DEEPAVALI TO DIWALI !!
Not long ago when children expressed a desire to own a new toy or clothes, fathers would always say, "Wait till Deepavali when I get my bonus and then you'll get it." But today's children don't really have to wait till October for the goodies. Rising disposable incomes, easily available credit options and, of course, a more liberal attitude toward spending has certainly impacted the lifestyle of the new millennium Indian.
Thanks to fat pay packets, more frequent foreign jaunts and double incomes, splurges and merry-making are no more exclusive Diwali do's. Indeed, the festival is seeing a mega make-over.
Deepavali is one of the most important that has come a long way and undergone a lots of changes in the way we celebrate them.
During my grandmother’s days they used to make lots and lots of sweets at home and distribute it to neighbors who also share the ones they made with us.
But now my mother hardly makes one or two varieties in very small quantities and gets the rest from the famous sweet shops! This too is done as a “saasthram” (just for the sake of ).
In another few years I seriously do not know whether I would make them either. The best would be to get everything from the shop. First of all who has the time for it or who the hell is gona slog in the kitchen for hours together for just one sweet…. No way
A small dialogue to experience the impact of this change
Moreover deepavali is more about sharing. We would have read in the books that goodies are made and distributed to neighbors. Guess that is only for the books. God only knows who my neighbours are. In this jet speed life who do u think is gona take their time out to find out about people living next door. We hardly know who they are then where is the concept of sharing ?!
Earlier, it was a time when we would not only look forward to the new gifts and toys, but shopping itself was a vital part of the festive experience. Today, with most people shopping round the year, the experience has lost more of its intensity
Whatever may be the fables and legends behind the celebrations of Deepavalii, all people wear new clothes and buy jewellery at this festive time.. Diwali has become commercialised as the biggest annual consumer spree because every family shops for sweets, gifts and fireworks.
So, with celebrations and festive spends evenly spread out throughout the year, it's only to be expected that children are mildly excited about any kind of traditional festivity. I feel that kids are far less sensitive to the festive occasion today, and it is pretty much a forced-down affair
Speaking of children and rituals, are Indian parents getting more conscious of culture, rituals, festivities, etc? In other words, are we taking to these ritualistic indulgences simply because there's so much material enjoyment and all of us want to go back to our basics?
At the end of the day, I think everyone, at some point, recognizes the existence of some thing like a super natural power and looks up to one of the areas for solace. I suppose people go back to basics, look for roots, and anchor points when under stress and miss the rituals. The main reason why we are becoming more spiritual is because of the stress that each of us go through as individuals."
So how do I end such a long article filled with frustration….. May be this statement would console me!!
In all this frenzy of shopping and eating, the steady, burning lamp is a constant symbol of an illuminated mind !!
Please pour in your thoughts and lets all together try to make things better!!
Thanks to fat pay packets, more frequent foreign jaunts and double incomes, splurges and merry-making are no more exclusive Diwali do's. Indeed, the festival is seeing a mega make-over.
Deepavali is one of the most important that has come a long way and undergone a lots of changes in the way we celebrate them.
During my grandmother’s days they used to make lots and lots of sweets at home and distribute it to neighbors who also share the ones they made with us.
But now my mother hardly makes one or two varieties in very small quantities and gets the rest from the famous sweet shops! This too is done as a “saasthram” (just for the sake of ).
In another few years I seriously do not know whether I would make them either. The best would be to get everything from the shop. First of all who has the time for it or who the hell is gona slog in the kitchen for hours together for just one sweet…. No way
A small dialogue to experience the impact of this change
Those days:
"mami neenga enna sweet pannninel? Nan burfi
paninen ne? na mysorepa try panninen padhame sariya varala”
Today:
"nennnga enga sweet vanginel? Nan Krishna sweets la than epavum vanguven
Indha thadava anandha bhavanla try panninen sagikala di!”
Moreover deepavali is more about sharing. We would have read in the books that goodies are made and distributed to neighbors. Guess that is only for the books. God only knows who my neighbours are. In this jet speed life who do u think is gona take their time out to find out about people living next door. We hardly know who they are then where is the concept of sharing ?!
Earlier, it was a time when we would not only look forward to the new gifts and toys, but shopping itself was a vital part of the festive experience. Today, with most people shopping round the year, the experience has lost more of its intensity
Whatever may be the fables and legends behind the celebrations of Deepavalii, all people wear new clothes and buy jewellery at this festive time.. Diwali has become commercialised as the biggest annual consumer spree because every family shops for sweets, gifts and fireworks.
So, with celebrations and festive spends evenly spread out throughout the year, it's only to be expected that children are mildly excited about any kind of traditional festivity. I feel that kids are far less sensitive to the festive occasion today, and it is pretty much a forced-down affair
Speaking of children and rituals, are Indian parents getting more conscious of culture, rituals, festivities, etc? In other words, are we taking to these ritualistic indulgences simply because there's so much material enjoyment and all of us want to go back to our basics?
At the end of the day, I think everyone, at some point, recognizes the existence of some thing like a super natural power and looks up to one of the areas for solace. I suppose people go back to basics, look for roots, and anchor points when under stress and miss the rituals. The main reason why we are becoming more spiritual is because of the stress that each of us go through as individuals."
So how do I end such a long article filled with frustration….. May be this statement would console me!!
In all this frenzy of shopping and eating, the steady, burning lamp is a constant symbol of an illuminated mind !!
Please pour in your thoughts and lets all together try to make things better!!
Well, to start with my maiden voyage of posting my comments to this article let me be very frank in saying that you (Saraswathi) have a good command over scripting because I found out the synonyms for certain words from Thesaurus.
To comment about anything is like the champagne gushing out of the bottle when u unleash the cork and here's my bash.
For me first of all in my life I do not want to have any festivals to celebrate the joy or happiness. Moreover, I don't even understand why the hell we have so many priorities and excuses in our life to celebrate a simple thing so called, happiness. I mean what is stopping from you to enjoy your life but we set a common time and occasion to rejoice. And the most clowning part of this is that I really want to know how many of them set occasions and do justice to it. Are they really happy? The reply would be a skeptical one.
For example a thalai deepavali can bring happiness to a guy but is it the same to a gal?
At least not for the gal it shall surely be an issue for her parents as they have to sponsor some souvenir for their elbow less son-in-laws. So are these festivals all about happiness to all? No. They say that we celebrate Diwali because Naragasuran got killed but today he himself is celebrating diwali in the form of such son-in-laws.
What is Diwali to a person who is working in a Sivakasi cracker factory? Do you think he/she would be delightful to burst crackers on Diwali? No. For them and their family every day is a Diwali when they return back home alive. But they also fail in choosing what they actually need in their life. Michael Jackson once said "Just stop existing and just start living". I love you Mike.
But I am a person who respect my ancestors and I would support three-fourth of their ethics. I think they would have thought that since people don't know how to enjoy and celebrate life they kept such common instances, atleast to keep their energy flow and thinking slightly dazzling. But believe me friends our ancestors are really great.
When i was studying in my second standard i was staying with my family in a rented house in Purasaiwalkkam. We had one of our tenant who's son (Sivanna) was a mentally retarded patient who gets violent when he hears crackers noise. So during Diwali he and his family go to kerala because Mallus don’t celebrate Diwali. Once they couldn't make it up and they had to stay in Chennai itself. You won't believe me, my dad came to me and my sister and told us that this time there’s no Diwali for us since Sivanna is staying downstairs and he shall not be ok when we burst crackers. I still love my dad for that basic courtesy.
Now to conclude my narration please enjoy and celebrate your life once when you feel you really want it. Please don't have priorities or time, being so stubborn that I shall be happy only at this point of time in my life.
Have sweets when you feel like having it, take dresses when you feel like having it but burst crackers only during Diwali.
In fact, my favourite festival is Diwali as the whole country would be lighted with small diyas and lights. Well, that really enlightens your brain cells and above all your heart.
But at the same time we should also see to that we are socially attached even not fully but at least doing some thing which is least expected or can be done from your side.
Celebrate life but let that be harmless.
Dil Lip
(---)
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:42 AM
@ dilip
first of all thanks a lot for taking your time to visit my blog.
i know getting appreciation from dilip is not that easy... i am
sure i can pull up my collars
anyways..... whatever u said i take it as ur personal opinion though
i dont agree to most of it......
hope ud be my loyal reader and there are many articles waiting for
ur comments and many more to come too......
Posted by
Saraswathi |
3:59 AM
@ dilip
i feel celebrating festivals are very important not just for the happiness that it gives us but definitly to keep our rich tradition alive...
and about that particular diwali when u did not burst crackers because of Sivanna... this obviously shows the high amount of courtesy in ur dad which has also been instilled in you too as i have observed in various occasions.
but i definitely cant accept ur thought which says
"Have sweets when you feel like having it, take dresses when you feel like having it"
whatever it is obviously sweets and dresses for a festival is more special than having them at anyother time
Posted by
Saraswathi |
5:47 AM