I did not even realize it's already the end of Navratri, with Vijayadhashami coming tomorrow to end the nine-night battle with Victory of the mighty Goddess Durga... Victory of good over evil.. a story I have heard every year.. This year, my mind has opened to newer things, my eyes to more good and evil.
Yesterday near Market yard in Pune, there came together some 15 to 20 people, on the main road, occupying half the lane, a small speaker kept on a chair on the side was playing the Dandiya version of 'Suhaana safar aur ye mausam haseen'. The people were of all ages: some wearing lungis; little girls and boys with patched clothes and no footwear. Holding wooden sticks in both hands this group of people had formed a neat circle and with some simple and synchronized steps were having a dandiya raas. In the middle of the road, yes!
Those smiles and the laughter touched me so fast, my tired face split into a wide smile without my brain having the slightest idea!
They don't need big lawns, they don't need the orchestra. Hell! they don't need any costumes or decorated dandiyas! And best of all, they don't need to tell their religion to anyone.
A person passing by them would not even care to wonder what religion these people might be. They were simply a few people who wished to dance with the two sticks and the dhol. And their own faiths do not restrict them from doing so.
In some parts of our country, a few elected leaders decided Muslim men could not attend any venues having Navratri Dandiya and garba celebrations. They apparently would hunt down innocent girls and make them victims of the dreaded Love Jihad conspiracy
It made me sad. The threats of 'Love Jihad' and conspiracies of the like may be true. But existence of such elements does to give sense to the idea of restricting people of one particular religion for festivals which have for centuries brought all people together, irrespective of their formal faith of worship.
Festivals of India: Navratri, Diwali, Christmas, Ramzan Eid, Baisakhi, Lori, Pateti, Chaturmaas, Onam, Pongal.. This list could well take the rest of the page.. well, these are festivals of INDIA, not of any one particular separate group of people within India.
All issues of communal-ism, vote bank politics, separatism, proxy wars, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, aside, these festivals, ALL, all of of them have one custom in common: coming together of loved ones, sharing sweets, celebrating with families and friends, exchanging hugs, love and countless smiles. They bind us as Indians, they are our culture and they form a major part of our united Nationalism.
Festivals are not occasions to mix social and political problems with. They are the one thing even the most frustrated and pessimistic Indian holds close to his heart.
Maybe we do have to take steps to curb situations of fooled marriages and relationships of non Muslim girls with some Muslim guys. But Navratri celebrations are not the grounds for that. There are solutions for preventing this from happening but this step is not justified.
There are too many good Muslims in this nation. Of the second largest number of people to follow Islam in the world, most (and a very large most) are also proud Indians, who swear by their friends and are invited to every festival or occasion that their neighbors - whatever faith they are - may host. Also, we Indians love to dance, and some part of the population was just deprived from enjoying that.
This restriction was put in only some places, in my knowledge, two districts. But it did happen. And it is sad. If I had a Muslim friend in that city, I would have loved to invite him for dandiya. I am thinking about the people who actually missed out going because of this. Who is to blame when negative and bitter feelings rise in their hearts. They were just given one more reason to feel unwelcome and unwanted.
These very leaders need to be told the story of Good over Evil again. They need to be shown what they are doing is going to, in the long (or short?) run, have worse effects that they claim to be avoiding. They need to be sat down in classrooms and told that they must not be resorting to creating malice in the hearts of the Muslim population when this is the exact time to be at harmony with it. India needs to reassure these citizens of hers that they are very much her part, and needs to stop looking at them with suspicious eyes all the time...
That little group on the road had nothing stopping it from celebrating Navratri.. I don't know nor care who they are. For me they are a beautiful spectacle of Indianness..
Yesterday near Market yard in Pune, there came together some 15 to 20 people, on the main road, occupying half the lane, a small speaker kept on a chair on the side was playing the Dandiya version of 'Suhaana safar aur ye mausam haseen'. The people were of all ages: some wearing lungis; little girls and boys with patched clothes and no footwear. Holding wooden sticks in both hands this group of people had formed a neat circle and with some simple and synchronized steps were having a dandiya raas. In the middle of the road, yes!
Those smiles and the laughter touched me so fast, my tired face split into a wide smile without my brain having the slightest idea!
They don't need big lawns, they don't need the orchestra. Hell! they don't need any costumes or decorated dandiyas! And best of all, they don't need to tell their religion to anyone.
A person passing by them would not even care to wonder what religion these people might be. They were simply a few people who wished to dance with the two sticks and the dhol. And their own faiths do not restrict them from doing so.
In some parts of our country, a few elected leaders decided Muslim men could not attend any venues having Navratri Dandiya and garba celebrations. They apparently would hunt down innocent girls and make them victims of the dreaded Love Jihad conspiracy
It made me sad. The threats of 'Love Jihad' and conspiracies of the like may be true. But existence of such elements does to give sense to the idea of restricting people of one particular religion for festivals which have for centuries brought all people together, irrespective of their formal faith of worship.
Festivals of India: Navratri, Diwali, Christmas, Ramzan Eid, Baisakhi, Lori, Pateti, Chaturmaas, Onam, Pongal.. This list could well take the rest of the page.. well, these are festivals of INDIA, not of any one particular separate group of people within India.
All issues of communal-ism, vote bank politics, separatism, proxy wars, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, aside, these festivals, ALL, all of of them have one custom in common: coming together of loved ones, sharing sweets, celebrating with families and friends, exchanging hugs, love and countless smiles. They bind us as Indians, they are our culture and they form a major part of our united Nationalism.
Festivals are not occasions to mix social and political problems with. They are the one thing even the most frustrated and pessimistic Indian holds close to his heart.
Maybe we do have to take steps to curb situations of fooled marriages and relationships of non Muslim girls with some Muslim guys. But Navratri celebrations are not the grounds for that. There are solutions for preventing this from happening but this step is not justified.
There are too many good Muslims in this nation. Of the second largest number of people to follow Islam in the world, most (and a very large most) are also proud Indians, who swear by their friends and are invited to every festival or occasion that their neighbors - whatever faith they are - may host. Also, we Indians love to dance, and some part of the population was just deprived from enjoying that.
This restriction was put in only some places, in my knowledge, two districts. But it did happen. And it is sad. If I had a Muslim friend in that city, I would have loved to invite him for dandiya. I am thinking about the people who actually missed out going because of this. Who is to blame when negative and bitter feelings rise in their hearts. They were just given one more reason to feel unwelcome and unwanted.
These very leaders need to be told the story of Good over Evil again. They need to be shown what they are doing is going to, in the long (or short?) run, have worse effects that they claim to be avoiding. They need to be sat down in classrooms and told that they must not be resorting to creating malice in the hearts of the Muslim population when this is the exact time to be at harmony with it. India needs to reassure these citizens of hers that they are very much her part, and needs to stop looking at them with suspicious eyes all the time...
That little group on the road had nothing stopping it from celebrating Navratri.. I don't know nor care who they are. For me they are a beautiful spectacle of Indianness..
