In Comparison

How strange is this land, in comparison, where no more than twenty people can rise together for an occasion. Today is Dussehra, the festival of triumph of good over evil, of truth over falsehood, and it is a dead city. Cuttack, in comparison, would be held in chaos now. Pandals, murtis, Melodies, would be littered all over the city. From the Muslim dominated Buxi Bazar, through the beautiful Manglabag and the Silver Chandni Chowk effigy, into the Taladanda Canal Puja committes slum dwellers Durga effigy, its hard not to spot a place which has been left of some attempt at happiness.

I miss you Cuttack. The lack of religion here is as pathetic as the excess of it there. Given a choice, I would prefer the latter. It was always easier to unload ones sadness there. That is not possible here. You have to consume it within you.