a family and there is no reason to think for any community that they are a minority, the ground reality is far from such an enlightened concept. This Sharat is unlikely to be the same for the community that has been living here for generations and worshiped the Durga idol. In some places, reportedly the idols have also been smashed. The torched temples can hardly be made ready for such a festival. Even if it can be done, the broken and lacerated heart cannot be repaired; it will be haunted by the nightmare witnessed.
Like the night jasmine, the souls of the devotees have dropped off the branches at dawn. The arrival of the autumn will bring to them a message contrary to what they expect. With all its charms and enchantments, this Sharat will not reverberate with the melodious second sentence of Rabindranath's song. Even the nation yet to be at peace is struggling to bring things in order. As a nation, the Bangalees make some progress only to get back to square one. This has happened throughout its 1,000-year history. Matsayana roughly starting from 650 AD up to 750 AD enveloped it in darkness and that process continues. Even in the independent Bangladesh, there is no respite from the practice of big fish eating the small fries. The students' movement has brought a unique opportunity to make amend for all the wrongs it has suffered. Let it not slip away.