The day of love is here, and this year it coincides with what is popularly dubbed as Bangali’s Valentine’s Day — Saraswati Puja. Usually Bengalis celebrate V-Day twice a year, but 2024 will be an exception as the colours and flavours of Vasant Panchami and Valentine’s Day merge. Red hearts in the air, and yellow sarees and kurtas all over Kolkata streets.
For this day of double celebrations, My Kolkata spoke to people across age groups for their special memories of love during Saraswati Puja. From making it official to meeting the family, and the innocence of first crushes — here are their fondest memories.
A Bollywood-esque love triangle
“Rajuda had a SRK vibe about him, at least that’s what Somadi would confer. The two lovebirds of our cosy para in Barrackpore were no secret, but who knew that they would decide to elope on a chilly Saraswati Puja morning?”
Abhishek Roy, a 37-year-old academic and theatre activist from Kolkata, didn’t have a love story of his own to share, but a story from his younger days that reminds him of love on Saraswati Puja
Abhishek Roy
What followed the elopement was a filmy affair, high on suspense and thrill, with Rajuda and Somadi’s parents trying to figure out the what-when-where. The youngsters, Abhishek being one of them, were helping out the priest with the puja but had their ears hooked towards the elders for the latest update on the couple. “Why would they elope, the wedding was fixed, said the elders, but the heart wants what it wants, isn’t it?” The puja followed its course, and the kids hopped on to the next, more enjoyable part of the festivities — flying kites.
“And what do we see? Rajuda and Somadi walking towards us. We dropped everything and ran towards them, and soon after the mystery unravelled.
Little to Rajuda’s knowledge, a prospective love triangle was brewing, and Somadi was eloping that morning alright, but with someone else. Rajuda saw her sneaking out of the house early in the morning, followed her, had a dhishoom dhishoom moment with the new lover on the block. He won Somadi over and marched towards the homeland, or homepara. They were getting married the same year with a feast promised to us.”
After everything, that evening Rajuda quipped to the younger boys about the lover boy gobbling up topa kul before Saraswati Puja. “Of course, I knew Ma Saraswati, who is also premer devi (goddess of love), would not let my love story vanish into thin air,” he told them. To this date, Saraswati Puja brings back this memory for Abhishek.
Hoping for love
This one is not exactly a story of love, but that of looking forward to finding love on Saraswati Puja. For 27-year-old instructional designer Tannishta Roy, Saraswati Puja, is a day she romanticises every year, even now that she is married to the love of her life.
Tannishta Roy
“I can’t remember a year when I haven’t preserved the best sari for Saraswati Puja. My ideas of love and being in love have changed through time, as it does for everybody, but this day has always had an element of finding love and feeling pre-eminently significant for the first time.”
An alumni of the celebrated Bethune Collegiate School, she feels privileged to know what love is to Bengalis in the “most Bangali way possible”. “You can call me stupid, or hopelessly romantic, but I still look forward to falling in love all over again on this day even after 10 years of leaving school behind.”
A lifetime of memories in the folds of a sari
“Back in my time, dating was a little different. Going on a date was mostly about stolen glances and shy smirks, and they did not happen so often. I went on a couple of dates with the first boyfriend of my life (now my husband of 36 years), and one of those was on Saraswati Puja,” said 59-year-old entrepreneur Rinku Mitra, recalling a special chiffon sari that she has held close to her heart for almost 40 years after she got it as a gift from her Mr Perfect.
Rinku Mitra
“He gifted me a beautiful yellow chiffon sari, which he brought back from one of his work trips, and compliments wouldn’t stop flowing in whenever I wore it — or any sari for that matter. On a Saraswati Puja many suns ago, we went on a day trip to Garbeta and I wore that sari. Such fond memories of sneaking in a day and travelling, and we were soon going to tie the knot, so the trip was extra-special. I still have that sari and every time I touch it, I go back to that wonderful day with the love of my life.”
Making it official on Bengali Valentine’s
Growing up in Durgapur, Saraswati Puja for Debashree Sinha — like most Bengali kids — meant waking up early, taking a bath, and going to a neighbour’s home for pushpanjali, dressed in a crisp, yellow cotton sari. “I never liked bathing that early, and all of this would happen on an empty stomach,” said the 35-year-old. For her the “fun part” of Saraswati Puja began after she met her now husband Arkajyoti Bose. One particular Vasant Panchami stands out.
Arkajyoti and Debashree
It was 2006 — a year of firsts for both of them, then first-year college students. Valentine’s Day had not overshadowed Saraswati Puja yet and for a lot of Bengali youngsters, it was a special day. “Both of us knew we were in a ‘relationship’ but neither had said ‘yes’. In a very cliche move, we were waiting for a special day to commit,” remembered Debashree. Taking full advantage of new-found freedom courtesy college admissions and Saraswati Puja, they decided to go out. “It could be called a date! I wore yellow and he wore white. We met at the bus stop and took the bus to my college, and it had nothing to do with the puja.” This special day was all about them going out for the first time since they’d met in 2002. There was a thrill and an excitement, and “happiness surpassed all the devotion towards the goddess of knowledge!” said Debashree, laughing that she blames Cupid.
Many Saraswati Pujas have passed since, but none like that first one together. “We are both 35 now, and have a toddler. When I remember that day, I cherish the simplicity of it. It was nothing extraordinary. Nothing out of the box. No Uber. No Ola. No brands. No curling hair gel. Just a bus ride to my college and back home. But, it was official.”
A teenage heart that went unseen
A story of teenage romance over a cup of coffee is a fond memory for 23-year-old PG student at Calcutta University, Arinjoy Bhattacharjee.
Arinjoy Bhattacharjee
“As far as I can remember, I was in the tenth standard back then and it was the first time I was out with my then-girlfriend on Saraswati Puja,” he said, recalling the date at a Cafe Coffee Day. With the little pocket money he had then, in 2015-16, he took her to the cafe and “the romantic inside me spent the last penny in my wallet to craft a ‘heart’ with froth (a practice that was just becoming trendy back then) on the coffee that we ordered. I wanted it to be a surprise for her.” As the waiter served the coffee to the couple, his girlfriend was so busy laughing at some “stupid joke” he had cracked that she didn’t even look at the mug and stirred in the sugar without even caring for the heart. “I wish I could show you all my face when I saw my 100 bucks worth of ‘heart’ being stirred into the coffee with sugar.”
The story of a first crush
For many Bengali kids, Saraswati Puja is the time of first crushes. So it was for 49-year-old poetess and littérateur Sushmita Maheshwari, who developed a crush on a fellow resident of the housing compound she grew up in.
Sushmita Maheshwari
“In the bustling jute mill compound of Kolkata, Saraswati Puja brought not only religious fervour but also the sweet whispers of young love. Amidst the vibrant decorations and cultural festivities, I found myself enchanted by a fellow resident of the compound. Our paths crossed near the beautifully adorned Saraswati Puja pandal, where the air was filled with the fragrance of incense and the sound of devotional songs. As teenagers, we stole butterfly glances and exchanged shy smiles amidst the hustle and bustle of the festival. Our innocent infatuation blossomed amidst the rhythmic beats of the dhaak and the colourful decorations adorning our surroundings. Each Saraswati Puja became a cherished memory of glorified moments spent together, lost in the magic of young love amidst the rich cultural tapestry of our jute mill compound in Kolkata.”
A love story through a decade of Saraswati Pujas
“From teenage years to the threshold of our late 20, there have been a few amazing Saraswati Puja love stories but the most special one cannot be anything other than completing what I call a ‘love-loop’,” shared 26-year-old HR professional Sneha Roy, whose story began 10 years ago on Saraswati Puja when she met someone she considered a friend, and today they are a lot more.
Ayasktana and Sneha
“In 2014, I met a boy who had come to Kolkata from a boarding school in Darjeeling for the winter holidays. He visited my family with his mother to attend Saraswati Puja for the first time. Though a Bengali himself, he barely knew anything about these traditions,” she recalled. They had an instant connection and an hour-long conversation about yellow being the colour of the day — “he was wearing yellow, but without knowing the significance behind the colour” — and Sneha cannot forget his expression when she called the day the Bengali Valentine’s Day, and told him all about how celebrating love on this day meant the world to her.
Years passed, and both of them had their separate individual journeys of finding love until he returned to Kolkata permanently a few years back and “last year around this time he told me how fascinated he has been all these years about the stories I told him and how he has had this decade-long crush on me.” Sneha was head-over-heels in love with him already by that time. “Exactly 10 years later, today, Ayasktana and I will be celebrating this day holding hands, wearing yellow sari-kurta on the streets of Kolkata and banks of the Ganga, promising an eternity to each other, closing the loop with a double V-day celebration, of course!”
A special feeling that only comes with Saraswati Puja
“When I met my partner, who is from France, I made sure he knew why I’m so excited about Saraswati Puja. It took me weeks to explain why this day is known as the ‘Bengali Valentine’s Day’,” said Rammya Basu, a 24-year-old digital marketing executive, talking about why the day gives her butterflies in her stomach.
Rammya Basu
“Saraswati Puja holds a special place in my heart. It’s the one day of the year when your parents probably know you’re dressed up for a date but won't say anything. Ironically, I’ve never found love on the day itself like most people would wish to. For me, it’s a day of love, of draping my mother’s sari, twinning with my partner, and going on a date.” People, places, cities, and countries may change, but Rammya wants to experience “the nostalgia Saraswati Puja brings, the excitement of innocent, young love and try to reawaken it every year”.
The tale of a secret admirer
With Saraswati Puja falling around Valentine’s Day — Vasant Panchami on the Bengali calendar is usually around February 14 on the Gregorian calendar — love is usually in the air and a romantic mood settles over Kolkata, usually among the youngsters. For 43-year-old educational instructor Basabdatta Roy, the childhood days of offering doi-chire and naru to the goddess evolved into “finding ourselves in wonderland” during teenage years.
Basabdatta Roy
She remembers a Saraswati Puja from that time when her cousin took her to a nearby school for pushpanjali. “While offering flowers to the goddess, I realised that someone standing behind me was showering me with flowers. With one of those flowers, came a paper chit full of words of admiration.” Always a bashful child, she made a hasty exit overcome by shyness. So, who was the love letter from? “I don’t know!” she said. “I never found out who that someone was but later came to know my cousin was involved in all the planning.”
Meeting the family
“Saraswati Puja takes me back to the initial days of my love story. It was during the puja of 2001 that my husband — then boyfriend — was introduced to the extended family from my mother’s side,” said 42-year-old educationist
Sonali Roy Chowdhury Singh, talking about a Vasant Panchami that marked a crucial point in her love story.
Sonali Roy Chowdhury Singh
Saraswati Puja for Sonali was always about the puja at her mamabari, with khichuri, labra, beguni, payesh and kuler chutney. Like in many households across West Bengal, “basanti ronger saris” were worn, and all the textbooks were dusted out and placed at the feet of the idol “in the futile hope of salvation” with final exams being right around the corner in March. However, 23 years ago, on this festive day, her then boyfriend came to the puja ready to impress his partner’s family and Sonali has fond memories of “how the ex NDA and UP-ite got a taste of kuler chutney and was made to repeat Bengali mantras, which he did to perfection because he was out to impress. The memories ignite a chain reaction, and sitting miles away from Kolkata, I can still smell, taste and feel the spirit of celebration.”
