Lokmanya Tilak, one of India's prominent freedom fighter, had a smart way of gathering crowds and starting protests. India is a country home to a number of Gods and Lokmanya Tilak used this to his advantage. He started a festival called Ganesh Chathurthi or Ganeshutsav where he would erect mandals with statues of Lord Ganesha inside and people would flock to these mandals to worship the god of wisdom. It was an excuse to gather people and explain to them their role in India's fight for freedom and how they should play their part! An excellent idea which sure did wonders.
Its the month of September, and huge mandals are being erected on busy roads, in small lanes, to house Lord Ganesha for 10 days. Ganesh Chathurthi is still 9 days away, but the mandals are being prepared in full zest. So the lord still hasn't arrived, but these mandals are built, blocking two lanes of a three lane road. Well this road is blocked, let me go try another route, but (not) to my surprise, there is a mandal there too, and now that two lane road which I took to avoid the traffic jam on the three lane road, has become a one lane road, and I am not going to make it to work on time or in time for my movie, date, match or my favorite tv show! That's not it my friend, there is more to this festival than meets the eye! On the fourth or fifth day of the festival, Lord Ganesha's parents, Lord Shiva and Parvati, come to pay him a visit. So they too are welcomed and got to the mandals and placed there and next day his parents leave and they are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing, singing, and fanfare to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off; symbolizing more traffic, more noise pollution and much more of me missing dinner with my family. But well, its done in the name of God, so all political parties, police men and other governmental bodies are helping these processions, after all they might be "blessed" with a few extra votes. Moreover, Lord Ganesha can leave after one and half days, three days, seven days or after 10 days! So on all of these days, there is going to be a procession taking him through the streets, along with him, loud speakers, people dancing and throwing colors around. So if you are not participating in the ritual, even if you are an atheist, it doesn't matter, you are going to be pulled into the celebrations! Now comes the worst part of the so called festival done to welcome God. Each of the mandals are made by collecting hafta, or in decent words donations from all the people living in that locality and if you refuse to pay this "donation" the same people who are erecting the mandal and preparing to bring in god, might just force the hafta out of you in a rather unfriendly manner. Knowingly or unknowingly you are paying for the celebration of a festival backed by the local government body, and you might not even want to be a part of it! But you dare not rise up against it, or try to provide a more workable solution which will ease the flow of traffic, crowd and all the processions, because you are rising up against thousands of people who blindly believe in the festival and are doing it to keep their god happy! The very same thousand people, who for 10 days will perform various poojas for their god and on the very 11th day get back to spitting on the road, beating their wives up after consuming excessive volumes of alcohol, forcing their kids to drop out of school just so that they can work and get extra money in the house! You would be protesting against the media, who backs the festivals, has competitions and rewards the mandal with the best statue of the lord. Why reward the mandal?? I have also paid for the statue through the hafta they collected, give me a part of the prize money, put my name and photo in the paper!
So what initially started off as an excuse to fight freedom, has now become a commercial festival causing inconvenience, dirtier roads, beaches, water pollution and noise pollution.
Adding to the misery, this is just one festival. This month also includes the Bandra Fair which is held every year near the Mount Mary Church, causing the very same problems Ganesh Chathurhi is responsible for. Also it is the month of Pajushan for the Jains who for 10 days are going to sacrifice everything that gives them satisfaction, food, movies, alcohol, cigarettes etc and on the very 11th day go back to their normal everyday lives which involves substance abuse. But I have to sacrifice another year of cleaner roads, beautiful beaches, pedestrians walking on the footpath, traffic free commute. Aah it doesn't matter, the sacrifice is done in the name of god, maybe someday we will be rewarded and blessed by him coming to the earth for 15 days instead of 10, maybe my Jain friends will fast for 12 days instead of 10, maybe the Bandra Fair will be a round the year thing with a few more games and rides!
Looking forward to a month of festivities, followed by navratri, dassera, diwali, eid, christmas, holi, patethi...and a lot more. As i have pledged, "I love my country and I am Proud of its rich and varied heritage"
Its been sixty five years since India's freedom, but still every year, in either the month of August or September, whichever is more "auspicious", this festival is still celebrated. The reason given for the celebration now is that Lord Ganesha bestows his presence to his devotees on earth for 10 days. Day 1 known as Ganesh Chathurti and day 10, the day he leaves, known as Anant Chaturdashi. Nothing wrong in believing in God coming to visit you for 10 days and celebrating his arrival. Whats wrong is the manner in which it is done.
So what initially started off as an excuse to fight freedom, has now become a commercial festival causing inconvenience, dirtier roads, beaches, water pollution and noise pollution.
Adding to the misery, this is just one festival. This month also includes the Bandra Fair which is held every year near the Mount Mary Church, causing the very same problems Ganesh Chathurhi is responsible for. Also it is the month of Pajushan for the Jains who for 10 days are going to sacrifice everything that gives them satisfaction, food, movies, alcohol, cigarettes etc and on the very 11th day go back to their normal everyday lives which involves substance abuse. But I have to sacrifice another year of cleaner roads, beautiful beaches, pedestrians walking on the footpath, traffic free commute. Aah it doesn't matter, the sacrifice is done in the name of god, maybe someday we will be rewarded and blessed by him coming to the earth for 15 days instead of 10, maybe my Jain friends will fast for 12 days instead of 10, maybe the Bandra Fair will be a round the year thing with a few more games and rides!
Looking forward to a month of festivities, followed by navratri, dassera, diwali, eid, christmas, holi, patethi...and a lot more. As i have pledged, "I love my country and I am Proud of its rich and varied heritage"
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