Festivals???
What importance do we give to festivals in our daily life??? The answer would be a hands down yes! And I do not disagree... every time we feel elated when we hear about festivals! Festivals range from anything like religious ceremonies, weddings, birthdays to even frivolous 'days' dedicated to commemorate love, the relation between teachers, parents, friends, and so on and so forth…..
Our heart skips a beat….. the mention of a festival brings a smile on our faces, it gives us a sense of optimism. A chance to look forward to some revelry and take a break from our stressed out lives… isn’t that all? Isn’t that all that festivals mean to us…
Come on, when was the last time that you went and offered prayers at a temple during the durga pujas (navratras), all we care about during the pujas are the four days of ‘complete freedom’ a time of the year when all societal rules are relaxed, a time when u can enjoy ‘night-outs’, reunite with old friends at some pandal and chat for hours and not even step inside the pandal to check out the ceremonies which are in progress. Some others take a liking for dandiya all of a sudden and spend a fortune to head to a certain location in the city where a disco-dandiya has been organized, where bollywood celebs move their bodies to the latest hits, never realizing the real essence of navratras. The case is the same for the other festivals, namely diwali, kali puja, etc etc…. When did you last attend the midnight mass on Christmas Eve? Instead of being at a church going through the religious practices, we dance away the night at a night club or some party venue in high spirits! The same is the case with all festivals, Id is a time to gorge on biriyani and the New Year is just another excuse to lose one’s soberness.
Coming to the days of the year earmarked to commemorate relationships… The whole world is aware of friendship day! According to me the most ridiculous of them all! Text messages are sent, some people call and wish each other a happy friendship day on the first Sunday of August, following the custom, I do indulge in such activities… But how many of us actually mean it from the bottom of our hearts.. some people seriously do and I look up at them and realize there is goodness left in this world… However, in most cases, the word friendship is somewhat of a give and take relationship, a result of the commercialism setting in our lives. At times the give and take relationship makes way for a relationship which exploits the trust of an individual. It is a relationship where someone, befriends someone just to make use of his/her in some way or the other. And more often than not these are the people are the one’s who are the first ones to wish you… (banglaye bole “oti bhokti chorer lokhhon” meaning the more the virtuous, the greater the chances that the individual has got certain wrong intentions) the colloquial Bengali proverb is the most appropriate in such circumstances. When was the last time we called up a friend to just to say hi or to ask him how he was keeping, we certainly ask such things, but there is a hidden intention behind it.. we want some information, we want to use their contacts to get something done… isn’t that what we have in mind… Even at social occasions, we talk to known people (sometimes relations) just because they could probably help us out in the near future!
The world has reached a stage where festivals mean another day to hit the disc and get high or maybe meet some like minded people and have a blast not even remembering what the festival stands for… The most striking example being the 15th of August! Everyone takes a day off from work, has a nice meal and snores off for the afternoon nap not even bothering to spare a thought for what Independence Day means.. How much bloodshed was required to achieve what we have for ourselves? How many of us bothers to sing the national anthem or for that matter salute the national flag? We take everything for granted! Our friends are there as people who are there to help us out whenever we hit a spot of bother, our parents are there to finance our needs, our country to give us shelter and a safe livelihood, our schools/ colleges to give us those degrees which would help us rake in the moolah, our company to pay us the fat pay cheques, our loved ones to give us company and our respective boy friends/ girl friends to accompany us to social events, to the disc, to take care of us when we don’t even give a damn about all that they have done to make us stand where we are……
However, this is the way the world is, I am typing out these words now, but would I remember these things the next time a festival comes up, the answer is no.. its just another day to rejoice! So all I will do after I am done posting this scrap is; I’ll pick up my phone to make plans for the 24th nite…. Hahahaha! That’s the way it is…. But I thought it would be nice to think about these petty things for a change…
Cheers!
What importance do we give to festivals in our daily life??? The answer would be a hands down yes! And I do not disagree... every time we feel elated when we hear about festivals! Festivals range from anything like religious ceremonies, weddings, birthdays to even frivolous 'days' dedicated to commemorate love, the relation between teachers, parents, friends, and so on and so forth…..
Our heart skips a beat….. the mention of a festival brings a smile on our faces, it gives us a sense of optimism. A chance to look forward to some revelry and take a break from our stressed out lives… isn’t that all? Isn’t that all that festivals mean to us…
Come on, when was the last time that you went and offered prayers at a temple during the durga pujas (navratras), all we care about during the pujas are the four days of ‘complete freedom’ a time of the year when all societal rules are relaxed, a time when u can enjoy ‘night-outs’, reunite with old friends at some pandal and chat for hours and not even step inside the pandal to check out the ceremonies which are in progress. Some others take a liking for dandiya all of a sudden and spend a fortune to head to a certain location in the city where a disco-dandiya has been organized, where bollywood celebs move their bodies to the latest hits, never realizing the real essence of navratras. The case is the same for the other festivals, namely diwali, kali puja, etc etc…. When did you last attend the midnight mass on Christmas Eve? Instead of being at a church going through the religious practices, we dance away the night at a night club or some party venue in high spirits! The same is the case with all festivals, Id is a time to gorge on biriyani and the New Year is just another excuse to lose one’s soberness.
Coming to the days of the year earmarked to commemorate relationships… The whole world is aware of friendship day! According to me the most ridiculous of them all! Text messages are sent, some people call and wish each other a happy friendship day on the first Sunday of August, following the custom, I do indulge in such activities… But how many of us actually mean it from the bottom of our hearts.. some people seriously do and I look up at them and realize there is goodness left in this world… However, in most cases, the word friendship is somewhat of a give and take relationship, a result of the commercialism setting in our lives. At times the give and take relationship makes way for a relationship which exploits the trust of an individual. It is a relationship where someone, befriends someone just to make use of his/her in some way or the other. And more often than not these are the people are the one’s who are the first ones to wish you… (banglaye bole “oti bhokti chorer lokhhon” meaning the more the virtuous, the greater the chances that the individual has got certain wrong intentions) the colloquial Bengali proverb is the most appropriate in such circumstances. When was the last time we called up a friend to just to say hi or to ask him how he was keeping, we certainly ask such things, but there is a hidden intention behind it.. we want some information, we want to use their contacts to get something done… isn’t that what we have in mind… Even at social occasions, we talk to known people (sometimes relations) just because they could probably help us out in the near future!
The world has reached a stage where festivals mean another day to hit the disc and get high or maybe meet some like minded people and have a blast not even remembering what the festival stands for… The most striking example being the 15th of August! Everyone takes a day off from work, has a nice meal and snores off for the afternoon nap not even bothering to spare a thought for what Independence Day means.. How much bloodshed was required to achieve what we have for ourselves? How many of us bothers to sing the national anthem or for that matter salute the national flag? We take everything for granted! Our friends are there as people who are there to help us out whenever we hit a spot of bother, our parents are there to finance our needs, our country to give us shelter and a safe livelihood, our schools/ colleges to give us those degrees which would help us rake in the moolah, our company to pay us the fat pay cheques, our loved ones to give us company and our respective boy friends/ girl friends to accompany us to social events, to the disc, to take care of us when we don’t even give a damn about all that they have done to make us stand where we are……
However, this is the way the world is, I am typing out these words now, but would I remember these things the next time a festival comes up, the answer is no.. its just another day to rejoice! So all I will do after I am done posting this scrap is; I’ll pick up my phone to make plans for the 24th nite…. Hahahaha! That’s the way it is…. But I thought it would be nice to think about these petty things for a change…
Cheers!
1 comment:
Jesus! You write a lot! Good thing, that.
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