I for one, have never really cared much about religion. For starters, maybe because despite the large-scale Saraswati Puja at my house every year since my birth, I’ve still sucked at academics. However, that has never stopped me from enjoying myself to the fullest on Saraswati Puja.

Saraswati Puja, for most, has always meant a reunion of sorts. It is one of those days which is always reserved for meeting old friends, whom we don’t get to meet the rest of the year. In every group, there will always be that one friend who will call the rest over to his place for lunch on Saraswati Puja. The post-lunch adda session is a must, where one embarrassing story from school is followed by another. There are reunions in school, if it has a Saraswati Puja, or the coaching centres where one went for tuition.

The youth today don’t wear Indian clothes that often, but when they do they do it with swag. This day, along with Ashtami, are the two occasions when even the most Anglicised Bengali flaunts their Indian wear with pride.
I may not be the biggest fan of Khichuri, but there is something about Khichuri and Saraswati Puja. The day is simply incomplete without it.

But the biggest reason why it’s my favourite day is because this was one day when we did not have to study! If you have Saraswati Puja at home you’d know just how much one loves giving away all the study books to the Goddess for 24 hours. It was the one day on the calendar when we were actually asked not to study! It was a different kind of freedom.

Saraswati Puja is much more than just the Bengali version of Valentine’s Day and you don’t have to be religious to have special feelings about the day.

Rwitoban Deb