Overview
Durga Puja is the most awaited festival for us. It starts with Mahalaya and goes on for the next 9 days or so, depending on the calendar, till Dashami. People start visiting Pandals from Shasthi onwards for the next 4-5 days, wearing new clothes the every other day. Dashami marks the event when Goddess Durga defeated Mahishasura. It also coincides with Dusshehra, the event of Lord Rama defeating Ravana.
Around 20 days after the Durga Puja comes Kali Puja, marking the event of Goddess Kali defeating Raktabeeja. Goddess Kali is considered to be another incarnation of Goddess Durga. It also coincides with Diwali, the festival of lights, marking the event of Lord Rama reaching his home in Ayodhya after defeating Ravana and completing his Vanavasa.
Few days after Kali Puja comes Bhai Duj, where the women and girls pray for their brothers' wellbeing. These month long events and celebrations help bringing the family members and friends together, forging stronger relationships and ever lasting sweet memories. This year's celebration is the most special for me because of a lot of first time experiences. Welcome aboard to my enthralling journey!
Thrilling departure from Hyderabad
After a long work week, my wife Ridwisha and I start packing our bags the evening before our flight from Hyderabad to Kolkata. I keep insisting Ridwisha to pack light till both of us reach a tough consensus. We almost exhaust the 15 kg per person limit. We have a nice sleep after a hearty supper. Everything goes nearly as planned the next morning with Maa preparing the breakfast, and, Ridwisha and me packing the final things and getting dressed up.
Just then comes an upsetting encounter - the password lock of our small hand baggage suitecase trolley is not opening. I try all my known combinations and so does Ridwisha. She starts getting anxious. After a few minutess, Baba wakes up from his sleep to try his hands, but in vain. Ridwisha and Baba desperately try everything. But nothing works. At last, considering the ticking time, Ridwisha agrees to start for the airport with the locked suitcase. It had a lot of items along with a few liquid cosmetics. We discuss paying extra to send the suitcase as a check-in baggage to avoid potential conflicts if we were told to unlock it during the security check. However, the price is high. We start for the journey with a hasty farewell to Maa-Baba.
On the way to the airport, I am not comfortable sitting for an hour trying nothing. I evaluate that the total number of combinations to try unlocking the 3 digit password is 10x10x10 = 1000. It was doable to try all the 1000 combinations in an hour. We reached the airport was before an hour. 200 combinations are still remaining. I quickly try them all. Even after trying 1000 combinations, the lock does not open. Realizing this, Ridwisha is a bit less annoyed as "something wrong happened because I was playing yesterday night with the lock" is now ruled out. The lock is faulty. We will visit a professional once we reach Kolkata.
We decide that we will let the locked suitcase as a check in baggage along with our two other big suitcases as discussed before. We will definitely exceed the allowed 30kg. We start getting prepared for paying extra charges for the extra weight plus an extra bag. I am very reluctant to be honest, but do not have any better less worrying option. The attendant near the counter ask us to go for the self check-in kiosk instead of the counter, as we are early and there is a significant crowd before the counter. Everything go along with the flow and we do not get the chance to negotiate for sending the locked bag as an extra check-in baggage at the self baggage drop area.
I am both happy and worried. I told Ridwisha and myself that just in case we are asked to open the locked suitecase, we can comfortably come here again to let it go as an extra check in baggage. We go through the security check skipping the lines, thanks to the Digilocker app. And we pass without any extra scrutiny. We could now go with it as a hand baggage itself. We are so relieved. The only small worry left behind now is how to get the suitecase unlocked after reaching Kolkata.
No wait! Only one of my credit cards is working for getting access to the airport lounge. I try the others, none of them are working. During a previous trip two years back, three of them worked. We come out of the lounge area to have snacks elsewhere. Another upset! Our flight just gets delayed by an hour! Sweets are known to have a sweet effect on the mood, and we really need something to uplift our moods. Ridwisha doesn't like sweets. But, she likes cakes. We take a nice cake and explore few hotwheels at a store. Our mood is lighter now and rest of the journey goes smoothly.
We reach Kolkata where Babai was eagerly waiting to try his hands on unlocking the suitecase. We don't know what he does, but he unlocks it! We are jumping with joy. The combination is something totally random. I am a little disappointed with myself. It probably happened because I might have done something wrong yesterday night while playing with the lock. I don't fully belive it. Something wrong might have happened even before and me being totally innocent. However, I am disappointed because I could not open it even after trying all the 1000 combinations. The random number which Babai arrived at should have been encountered when I tried all the combinations.
However, the warm welcome we receive from Mom and Babai, the anticipation of the upcoming days, and the joy of getting the suitecase unlocked - far outweigh my tiny little dissapointment. We are so happy. The next few days are going to be some of the best ones.