An Evening Festival

That time of the year again, the grand Bastar Dushera, the festival of the tribal, celebrating the divine bliss of Goddess Danteswari, who is the revered deity of all the existing tribes of Bastar. A time when huge rural crowd of the region gather in the city of Jagdalpur, believing, hoping and praying to the Goddess for a prosperous future. The whole festival extends to 75 days, with varying rituals performed over the course of this period, including - building of Rath (vehical for transport of the Goddess), transfer of power from the King to the Jogi (a devine tribal man, chosen by the priests), stealing of the Rath by the tribes and subsequent return of the Rath to the Goddess's Temple.

A post shared by Mohit Acharya (@tutli88) on Jan 13, 2017 at 6:08am PST

Illustration by Mohit Acharya (Instagram)

Sita, Anita and Sushmi are three childhood friends, now fully grown up, residing close by in their village. They've always dreamt of visiting the city to see the celebration. Finally, the three get permission from their respective parents to visit the city on the day of Mauli Pargha. Mauli Pargha is the day when Goddess Danteshwari is brought from her residing temple at Datewada to the temple at Jagdalpur.

With excitement evident on their face, the three board the earliest bus from their village to the city of Jagdalpur, hoping for a pleasant time. This was, after all, their first ever visit to the city.

During the whole of one hour journey, a man keeps brushing across them. Initially, the three ignores it, considering the huge crowd in the bus, but after the man's repeated offense, they start feeling disgusted and the journey feels longer than it actually is. Finally, as they reach the city, they get off the bus hurriedly and run away from the stop without looking back. After a certain distance, they observe their surrounding for the man. Finding that he isn't around, they fell a sense of comfort, but still, the experience leaves an everlasting disgust in all of their minds.

As they had ample time, before the celebrations of the day start, they decide to visit the festival market which was at its peak gleam that day. As they are browsing through a stall, a demeaning comment flows across them, meant for them. They are unable to catch the source of it and thus return to scanning other stalls for souvenirs. But the derogatory remarks keep on coming. Unable to think much, the three start to get away from the market area, and are met with constant gaze of men. All the excitement, that had build up in them from the day they got the permission, had now drained from within them, and they were now questioning their decision to visit the city, questioning the way they have persuaded their parents to let them go, feeling sorry for being rude to them and asking themselves, was it worth? The answer to which, no matter how hard they tried to decline, was always a big no.

The sun has now set and it is time for the Goddess to reach the city. Thousands of people have gathered around the festival ground waiting to receive the Goddess with joy and pompous. The three - Sita, Anita and Sushmi, are waiting at a corner, near an alley, with nervous mind, for what they've gone through all day long. The excitement had long died down and the only thing that they were looking forward was a glimpse of the Goddess, hoping she will do some right to all the wrongs that has happened.

A loud sound of a bursting cracker catches attention of the attendees, and they rush towards the barricades for a better view. The three, thus, unaware of the events, were pushed back. The three, tired, were watching the procession when, a hand grabs Sushmi and pulls her towards the empty alley. Sita and Anita, startled at what was happening, rush towards the alley to help Sushmi. The three are now surrounded by the man who grabbed Sushmi, and another drunk man. The two man, with wilderness in their eyes, start maltreating the three women. Sita, Anita and Sushmi keep on fighting them to very less affect.

Suddenly, in all the frenzy, a frail man, strikes one of the drunk man with a wooden bar, knocking him down unconscious on the ground. The other drunk man, now attacks the frail man. While both men are fighting, the three women, run away to the bus stop, shell shocked. Not for a moment does it come to their mind that they should help the frail man.

When they reach bus stop, they sit on a corner, the darkest spot, waiting for the morning, to catch a bus back to their village. The owner of a small eatery on the bus stand, observe them, and could see the horror in their eyes. Seeing this, he offers them place at his store to sleep the night. But, after what different men had done to them the whole day, they refuse to budge from that place. So the shopkeeper asks his wife to help him out. The wife, initially ignorant, on seeing the three, persuade them to sleep at their place. The shopkeeper and his wife doesn't ask any question.

Finally, after a sleepless night for the three, morning arrives, and they catch the first bus back home. And an evening festival, a festival celebrating a Goddess, turns out to be the first and last festival for the three away from home, in a vibrant but cruel city.