Diminished Diwali

The slow but steady debauching of festivals has taken over the minds of many of us. Diwali, the festival of lights, one of the most awaited, just passed a few days back. It was observable that year by year, the festivals are losing their hype and we are being taken far from the origins of our culture, unknowingly. In this blog, I plan to delineate some of the major obstacles erected through the past. These obstacles were premediated by ones who plan to take us to the way of living, where we shouldn’t have gone.

 

Firstly, as I belong to the student community, I would like to emphasize the grave topics which are prevalent for years in every school in the nation. We all are given holiday homework on these types of festivals be it Diwali, Dusshera, or be it the summer or winter vacations. Why? As far as I’ve heard from some of the teachers, these are to keep the child occupied in the holidays so that he/she doesn’t get bored or some of them might say that this homework is for enhancing the student’s approach in extracurricular activities. But they forget that the child wants some creative or playful work. Few of the students get so much focused on the homework or some of them get so frustrated that they forget the true meaning of the festival. And in the years coming by, their mind begins to develop the fact that festivals are meant for holiday homework and at last there would be a time when students would be least interested in these festivals that take them closer to their culture and traditions.

Secondly, I would like to take an opinion on the case of fireworks. We all are techno-geeks and up to date with what is happening around us. You all might be aware that each year, some of the state governments are imposing a ban on fireworks just on the mere analysis of pollution on that day. Let me tell you that the surveys and the checks on the days of Diwali are not 100 % exact and we can’t trust their veracity. We have been taught the lesson that fireworks cause heavy pollution and the atmosphere turns hazardous for many. But what they don’t understand is this pollution is not because of fireworks alone. Most of the people take up their cars and just keep jamming up on the roads, which gives a part of pollution. The boosted production of factories during this season also gives a part to overall pollution. PM 2.5 particles, which contribute to the most hazardous particles in the atmosphere, are recorded to be on higher levels on the days of Diwali. But these particles’ concentration decreases back to very low within 5-6 days.

 

If it is just the case of pollution, then why does no one criticize the firecrackers and rocket illuminations on New Year’s Day? Why does no one criticize the reckless bursting of firecrackers on the result days of elections? Why does no one criticize the bursting of crackers on Christmas? It is just the bloviating media and newspapers that turn their eyes towards Diwali. If the nation had to be true to its word, it would act non-partial towards every festival and every occasion.

A small song for all those who turn to "Go-Green" during Diwali. Enjoy!

Just listen once…

Thirdly and lastly, I would like to take a step further into the matter of propagandizing the lessened craze in Diwali and all such festivals. Those who are in jobs might have known that it is very hard to manage out a whole festival in a day’s leave. Why do the big India-based companies do this to their employees? Why don’t they encourage their employees to celebrate and bring forward their culture? Contrastingly, if we take foreign countries, for instance, all the workers and employees go on an official holiday for 3-4 weeks covering Christmas and New Year. On those lands, they know that it is their festival and are not bound to work just under the pressure, they enjoy their holidays and celebrate their festivals to the fullest. And here, the working class is dying out of the work pressure, the children are saddled with reckless homework, and alas the senior citizens have enjoyed these festivals in their childhood. Now we come to the realization, that the festivals which were for merry-making and happy times and which could be the best days of our lives are just passing one by one just like ordinary days.

 

Similarly, a new burden is now laden on the backs of the new generation, sophistication. Nowadays, if someone evinces the teachings from their culture, they are being stereotyped as uncivilized and old-school. The reason our families and relations are left behind in this rat race is that we have not synced in with our regular activities known as festivals, gatherings, social works, reunions, and joyful times with each other. As I can apprehend, I see Westernisation and social media as the impertinent reasons for these occurrences. Western culture has done nothing but washes our brains. They are celebrating their festivals with great enthuse, and here we are masking our lives up with sophistication. We are questioning why do we perform Puja and all that stuff this time only? We question why do we meet everyone during Diwali only, why all these gatherings and stuff? This is not only for Diwali but for every festival for which we are losing this very specific point, that this is solely to bring love and joy in the families.

 

Bursting out of words, I would like to implore all of you, don’t leave out the fun and craze in these festivals. They are of great prominence in our lives. They hold together distant families, they bring us closer than ever to our history, to our true origins. Be solicitous towards festivals and mark them as the most important days of your year. Just for a few days they last, yet leave a nostalgic memory that makes us smile again.

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