PUJA  HOLIDAYS

It was a tradition in the Goenka family that everyone from the family be they living in Kolkata, Mumbai, Assam or wherever travelled to our family home in Laxmangarh in  Rajasthan during the Puja holidays. We used to have a huge family reunion and this extended to three generations from Vinay’s grandmother to his uncles, aunts, bhua’s, brothers, sisters and then children. I remember the first time I went and it was quite a culture shock! Prior to our departure from Kolkata my mother in law would be in a frenzy getting everything ready from food to clothes that needed to be distributed to items required for the various mandirs we visited. For the first few years we travelled by train so that was quite an adventure in itself but also rather daunting. Using the Indian style toilets was difficult at the best of times and on a train which was charging along rocking from side to side was unforgettable. Also the cleanliness on the trains left much to be disturbed so that was one aspect of the journey I didn’t look forward to at all. However the plus point was that my father in law was a master in organisation and he always arranged for delicious home made food to be brought to various stops on the way. We used to arrive at a certain station and a whole load of people would board laden with tiffins of hot food, tea,milk,paan….. you name it… it was there. 

In the early years we all stayed at our ancestral house in Laxmangarh which was called a ‘Nora’. This is different to a haveli as there is a big square of sand in the middle surrounded by rooms. We all used to congregate in this middle area for meals and to sit and chat when the sun went down. The children used to love making sandcastles and would make quite intricate structures. It was a lovely time as we all got to meet our cousins who lived all over India and it was a real time for bonding. There was one large room called the ‘ badi baithak’ and this is where the men used to play cards all day when it was too hot to sit outside. In the mornings they all used to go to our khetti…agricultural lands where there was a huge swimming pool like structure and they would have massages, swim and eat freshly cut salad straight from the fields. It sounds like the men used to have all the fun but we ladies were kept busy with various vendors coming to sell the traditional Kota saris or fancy silver knick knacks or the tasty churan and supari. Ladies manage to fine shopping even in the middle of the jungle!

Back to the structure of the nora. So as I said there was a big sand area in the middle and then on one side there were rooms and then the kitchen on one side. The toilets were in a separate wing right next to the cow sheds and I used to be terrified to go there especially if I needed to go in the middle of the night!!! It’s extremely difficult to do your business with cows mooing almost next to you. Anyway as the family got bigger Bauji decided we needed an extension and I think he also realised that if he didn’t add a bit of modernity we would all stop coming so one year he arranged for a big extension and added a lot more rooms all with attached bathrooms. We were overjoyed. I remember all we bahus used to gather in the rooms upstairs and we would spend hours just chatting sitting in the corridor sometimes way into the night. 

Oh I haven’t told you the main reason we all congregated here. Laxmangarh is about 33 km from a very famous temple called Salasarji and our family has always had great belief in this mandir which is dedicated to Hanumanji. The men,right from when they were young boys, all used to walk this 33 km from our home to the mandir. It was done in stages with camps being set up at various strategic places along the way. The whole journey used to take them 2 days and it was pretty much like a picnic for them and we ladies would join them at the mandir for darshan when they reached. After a number of years I asked Bauji why it was only the men who walked and that even I would also like to walk. He was delighted and set about making the places they stopped en route more comfortable by installing proper toilets and bathrooms- the men used to just go in the jungle and have a bath round the well!!! This of course didn’t go down very well with the men as they felt favouritism was being made but they also reaped the benefit of our wishes so it was ok. The first time I walked we set off at about 5 am and walked to our first pit stop where we were greeted by massage ladies with buckets of hot salted water to soak our feet and then they proceeded to give us a lovely foot massage. We then rested all day as the sun was extremely bight and then set off again at about 5 pm and walked for another couple of hours before we reached our site where we spent the night. The same ritual of soaking and massaging followed so it was actually not too difficult. Mind you remember that at this time I only used to wear saris so this whole walk was done in a sari and having a bath in a small room and then having to put on a sari in this same said room

was no mean feat! When we finally reached Salasarji one felt a great feeling of achievement and we used to sit in the mandir soaking in all the chants of the Pandits and the smell of the incense. One forgot all the troubles in your life and got a lovely feeling of calmness. I walked for quite a few years and one year my two sisters Suman and Nina and their husbands joined us as well so that was really special. 

Now unfortunately we have stopped walking but we still go to Salasarji a couple of times a year and I am happy that Vivek also has great belief in this mandir so he also goes for darshan. It is indeed a great shame that nowadays the only time the whole family meet is on sad occasions when someone passes away. My children still don’t know half of their cousins and just before Covid struck I decided to compile a family tree and worked hard to get all the details from everyone. This involved a huge number of WhatsApp messages to and fro but I was delighted by the way everyone responded and I was able to complete my mission. Now whenever Vivek asks me how we are related to anyone I just tell him to look in the Family Tree!!!

The food used to be of a totally different level. We never used to have your usual paneer and channa. There would be daal,batti,churma….. the vegetables would come straight from the farm and would be mooli, kachra, lauki and these would be accompanied by bajra ki roti, missi roti and tikariya. It is now fashionable to eat these millets but that is all everyone ate in the villages!!

I am so thankful to my family for showing me this different way of life. I have so many wonderful memories and I hope I have managed to share a few of them with you.