Changing Concepts of Celebrating Indian Festivals

The other day, my father was telling me that back in his school days, festivals meant break from school, time to feast, getting new clothes, toys and catch- up with near and dear ones. Festivals used to be the time when grandparents would be saving up to buy some new things for the house.

But with the passage of time, the advent of globalization and a booming economy have had an impact on the way of our festival celebrations today. Festivals have become a time to flaunt our riches. The celebrations have become more self- centred and have moved miles away from the original traditions. Today money equals happiness. For more money, we need to work more. It would neither be a hard goose chase nor astonishing to find people working on festivals rather spending quality time with the families.

Take an example of Diwali celebrations. When the word ‘D-I-W-A-L-I’ strikes our mind, the things that come to us are a lot of guests, heavy and handsome gifts, new and the costliest crockery for the comers and fireworks. Dushehra has got a similar case. People usually say,”Hum to Ramlila dekhne jaa rahen hain. ”  But in matter-of-fact, their full focus is on gorging ‘gol-gappe’ and taking rides, not exactly on Ramlila. How can one expect words to match actions in these days of Kaliyuga?!!

Coming back to square one, traditional ways of doing pooja, reading out religious books in front of deities etc have taken a backseat now. I still remember the eternal Diwali pooja performed by my late grandfather and also remember how things were done in perfect synergy. Today we are not patient enough to go through all the procedure of performing prayers because of lack of interest. Ironical, isn’t it? We spend hours and hours on bursting crackers!

The day is not far when the main festivals like Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, etc will be celebrated the way as Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Friendship Day etc are celebrated. They will no more hold any greater significance.

We say that change is constant and is always good. But some things are better unchanged like the unwelcome change in the festivals.