Celebrating Festivals – Beyond the Obvious

Change is the only certain and constant process in our lives.

True to this “eternal wisdom”, there have been dramatic changes in our lives. Religion, its relevance, its observance and many other related aspects have not only changed but also accepted as natural. Consequently, festivals have begun to assume newer meanings, and logically, therefore, the way festivals are celebrated has also undergone a sea change.

A great many of these changes have been positive but the dark shadow always lurks around the corner. I prefer to be an optimist but would like to keep my feet grounded in the reality.

Let me attempt to examine a few changes that seem to have robbed our festivals of their innocence and where devotion seems to have taken a back seat.

Invasion of Corporate Sponsorship

No celebration is complete without the “Corporate Sponsorship”. Vast sums of money are flowing in these celebrations and each succeeding year the scale gets grander.

Simplicity, elegance and creativity have been sacrificed at the altar of standardized publicity material.

Political patronage has crept in

Shadowy political figures at every street corner seem to have re-discovered these festive occasions as reminding people of their presence. Their patronage is becoming ever-more visible and combined with money power are slowly edging out the non-political groups.

Declaration of large prize amounts and a host of awards has become the rallying point for such politically tinged celebrations.

This is leading to a game of one-upmanship and we have the spectacle of each group trying to outdo each other.

Money power – coercion to contribute

Life can be quite a nightmare for the residents, shops and other commercial establishments in any area.

Monetary contributions are aggressively solicited and the quantum is pre-decided. One needs to be really tough or rank foolish to pay anything lesser.

Lack of accountability:

With money comes the temptation of misuse and this is a self feeding vicious cycle. Proper accounting, of all funds collected and spent, is a problem area.

This incentive of making “easy money” is dangerous and fuels ambitions of grander efforts the following year.

Another disturbing feature is the “paid darshan” which is slowly taking root. I thought God is freely available to everyone. Probably, not anymore.

Brazen violation of all rules

No one dare show the rule book. It will be quickly twisted out of context and you would be painted “prime villain” of the piece.

Nearly every rule is broken. You have unauthorized hoardings, unauthorized “pandal” construction, illegal occupation of public spaces, roads, private spaces…, flouting time limits and probably many more.

Hazards…….

It is alarming to count the hazards such festivities pose. Fire and safety hazards, health and noise hazards and environment degradation (recent addition) are some of the issues that do not attract any attention.

Some Pertinent Questions

Are things really so bad???

Is this another lost case where the very purpose of collective celebrations has been hijacked by a more nefarious agenda or is one reading too much in all this???

Has it become fashionable to lament on any such evolution as destructive or have we become purists and status-quo ists???

Still worse, are we being elitist by being overly critical when the vast majority of the people seem to have no problem and participation in these festivals is a matter of joy and social bonding???

In my next post, I will look for the tremendous positive impact that such collective celebrations have on our lives.