Saraswati Puja: A Millennial Memory That Still Feels Like Home

GUWAHATI: There was a time—back in our school days at 'The Little Stars Sr. Sec. School' in Assam’s Digboi—when Saraswati Puja meant something truly special. The excitement would begin days in advance. Convincing our parents for a few extra bucks, carefully choosing traditional attire, and eagerly waiting for that one day when we could visit our school not for classes, but for the sacred Vagdevi rituals.

"And then came the food—because no Saraswati Puja was ever complete without it," as "plates were piled high with a variety of dishes such as 'khichadi', 'labra', 'phulkobi bhaja', 'begun bhaja', 'tomato chatni', and and finally, the most awaited 'payesh'. That first bite still lives somewhere in our memory.

But beyond the rituals and the food, Saraswati Puja was about people. About meeting school friends after months, sometimes years. Everyone dressed in traditional attire, the campus suddenly transformed into a festival ground. And let’s be honest—this is something many of us would quietly agree on—Saraswati Puja always had a special charm when it came to how girls dressed on that day. Not saying boys didn’t look good—we did—but “kuch toh khaas hai.”

The effort, the grace, the smiles, the time taken to dress up as if the day itself was meant to be celebrated through them. It was never negative, never inappropriate—just admiration, innocence, and the beauty of youth. Every boy from our generation would nod in agreement, wouldn’t they?
But time, as ever, has other ideas.

School days turned in to college years and colleges years into jobs quietly took over with placements, deadlines, meetings and duties. Today's Millennials, 90s kids or Gen Y is now out setting up their careers and lives. Yet we keep finding ourselves missing those Saraswati Puja. days, deep inside our minds.

That kick is missing now.

"We are so immersed in our professional lives that we barely have time to go back to the very same educational institutions in which our roots were molded, in which not only our studies but our values, our friendships, our idea of what constitutes a true human being are established."

Saraswati Puja was never just a festival - it was an expression.

According to the Hindu scriptures, the Goddess of Knowledge, Wisdom, Intellect, Learning, Knowledge, Music, Art, etc., named Maa Saraswati, has 108 sacred names. She is also worshiped as the mother of the Vedas, the embodiment of reasoning ability, creativity, enlightenment, etc.

She is Saraswati, goddess of knowledge; Vagdevi, the Goddess of speech; Vedamata, mother of the vedas; Mahavidya, great learning itself; Brahmi, intelligence and wisdom she is power inherent throughout science itself); Varnesvari, {varna = letter}; Kavijihvagravasini(the one who sits on a poets tongue );Vidyarupa she's all knowledge.

And many others — each name a variation in learning, creativity and consciousness. Saraswati is represented as white revered for purity and is seated on a lotus, she plays the veena instrument another symbol of knowledge holding a vedic scripture books & beaded at sites. Her sidekick, the swan, stands for wisdom - the insight to distinguish knowledge from ignorance.

Vasant Panchami, or Saraswathi Puja, is observed on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Magha which typically falls in late January or February. It celebrates the coming of spring - the time for rebirth, optimism, and intellectual blossoming. The date is considered the goddess’s birthday, representing the rebirth of knowledge as nature awakens from its winter slumber.

Yellow blossoms is spread on homes and schools. Books and musical instruments are put close to the idol asking for blessing of wisdom and creativity. The Aksharabhyasam that initiates little children to learn is a ritual that remind us education is divine. More than just a ritual, Saraswati Puja has great cultural importance. It brings communities together. It commemorates education, art, music and thought. It forces us to stop and consider our journey of education — not just intellectual but also emotional, and even moral.

For us Millennials, Saraswati Puja is not merely a date in the calendar. It’s nostalgia tied up in yellow flowers. It is laughter in school corridors. It is a shared plates of khichadi. It is friendships, first loves, side glances and the memories that never die. Today, even as we face deadlines and adult duties, I still am taken back — to a simpler self, to who it is I have been. And maybe, who we remain — at heart.

Also Read: Best Wishes and Quotes to Wish Saraswati Puja 2026