It is said that Bengalis celebrate 13 festivals in 12 months. Due to such abundance of festivities, there’s always one for everyone, to the extent that there’s one exclusively for the students! Saraswati Puja, or worshipping the Goddess of Learning, is a day eagerly awaited for by all young Bengalis since it’s the only day when parents cannot pester their children with studies as the books have to be deposited with the Goddess herself!
In our childhood, it was a day of fun, frolic, and endless bantering. Typically, the day started with a puja at home followed by visits to the pujas being organized in the neighborhoods and schools. It was the day when we were allowed to go out with friends, wear sarees, taste “kul” or sour berries, and enter schools that were out of bounds on other days.