Reported by Kumari Shiwani
Durga Puja is celebrated on a large scale with great pomp and gaiety in West Bengal. During the nine days, the puja fever grips the heart of everyone in the city regardless of age, caste, class or gender. This festival not only brings joy and happiness but also gives the opportunity to do something more for the welfare of society. This Durga Puja, while some of the puja committees had pledged to make donations towards different social causes, some others wanted to give a message of peace and harmony to the society. During the puja this year, Mandirtola Torpedo Welfare society in Shibpur, Howrah invited Trans-woman Megh Sayantan Ghosh to draw the eyes of Goddess Durga on 12th October 2018. Drawing the eyes of Goddess Durga is a unique ritual which is practised in Kolkata and live music. On the occasion of Mahalaya, the Goddess is invited on earth with rituals and so on this day, the eyes are drawn on the idols in an auspicious ritual called ‘Chokku Daan’ and the first time it happened that the ritual accompanied a folk song by Tirtha Biswas.
This year, Torpedo Welfare Society welcomed two new initiatives – inviting a transwoman to do this ritual with a message that just as Maa Durga is present in all woman, the same way it is also present in the transgender people too and therefore, society should give transgender community an equal opportunity to celebrate all the festivals and participate in all the rituals and also inviting Tirtha Biswas, from Sohoj Manush, to sing folk songs during the ‘chokh daan’. We have seen for years that most puja organisers invite celebrities, sports stars and other well-known personalities to inaugurate the event or practice the rituals in their pandals but the Torpedo Welfare Society took a wise decision to invite Megh Sayantan Ghosh and Tirtha Biswas for the Chokku Daan ritual to mark a significant difference in celebrating Durga Puja. This was a great initiative which gave the message of social acceptance of not only transgenders but also of all the LGBTQ communities and the way music is looked at during the Puja.
Speaking to the Woman Times, Megh said,
“She was overwhelmed by the gesture. It is an enormous change that I got to witness. I am honored and privileged. The privilege of drawing eyes of Maa Durga would instill hope in transgenders and would also allow society to accept us.’’
Excluded from communal celebrations her whole life, Durga Puja was not just a festival for her but also an achievement which she got by performing a ritual of ‘Chokku Daan’ which gave her a respect and acceptance in the society. Megh Sayantan Ghosh has become an inspiration for all the transgenders and they can learn from her that nothing is impossible and any one of them could become what Megh has become.
As Tirtha Biswas says,
“This is the first time in the history of India wherein the ritual of chokhu daan the formal songs and music were not heard rather they requested me to sing few folk songs. And also that Megh Sayantan was invited for drawing the eyes of Durga is something different and a message worthy giving to the society.”
While the painting of the eyes of Goddess Durga, the songs were also played in the background. Singer Tirtha Biswas who was also invited to the event sang songs keeping in tune with painting. Biswas sang two songs- ‘Subarnarekha nodi sona paye o jodi’ and ‘tomae hridoy majhere rakhbo chere debo na‘. Women of the Torpedo Welfare Society were also seen dancing with Megh Sayantan Ghosh. They performed various dance giving tribute to Maa Durga. The event organised by the Torpedo welfare society this year gave a very strong message that Durga Puja doesn’t differentiate anyone on the basis of gender, and equality is everyone’s right. This Durga puja gave recognition to the transgender community and it will further increase their acceptance in the coming years.
