Autumn Beats

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With the end of the rainy season , as the weather begins to cool down ,begins the festive season. Though to be strictly accurate with the diverse religions and cultures abounding my country there is a popular saying of.... "thirteen festivals in twelve months", some sort of festival is always on. Anyway, the festival I am going to write about is the "Durga Puja", mostly celebrated in the eastern and northeastern part of my country. It is the worship of the mother Goddess as she fights and wins a battle against a mighty buffalo demon. But leaving the religious part aside what I love is that it is a time for family and friends. People travel back to their hometowns and get the chance to meet up with their childhood friends. It is a community festival and the whole neighbourhood gets together for those five days.An integral part of this festival is the beat of the traditional "dhaks", huge drums hung from the shoulder and tied around the waist. Wooden sticks are used to play the particular rhythm which is associated with this festival. The drums are also decorated with feathers and almost always wrapped up in red cloth.The drummers move around in a circle swaying slightly as they beat their drums The players come from surrounding villagers and are needed to be booked in advance as they are in great demand.They leave their villages to earn a good income during these days Apart from the cash agreed on, they are given food and lodging .As a lot of saris are offered to the Goddess , the committee in my neighbourhood also give a sari each for their wives as part of the tradition. When the unique beat of these drums the festival assumes its fervour and gets into full swing PHOTO:my picture of the dhak players in my neighbourhood