The Goddess' Benevolence

Dhangola is a small rural hamlet of ten to twelve households. It is a very small village surrounded by agricultural farms and small ponds and water bodies. The villagers here are all farmers and agriculture is their prime occupation. Rice, jute and mustard is the main agricultural crops grown here. The farmers' family live in hand to mouth conditions round the year but are very wary of debt and so live happy and contended lives. So even after so much shortage there is negligible debt. They are quite dexterous in managing everything with minimum resources. The agricultural production is dependent on government sponsored minimum support price on the farm produce. Sometimes the production depends on the SAP or the state allocated price on the commodities. For the past two years, the government has not been announcing the MSP or the SAP timely. This has led to a delay in plantation and harvest of ripe crops and subsequently marketing them. There is a general problem in storage of ripe products and either the ripe produce have to be sold in the market or consumed. For consumption there is a problem as there is no demand as the usage is negligible. So for the past two years either the ripe produce have been handed over at give away prices or have been left out in the open to rot by the elements. Due to these systemic problems the Dhangola farmers lives have been put to unforeseen challenges. The generally happy farmers despite their minimum sustenance levels, now they have had to put up with existential crisis. Not that the government was unawares but they have been alerted with much delay which has led to this awkward situation and as a result this crisis.

This year the crisis has loomed heavily at the start of the festive season when generally the farmer needs lot of money to prepare for the month long Puja festivals. Now this year the Goddess Durga has to be brought home with a severe cash crunch in the farmers pockets. Also there has been lack of food grains in the barn. Usually the farmers keep their barns ready with two to three seasons worth food grains till the time new crops are harvested. But this year all the planning has gone hay wire and the Goddess Durga has to come home with empty barns. This was real crisis. Never, ever has Dhangola faced such a situation before. The elders have vouched that in their lifetimes this has never occurred.

Generally, this period before the Pujas is one of gaiety and mirth. The general mood in the village is upbeat. But this year there is gloom and doom all around. The farmers have just a few weeks of ration for themselves, so they are in a dilemma of how to take care of the Goddess Durga's hospitality.

There is one big community Durga Puja in the village of Dhangola in which the full village participates. For the four days of festivities no individual kitchen fire is lighted as one big community chulla is lighted which takes care of the food of all the villagers. Everyone participates in all the puja events from the deity worship to the preparation of food. Then the full village enjoys the meals together.

This year the clay models of the Goddess and her two sons and daughters along with the demon, the asura have been built as usual on the bamboo and wood fabrication. Due to lack of funds the Goddess has been decked with not too bright clothes. But how will the devotees be fed for the full four days with two square meals was the big question on the minds of the organisers.

The alarming situation had been informed with ample time in hand to the Block office. The assurance of help was also received from them. But now the Pujas was at the door step and help was awaited.

Mahalaya, the auspicious day from which the beginning of the Puja festival is announced was celebrated with uncharacteristic austerity. Never before such austerity has been observed even in the years of drought or floods. But this year was different. The village elders were very worried. The women folk had not demanded for any new clothes and the children were given freshly washed and cleaned linen as akin to new dresess.

Just two days away was Sapthami, the first of the four days of the Puja festival. But the government help was no where. The ingredients for the Puja was being heavily compromised and just the bare necessities was being arranged for, so that the show could go on. Everyone was praying to the Goddess with their hearts out for her generous mercy.

Just one day before the Puja that is on the auspicious day which is Sashthi, the day officially the Durga Puja commences, the villagers of Dhangola were in for a big surprise. Till last night every one had retired for the night with deep worry in their mind. How would they manage the cost of this year's Puja and how the offerings to the Goddess would be made and how so many mouths would be fed? Deep worry and troubling thoughts galore.

The very next morning, villagers woke up to find a small truck parked near the Puja Mandap or the sanctum sorum where the deity image was to be worshipped. The truck was fully loaded with bags and plastic cans. On closer examination it was found to contain sacks of wheat flour and daily edible rice with plastic cans of mustard oil. There was also plentiful sacks of potatoes. There were also some packages having sarees and dhotis and children garments. There was no trace of the driver or his assistant either who had brought the vehicle. To summarise someone had taken special care to gift the village with all the ingredients to successfully manage not only the Durga Puja but other occasions of the festive season and also the needs of the village till the next harvest. The villagers were simply overjoyed and they all joined hands and cried their hearts out shedding tears of joy. They were clueless initially with so much of benevolence and all believed it must certainly have been for the Goddess. It must have been the Goddess who had showered so much benevolence on the village which till a day ago was so much in a plight. For the next four days the village was busy in the festivities and no one tried to find out the originator of the magnanimity.

But after the Pujas were over it came to light that the village had been gifted with all the goodies by the local Member of Parliament from his local area development funds. The MP had been informed of the severe difficulty faced by the people of Dhangola and out of gratitude he had done what was a part of his duty. But the villagers believed that it was definitely a miracle done by the Goddess.