One of the most interesting aspects of celebrating festivals is reading how and why people celebrate them. So, yes, yesterday, I did celebrate the festival with verve and zest. Through the messages, mostly posted on the WhatsApp status ( I do not use any other social medium such as insta or X, et al), one came to know the possible responses.
There were three possible patterns to these responses. The first was extremely enthusiastic and creative. The language used was lovely. It often created a sense of optimism and of togetherness. Such gaiety was often reflected in extremely unusual designing of the message. People seemed to have mastered ChatGPT and/or 'Canva' creatively.
These were the normal interpretations. I could observe three 'non-normal', okay, let us use the word which I actually dislike distinctly, 'abnormal', possibilities, though there must be many more, I am sure. Of these, the first one was highly 'intellectual'. These 'thinkers' asserted that 'Padwa' was celebrated only in Maharashtra! Well, what these grandees do not know is that India uses two kinds of calendars, lunar and solar-lunar. The day hence may fall fifteen days later/apart.
Yet the festival, basically nature-based and agriculture-oriented, IS celebrated across India. Since India has that unique unity within differences, let us remember, the Sindhis, too, celebrate it. I should know because I wrote a proper article on this theme for a partially pedagogic magazine by one of the major publishing houses.
The second objection was 'sociological'. There were angry verses about how some king killed cruelly the entire army of another king, and declared a calendar after him. The reference seemed to be to 'Shatwahan Shak'. Well, I do not pretend to know archaeology and history hugely. I do know these disciplines enough though to maintain that 'Gudhi Padwa' has no such antecedent. I can quote all the references I know. That would lengthen this blog too very much though.
Why, all the followers of Shivaji Maharaj could destroy this unusual account as they were busy declaring that Maharaj began the practice of hoisting a 'gudhi'!
The weirdest is the third one. Mostly followed by the ultra well-off amongst the upper middle classes, this response consists of completely rejecting the festival. The fools would be following some weird 'panth'/sect with a curious philosophy! Its ideation would not have any base in any text. Some 'Baba' would have imagined it, most probably in a drug-induced 'seance'.
The fools would follow to the t the practices of the panth and the Baba, without even realising how the sect is a huge financial, crony capitalist and corporate conglomerate! One of my Ph.D. classmates, for example, would shave off her hair completely on this very day! If possible, her poor doggie, too, would have to follow suit, the birthday one for him, of course!
She would do it with a weird enthusiasm. Why did she do it? Well, it was 'her' body. She was free to do anything she wanted with it, would be the first salvo. Well, not only the poor parents, an entire community creates our selves. We owe a lot to many! No use telling such creeps!
The second salvo, to establish why 'Padwa' would be the day, used to be that the summer is hot! Such people would have coolers in every corner, and air-conditioners which they blast at 17 degrees, and then use two rugs to overcome the 'chill'!
What sheer stupid wastage of all that life has provided them abundantly. Life (since their sect would not believe in God!) blessed them with second chances at actually 'living', the lack of which have driven people almost lunatic!
They are like creepy fools who believe that a woman is feminist if and only if she uses pills, aborts, drinks, does drugs, smokes, wears clothes Julia Roberts would not dare in that film entitled "Pretty Woman"! Well, if they were to notice carefully, real achievers never need such flashy bling!
To provide corporate examples, which hopefully they would accept, look at Sudha Murthi, at Indira Nooyi, Madhavi Latha, to give a very contemporary example. Even when they party, if they at all, given the busy schedule, no single weird pic in the skimpiest clothes of their hurrying to the loo to puke and pee!
Lord, save them, they perfectly very well know what they are doing!
Pratima@What makes life worth is intellectual integrity. Woke-ism is a fad that is here now, and gone tomorrow, without providing any paradigm shift!
No comments:
Post a Comment