Diwali celebrations – Then, now and beyond We Indians love our festivals very much. The palpable excitement of Diwali is just over. Change is inevitable in all walks of life as a law of nature. Over the years many changes are observed in the celebrations of this festival which marks the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The old-timers sigh that the festival has become too commercial.
Then: Things were a lot simpler in the past. Houses were given a whitewash and old stuff was thrown out with a belief that Goddess Lakshmi visits only the clean houses. Sweets and savories were prepared days in advance at home, together as a family. The family members all got new clothes for the occasion. Sizable number of crackers were brought in advance. The children oblivious of the pollution angle took great pride in showing off their firecrackers stash. Diwali was the time for family gatherings and paying social calls to friends and relatives with sweets and savories. A big part of the tradition for many including me was sending out Diwali greeting cards. The romance of buying cards, writing a personal note and then the address on top with a stamp in the corner and finally a trip to the post office was heartwarming. There was no sight more ethereal than twinkling little lights all across houses during Diwali. Lighting little terracotta lamps with a bit of oil and a wick has been a universal festival tradition. It is a tradition that has come down the ages. It is said that diyas were lit at every house to light the way so that Lord Ram could return with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman safely from Lanka to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. It was very cool to just accept things and say – ‘because we always did things this way’ or ‘this is our culture and tradition’. As such that was the last generation. Now: Diwali these days is all about discounts, sales, fairs and parties. Cleaning services can be hired for a bit of clean sweep or maids would be paid extra for an iota of cleaning. Sweets may be outsourced to the nearest sweet mart or ordered through Swiggy or Zomato. The purchase of new clothing is governed more by online sales rather than by festivals. Many parents are opting out from bursting crackers due to the pollution these create. Even children are urging parents not to buy firecrackers as schools encourage students to observe eco-friendly Diwali. The age-old tradition of personally visiting friends to wish Diwali is getting less and less every year. But today, we’re either too busy with our own stuff or like keeping to ourselves. We’re moving towards celebrating an isolated Diwali, the one which just involves our family. The phone and the Internet have done away with the tradition of posting greeting cards and were replaced by text messages initially. We gradually shifted to emails and these days it is only bombardment of WhatsApp messages with no personal touch. People are now using electric flickering multicoloured lights and lamps for your dwellings’ illumination and the tradition of lighting diyas has slowly been fading. Technology has spread its tentacle here and abandoned traditions. When asked about culture, a young friend of mine replied, “I do not know much about rituals etc. but for me, Diwali is about family time. Last year my daughter painted few clay diyas. She loved the activity and the expression on her face – when we lit up the lamps, was priceless.” Beyond: It is the age of technology and gizmos. Will this change our tryst with Diwali? How do you think future generations would celebrate Diwali say in 2100…? We can just imagine: You just need to pop a pill to enjoy all the flavors of Diwali delicacies and make you full. Kids may enjoy digital crackers on their tablets, with minimal sounds and no smoke. With Teleporting, your cousins from USA are here for the Diwali celebrations for the night by pressing a button. You can watch and feel the Diwali celebrations all over the world with the help of a Virtual Reality (VR) device. You are playing Diwali special card games on a cloud-based device and earning BITCOINS instead of money. You clone yourself, so you can be present at multiple venues – no more sulking friends and family. No harm indulging in a little imaginary trip. Who knows what our future holds for us? It is possible to keep our kids connected to the past and our roots – albeit by embracing a bit of technology. It is important to note – there is always nostalgia about the past and although sometimes traditions are carried forward untouched which is a beautiful thing, sometimes it is fun to embrace the present and look forward to the innovations of future. K RAJARAM IRS 261024 The Diwali Culture Diwali, the festival of lights, and all the festivities it brings with it, has always held a special place in our hearts. It’s a time to reflect on what we’ve achieved so far, and give back in ways we deem fit. It’s a season for families to come together and just grow; learning from each other, their rights and wrongs, and finding ways to strengthen this bond that’s shared. The Diwali Culture The beauty of Diwali in India is that each state has a unique way of celebrating the festival of lights. Within the states too, communities have their own type of celebrations that show the uniqueness of India – a country that boasts of several languages, histories, traditions, and cultures. When we were children, Diwali meant large gatherings with friends and family, exchanging gifts, and bursting firecrackers together. Some of us may have voluntarily decided to stop bursting firecrackers as kids, and probably focused more on the gifting and eating that Diwali brings with it. Diwali With New Traditions The way we celebrate has certainly changed over the years – from the type of gifts we get (an iPad is usually on top of the list for every age group!) to the way we dress, the experiences now have expanded to welcome all sorts of celebrations. From pottery classes to learn how to make diyas for gifting to even cooking classes to teach us recipes of old, there’s so much that’s going on. Given that we live in nuclear families, Diwali is the time to spend with extended family, and for our children to spend time with the grandparents who may not live in the same city, and even aunts and uncles, remembering traditions of old, and fusing in bits and pieces of new experiences that are shared with our little ones. Diwali – The Present More than the gifts and the exchange of sweets, the time spent is precious, and children return with knowledge of their grandmother’s tales, and outings to see how their parents grew up. Diwali is also the time when cousins get together to bond, and this five-day period plays a key role in the relationships they hold as adults. Diwali – The Future The future of Diwali, in our opinion, will continue to be as it is now, albeit some minor changes. With most parts of India being on leave during this time, Diwali becomes the perfect time for family get-togethers. Gifting may change (we’re looking at gift cards and coupons to make decisions easier!), sweets may see a makeover – there already are options of dairy-free sweets for those who prefer plant-based food; and we’ll probably find a way to use crackers that don’t have all this stigma attached to it (yes, we’re sure someone’ll find a way to do this soon), and the experiences we share would change to reflect the times – we know of families who like to visit hill stations together and do some volunteer work in farms or even animal welfare societies – so there’s a lot that’ll be different, but in essence, it’s always a matter of preserving our past, and making sure our future carries that forward. From celebrations in school to even rangolis being done as a family, garlands being out up to mithais being made in the kitchen together – there’s always a hope that these never fade away. Diwali With New Traditions 2 New Traditions We’ve spoken to new age parents who have changed a little with the changing times, and are doing their own unique thing to ensure that traditions don’t fizzle out. Urmi Chanda, a Senior Program Coordinator at Seeds of Peace, tells us that she and her son, Jishnu, go to Kolkata every year during Diwali to spend time with Jishnu’s grandparents. “It’s my way of showing him how Bengal celebrates Diwali, and it’s also my way of imbibing Bengali culture into him,” she says. Their bond is special and this way, Jishnu gets to experience the old and add in bits he likes! In a similar fashion, Rituparna Chatterjee, Deputy Asia Editor at The Independent, UK, has a unique way to celebrate Diwali with her son. “We design rangolis together. In 2017, when he was five, we made a dinosaur rangoli. I still have the photo from when we started this tradition! We have different themes every year, the most recent was Minecraft,” she says. Another parent we spoke with, Divya Sridharan, Editor at ServiceNow, has a really cute tradition she’s started with her daughter, and added her own bits too! “We celebrate Navaratri and Diwali at home by stacking dolls on steps. The steps have to be in odd numbers. It is called ‘Golu’ in Tamil. While it is done with much fanfare down south, we do it modestly here mainly to ensure the tradition is followed. But, we like to add our little twist to it by adding my daughter’s favourite toys to the mix! She loves dogs, so all her toys that are dogs are added on the last row! In the evenings, women are invited home to see the ‘golu’ and accept ‘haldi-kumkum’. Since the birth of my daughter, I’m more eager to set everything up and involve her in it.” xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZooZaJrE%2BP1-wr3zz7VCugykMSk7Asq6itc6jW2Rcj94Zw%40mail.gmail.com.
