October 2004..... My first Navaratri at Gujarat just after our relocating there.
Some of us Bengali ladies got together to perform the famous Mahalaya song "Jaya Jaya He MahishasuraMardini." Dressed in red-bordered saris worn in traditional style with gold jewellery, the five of us earned the epithet "PanchaKanya". To introduce the song I described how the MahishasuraMardini imagery was one transcending religious boundaries and basically a depiction of Man's victory over his own lower animal nature.... The soul's journey from darkness to light.
Months after our recital, a Painting of MahishasuraMardini by Gujarat's Tyeb Mehta fetched record price at Sotheby of London.
Nothing but a coincidence, of course. To even dream of any earthly connection between an obscure, humble effort in a corner of Gujarat and the world art scene is nothing short of ludicrous.
Still....the news, and the rather atypical name of the artist himself, has often led me to wonder rather curiously at the seeming correspondence between our offering to the Goddess that NavRatri evening, and the lasting impact of the Goddess-imagery for the International connoisseur.
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