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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Another Ganeshotsav, Need Introspection.

Another Ganeshotsav; am in a reflective mood. Hm. Need introspection. Some "chintan baithak" such as the one the right wingers are doing. Guess introspection has gone sour. Now even Arun Shourie is aiming brickbats at the top brass. Does anyone know what went wrong? I feel Jaswant Singh has been wronged and that he has a right to his opinion. The very concept of democratic dissent is misunderstood in India. I guess the right to democratic dissent is the cornerstone of democracy. I also (rather pompously, after all, who am I in the BJP pecking order?) think the BJP top brass has acted unilaterally without doing much "chintan" in their "baithak."

The singing, the music, the air of festivities, the eating of modaks and sweetmeats, it’s infectious. Yesterday saw this rambunctious crowd throwing red powder, dancing to loud beats of the drums, clanging of cymbals, spilling over the road, stopping traffic, general revelry everywhere. Last Sunday spent the whole day writing in my eyrie on the second floor. What’s so great about that? From this space that is growing to be a favourite haunt I could hear sounds of aartis, songs, a lot of religious reverberations, so to speak. Wonder how everyone names their Ganesha as the area’s “Raja” or king. There’s a CBD cha Raja (CBD’s King) in my locality.

Now I am not against religious celebrations, I say, being a spiritual person myself, we need it for spiritual solace. But has the intensity increased? Colleagues in the office are fasting, keeping the vows made for “Shravan” and then “Shradh” and then “Nav Ratri” and then “Diwali” and then “Bhau Bheej” and then “Laxmi Poojan” and then, so on, and so forth.... (Whew!) How do they do all this? I am amazed. Judging by the money spent in such celebration I wonder how people manage to meet their expenses in these recessionary times. Well, that’s my only worry.

4 comments:

timeforchange said...

hi sir actually in all over the world ,this is happening because it's a foolish world , beside that as a Hindu (belongs to certain lifestyle , not a religion ) it is a way of enjoyment (festivals).to understand more u should join this lifestyle , i m sure u will be enlightened . and u don't have to change ur religion , just join us . and i would like to discuss more .

Unknown said...

Hi Time for change,

Thanks for the comment.

yes I appreciate your view and I actually participate in the Ganesh festivals around my area.

Do come back often!

J

jayesh r chavan said...

mr john

i dont understand what u want to comment exactly.

we people spend lots of money unnecesarily why u r pointing at ganesh utsav for that purpose.

this festival comes once in a year & that to for just 10 days.

keeping fast in sharvan has some meaning.u are not supposed to comment on that.

Unknown said...

Hi Jayesh,

Thanks for your comment. I am not against religious observance of any type. I was asking (when I heard from a friend about her regimen of fasts and religious observance) if the frequency has increased. It's just because I didn't know, to be honest.

I am a spiritual person myself and never will I question another person's faith.

Thanks for your comment :)

J