BOMBE HABBA - THE FESTIVAL OF DOLLS







Pic.: Aurna Anand



Jayprakash – we call him JP fondly – is a young, bright, articulate and, above all, a very positive person who lives in our housing society. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he hails from a traditional, yet progressive, family of Tamilian Iyers. Having married to beautiful Sheetal, who hails from an equally-progressive Gujarati-family, their outlook towards life, especially towards raising of their two little-children, is something I have, always, admired and appreciated.

Imagine how a Tamil-Iyer and his Gujju wife would choose to celebrate the ‘Navratri’ festival!

This morning, my wife and I had been to JP’s house to see and pay our respect to the ‘Golu’ (also called ‘Kolu’) arrangement. ‘Bombe Habba’ – the festival of dolls – that’s how we would call it in my home-state, Karnataka. Many of our neighbors and classmates would invite us to see the beautiful arrangements of dolls in their houses. One would find there all sorts of dolls - Gods, Goddesses, men and women, boys and girls and all sorts, made of wooden, clay even wax. At JP’s place, we could see a lovely arrangement of a seven-tier ‘Golu. Yes, at the top – Kailash Parvat - ruled ‘Shiva’!

What impressed me the most was this: right in the middle of the seven-tier ‘Golu’ was a lovely crib... where the children had placed little wax-idols from Bethlehem - baby Jesus and His parents Joseph and Mary!

“God and Godesses come home as you invite them,” JP told me, “That’s why they are called our ‘Ichcha Devatas’!

I loved the description JP gave us, today. Yes, the idols and dolls are just symbols of what we wish to invite into our homes, our hearts...

Today is ‘Dessera’... the ‘Vijayadasami’. At the sunset, one of the dolls from the ‘Golu’ will be put to sleep. It will symbolize the conclusion of this year’s ‘Bombe Habba’ – the festival of dolls... And, yes, with that, the faithful pray and hope that the Gods and Goddesses, who they had just invited home, will help them stay blessed all through the year...


Happy Dessera to all of you... May you all stay blessed.



GERALD D’CUNHA


Comments

Uttam Singh said…
When I read your writings, I can feel the honesty with which you write them. keep writing...

--- Uttam Singh
October 3, 2014 at 2:50 PM
Reena Sharma said…
Nicely written, inspiring too - Reena Sharma
October 3, 2014 at 6:20 PM
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