I must’ve been in class five or six at that time, when I grew faith in gods and goddesses. I loved to collect small clay idols of these hindu 'devs' and 'devis' , not merely for the belief in their extraordinary powers, but because of the artistic beauty of the idols which fascinated my childhood mind at that age. Whenever I used to visit ‘fairs’ with my family, I would ask my father to purchase these clay models for me and no explanation from him could abstain me from such childish caprice.
On the day of ‘Mahalaya’ - seven days before the 'Durga Puja festival', I would erect a makeshift ‘puja mandap’ at our front verandah, place a clay idol of the goddess durga on raised platform, which generally was the wooden rest of my father’s sewing machine, steal white sugar candies Ma kept for her daily worship, light incense sticks and chant the ‘Chandi path’, singing songs in between just like I heard in radio. How little I remembered the mantras or the lyrics of the songs, I don’t know, but the entire act brought a sense of gratification in me.
Later when my whims changed to story books, the love for the gods and goddesses remained restricted to faith only as my longing for those decorated clay statues had disappeared by then.
It was during then that an incident occurred in my life which affected my world - which revolved around these religious deities. Our geography teacher did not take a liking for me due to some reason which went a long way in my lacking of interest for the subject and consequently poor marks in the class tests. I started having butterflies in my stomach before the half-yearly assessment.
I confided my fears with my bosom friend with whom I walked to school every day and he suggested a visit to an old lady residing in railway quarters at the extreme end of our colony. The lady was believed to possess special powers once she sat and chatted with her deity, a blue coloured idol in stone.
The idol was found buried at some particular place by her ancestors, by relating to a dream which one of them had, had. At that age, I was not interested in learning the history of things, as my young mind was not nurtured to quest for the logical explanation of things. What mattered to me at that time was to secure pass marks in geography by any means, so as to avoid a thrashing from my father.
One Sunday evening just before our half-yearly exam results were to be declared, my friend took me to this lady and I intimated her about my fears regarding the outcome of my geography papers. I did not hide from her about my relationship with our geography teacher as well, as I was previously warned not to hide anything from this lady - if I had to get my problem resolved.
The old lady listened attentively and remained silent for some time keeping her eyes closed. Then she went and sat before the deity - looking up at the idol’s face for a moment as if asking him whether he had heard my story well. She said that god did not show her that I failed in any subject in the last exam, but she said she’d confirm the same from her god that night.
I visited the lady again on my way to school the next day and she confirmed that I would not fail in geography. I was relieved from the stress of my impending danger as it was the day for declaration of our results. My heart pounded upon my teacher calling my name to collect my report card in the end after disbursing all other classmates and I found to my utter dismay that I had secured only four marks less in geography than was required to pass in the subject. I was only a child then, for if I’d been a grown-up man I would not have thought of re-visiting the old lady only to clarify an issue that could not be undone. She listened to my plight and pat came her reply, ‘Your teacher has done this purposefully, otherwise could she not have given you four more marks?’
This incident indeed left a mark on my mind and I resolved to give more time for geography subject. I studied hard for my annual exams, sat for the exam confidently and found that I’d secured 65% marks in the subject when our results were declared. Till many years after the incident, I was still amazed at the thought of the old lady talking to her idol, but never had the desire to visit her anymore.
