Vamsi's Tabloid

(Note: This is a work of fiction by lionking !)

Hindus have lots and lots of festivals. The Hindu Scriptures mention about the auspiciousness of certain periods in a year … and there are “many” such periods in the year, wherein we find references to “auspicious time/day” … and immediately … Hindus jump upon the chance to “celebrate in those auspicious time/day” with much pomp and color. How can the Hindus miss “any” chance to celebrate … and they surely get some “bahana” to celebrate and have a good time.

Be it Holi, Diwali, Balaji Kalayana Mahotsavam, Ram Navami, Durga Puja, Sankranthi, Krishnasthami, etc … there are many “bahanas” for the Hindus to make their day.

And … if/when their beloved “god” does some “good thing” … immediately that becomes a festival for the followers of that “god”.

Having said that Hindus are always on the lookout for some “celebrations” in the name of some “bahana” … all their “bahanas” surely have some “Solid spiritual significance” … without which one just cannot call them as “Hindu Festival” !

Gurunath has deep understanding of Hindu Culture and understands the basic tenets of Sanathana Dharma. He is well respected in his village for his knowledge in Hinduism and his behaviour with others in the village was very dignified. No wonder that he has been the Sarpanch of his village for the past 20 years continuously.

These days the village is bustling with activity, as the village is about to celebrate its annual most famous festival, called the Grama Devi Festival, which is a type of a Harvest Festival. This year too, like the previous years, the village was blessed with good crops, and the villagers are generally happy as they are leading a prosperous life.

And the most famous “boy” of the village is Shishya Dev, who has just completed his Engineering Course in the “city” … and has returned to the village to attend this Grama Devi Festival on the request of his “farmer parents”. Since he is the “first” to complete an “education” that was unheard of in the village, he was having many “flower garlands” from Parents of those “Cute Village Damsels”, who want to have a “Highly Educated Son-in-Law” by giving away their daughter(s) to him ! … but he thinks as to what he will do, if he gets married to a “village girl” !

On entering the village, he found that he was more famous than Gurunath … as one villager remarked to him … and surely he had the urge to meet and see, who this Gurunath was ! … and finally meets him after “escaping the luring glances of those Cute Village Damsels! “

Gurunath : Welcome to the village again Shishya beta … you went to the city as an unknown villager … but returned to the village as famous as a “Prince” !

Shishya Dev : Namaskaar Gurunathji … i vividly remember the village when i left for the city, courtesy an NRI couple sponsoring education for me … and its because of that couple that i have come back to the village as an “Educated Person” … otherwise, i would have been like those – unpad gavaar log like the villagers of this village !

(Gurunath was angry at this remark of calling his villagers as “unpad” or “uneducated” … but controlled himself from pointing his anger to Shishya.)

Gurunath : So, you said that you remember the village when you left … do you see any difference between then and now … now that you claim that you are an “educated person” ?

Shishya Dev : Surely, one thing i notice is that there has been a lot of shops and new technologies like Cell Phones and an Internet centre here … but, considering the “unpad gavaar log” that village has … i wonder who is using the lone Internet Centre that this village has ! … other than that, the Bullock Carts, the ladies moving around with mud-pots with water, irregular current supply … are much the same as when i left the village. And the mindless Grama Devi Festival that this village celebrates every year is still going on ! … I wonder “village people” will always remain “Village people” !

(That’s it … this was the point till which Gurunath was able to tolerate the “Blurtings” of the young Shishya Dev … Gurunath could not control his anger, when this young lad questioned the festival celebrated in his village with much enthusiasm and pomp.)

Gurunath : That Internet Cafe is set up by the Panchayat of this village … and it helps us to know the details about “Farming” and “market for our produce”. But, if an outsider wants to use it we allow him, for a nominal charge ! … You are saying that this Grama Devi Festival is “Mindless”. May i know why ?

Shishya Dev : Thats a good initiative by the panchayat. I wonder why the are villagers “wasting” lots of resources like Cocunuts, Flowers, Sandelwood Paste, Milk, Oil, etc. on the “Statue of Grama Devi” … and instead of wasting a lot of resources by celebrating this Festival … if the villagers “find a market” for those “resources” … then they would be economically well off ! … I guess these villagers are so ignorant, that they are just satisfied with the “rituals” that their “ancestors” have been following for ages … and surely, they are living lives which are not “modern” for todays age !

Gurunath : So, you are pointing fingers at the inability of villagers to find markets for their produce … and that is why you think they have this festival of Grama Devi ?

Shishya Dev : Absolutely !

Gurunath : Dear boy ! … let me first clear your apprehensions and state that this village has the highest GDP than any other village in the district. And people from far flung areas come over to our village to procure their needs, and so our village has never failed to sell its produce, such is the quality/quantity of the produce here ! … even after that, we have many festivals including this current Grama Devi Festival being organized. It doesnot mean that we are “wasting” our resources, but its a way of thanking the “Grama Devi” for showering prosperity on us.

And what makes you think that there is no “economic sense” in all the festivals that we have in this village ? … The festivals are the very economic nerves of the village, wherein the villagers are motivated to “Grow or produce” goods necessary for very many festivals … and hence these Festivals formed the “Engines of Growth” of the Villages from ancient days … i certainly think that our ancestors were very intelligent in having these festivals in “regular intervals of time” during the year … which encourages the “enterprise” in villagers, which is necessary for any village, community or country !

(Shishya was was stunned to hear the word “GDP” from Gurunath’s mouth … eventhough he had come accross this word in some newspapers … he didnt try to fully understand what it means … as he was too proud to be an “engineer” ! … he now understands why Gurunath is held at a high position in this village !)

Shishya Dev : I get the point … so all these festivals are just “ways to economic prosperity” ! … if that is the case, they why tag them with “religion” or “god” ? … you can have some “economic festivals” instead of “religious festivals” … instead of this Grama Devi Festival which is a Religious Festival !

Gurunath : Hmm … you make sense, but as a “materialist” … Know this for certain, in religion, every festival that is celebrated, has some “religous significance” … which is “symbolic” or “spiritual”. Take for example, the Festival of Holi has many “Symbolic” as well as “Spiritual” significances, and very many people interpret them in the way they understand it. This question that you have asked about naming these festivals as “economic festivals” instead of “religious festivals”, brings out the fact that you are “Illeterate  in Religion” !

Shishya Dev : I wonder what is the “Symbolic” or “Spiritual” significance of this Grama Devi Festival.

Gurunath : That’s a nice question that you have asked. People of this village “celebrate” the good harvest that they have got, so in that sense it becomes a “Symbolic” … You want to call this a Harvest Festival, then you may call.

There is a couple in the village whose daughter was once having small pox … and on the advice of a sadhu, they brought her to the temple of the Grama Devi in this village … covered her body with “neem leaves” … and by the end of the day … the girl was cured completely. This happened “on the day of the festival” … so for these parents this day becomes significant “spiritually”.

People have their own perceptions and beliefs … which differ from person to person.

If you want to see this festival as an “Economic Engine of the village” then you may ! … or as “Spiritually significant” then you may ! … “Symbolically Significant” then you may ! … your wish !

(Shishya just wonders how else to counter Gurunath’s argument, and finally relents from “testing” him more).

Shishya Dev : I now see why people of this village rever you so much. But one thing i cannot understand … is “god” against “buying and selling” for a price ? … i mean, in this “festival” when people “buy/sell”, then where is the God aspect in this festival ?

(As he speaks these words … Shishya sees two men in “Costly shirts and pants” passing-by, and wonders from where these people have got those “costly White-man Shirts” and that too in this “Village” !)

Gurunath : Whats wrong in giving important to the Economy of the Village. Afterall, the basic purpose of any religion is the welfare of the mankind. So, by organizing these festivals, the people also have the opportunity to get well off and have sufficient wealth for themselves and their families !

(Just then a weaver called Kurtha Wala comes and greets Gurunath)

Kurtha Wala : Sarpanchji … as told by you … i have made a nice Sari for the Grama Devi … in traditional manual way … which is the “parampara of this village” … here is the sari …

(Gurunath takes the wonderful and colorful sari, and congratulates the Kurtha Wala)

Gurunath : Shabaash Kurthawalaji … aapne tho kamaal kar diya … sari bahut sundar hai … Meet Shishya Dev …

Kurtha Wala : Oh ! … so you are Shishya that this village is talking about … so, you also have become an “angrezi babu” kya ?

Shishya Dev : Why do i get the feeling that you dont like “Angrezi babu” Kurthawalaji ? … Kya Engineering padna zurm hai ?

Kurtha Wala : Arey nahi ! … as a weaver, i am having some tough time
with these “English Clothes”. Some years back … one sales man of a company called “Alan Paine” came and sold some English Shirts and Pants  to our villagers … and the villagers seemed to like it a lot … so, from then on, these Shirts and Pants of Alan Paine are turning out to be a pain in my ass … as i have found that there are no takers for my kurtha-payjamas … even on festival days. Thats why i have some grudge over “angrez babu” … bhai bura math maanna.

Gurunath : I agree with Kurtha Wala … the traditional way of living has to be protected … or otherwise, how would you get those wonderful hand-woven kurthas-payjamas ? … so, we in panchayat have the Hindutva Samiti … which takes care of all the festival arrangements and also the temple maintenance … and we have taken the initiative to make sure that people get “hand-woven kurthas-payjamas” at much lower rates than “Angrez Shirt Pant” during festivals.

Shishya Dev : How is it that wearing traditional hand-woven kurthas payjamas is more “Spiritually Significant” than “Angrez Shirt Pant”.

Gurunath : I dont know about others … i prefer those clothes that have been produced from the “soil of this land” … produced manually with no toxic colors or agents used.  So, i prefer the kurta-pyjamas of this Kurtha Wala … and more over the hindu saying that “Paida hue mitti se, Laut jayenge is mitti mein” is “Spiritual” for me … so i prefer “country made Kurtas-pyjamas” … you want to call this as Hindu culture or Hindutva or Sanatana Dharma … your wish !

Now, Shishya Dev was called by his parents, who are eager to introduce him to his prospective Father/Mother-in-Law)

Shishya Dev : Accha Gurunathji … aagya dein … aapse baath karke bahuth kushi hui. Accha Kurtha Walaji, pranaam !

Gurunath : Pranaam !

Kurthawala : Pranaam !

(As Shishya Dev leaves with his parents … and after the conversation with Gurunathji about Village Life, he feels “at home” in the Village … suddenly his eyes set on a “village girl” and she seemed like a “Cute Village Damsel” … and he immediately demands to his parents that he should have her as his wife ! … And finally gets married with her, and settles in that village itself !)

Festivals of India have significance in very many ways … and to understand the true Hindu Culture or the “State of the Mind” in the Hindu Culture … researching the festivals of India would be advisable.

Vamsi