Festivals have always been an integral part of our lives as Indians, with so many festivals to our credit; we almost live from one festival to another.
During olden days it used to be a way to divulge from the routine humdrum of life, now days though the definitions are slightly twisted, they carry more or less the same meaning.
We link festivals to a religious, cultural or social reasoning strung by dutiful rituals, prayers and devotion to the prime deities of that festival. Our kings and monarchs celebrated all festivals with grandeur, huge pujas were organized, many people would be invited to the paraphernalia of the festivals, but amidst all this glamour what was never forgotten was humbleness. An enormous amount of money, food would be passed down to the less fortunate. Those who could not afford to live like kings, would have a heart king size, when it came to sharing the joys of the festivals with the poor.
Originally the word festival was derived from the word feast that would be in honor of God(s). A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. A feast would mean an elaborate meal, which all could enjoy. Times change; so do people and policies. Now we still have the same festivals almost the same fervor and more than magnanimous amount of spending, but we do not feast anymore. It’s not about spreading the feeling of happiness, but how much money we can flash during these occasions, it’s an expensive parade of all that you can name. The people who are humbly rooted are considered obsolete.
Have we lost the golden touch or become so overwhelmingly absorbed in our pillar to post life that we do not stop to think to add a little sparkle in someone’s life? If this is true, we definitely need some re-engineering to do.
During olden days it used to be a way to divulge from the routine humdrum of life, now days though the definitions are slightly twisted, they carry more or less the same meaning.
We link festivals to a religious, cultural or social reasoning strung by dutiful rituals, prayers and devotion to the prime deities of that festival. Our kings and monarchs celebrated all festivals with grandeur, huge pujas were organized, many people would be invited to the paraphernalia of the festivals, but amidst all this glamour what was never forgotten was humbleness. An enormous amount of money, food would be passed down to the less fortunate. Those who could not afford to live like kings, would have a heart king size, when it came to sharing the joys of the festivals with the poor.
Originally the word festival was derived from the word feast that would be in honor of God(s). A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. A feast would mean an elaborate meal, which all could enjoy. Times change; so do people and policies. Now we still have the same festivals almost the same fervor and more than magnanimous amount of spending, but we do not feast anymore. It’s not about spreading the feeling of happiness, but how much money we can flash during these occasions, it’s an expensive parade of all that you can name. The people who are humbly rooted are considered obsolete.
Have we lost the golden touch or become so overwhelmingly absorbed in our pillar to post life that we do not stop to think to add a little sparkle in someone’s life? If this is true, we definitely need some re-engineering to do.
Happy Diwali.
