Away from the routine heat of politics and the more recently the 2G standoff, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday took time off to be part of his family’s Durga Puja ceremony in his native West Bengal village.
“This is very important for me, as it is our family tradition. Except two or three times, I have always made it a point to attend the function. Since I am a minister, I pray good for all,” the ‘trouble-shooter’ Congress veteran said at Mirati off Kirnahar in west-central Birbhum district.
For Mukherjee, it’s not just registering attendance at a family Puja. True to tradition, the 75-year-old leader devoted the day, chanting mantras and performing the various rituals associated with Saptami, the second day of the five-day festival.
Mukherjee started the day by performing ‘nabapatrika’ (worshipping the leaves of nine plants representing nine forms of the goddess) in a nearby water body. That was followed by ‘chandipath’ (chanting of shlokas).
Plus, there was the more-than-a-century-old ‘Mukherjee-Bari Puja’. That appendage to the tradition was started in 1896 by the minister’s grandfather, Taraknath Mukhopadhyay. Local people say Mukhopadhyay initiated it, as he believed that his son, Kamodakinkar Mukhopadhyay (the minister’s father), was Durga’s blessing for the family.
That Goddess Durga has great powers is obvious. But the Mukherjee or Mukhopadhyay family believes that it’s the high profile priest’s puja that gives him the strength to tide over difficult times. As his son Abhijit Mukherjee said, “It is my father’s acumen and intelligence that helped him tackle political crises. If people believe that it is his devotion to Goddess Durga that enables him to achieve this, then it truly is.” The statement came when media persons asked him about the recent controversies over the 2G note by the finance ministry.
That view is echoed by Annapurna Mukherjee, the minister’s elder sister. “From childhood days, Goddess Durga is the driving force of my brother. Pranab is always devoted and will be devoted to her, no matter how big he becomes. This is the reason for our good fortune,” she said.
The family puja has been celebrated for the last 115 years. The only breaks happened in 1956 and 1961 owing to heavy floods. Then, in 1995, Mukherjee has had to skip it due to political assignments. That was when he had to attend the United Nations general assembly as India’s foreign minister.