Diwali brings about a special ambience, happiness, peace, camaraderie within each of us. We are sure that readers of Cityblog are excited about upcoming Diwali festival. In special theme of Now and Then where we look upon what are the key points we remember Diwali thoughout our memories since childhood.
History and Mythology: Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom of Ayodhya after defeating (the demon king) Ravana, the ruler of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana. It also celebrates the slaying of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna. Both signify the victory of good over evil. Sociologically it was the time to celebrate four months of toil of farming and celebrating agricultural success. Historically Diwali has been celebrated all over India in various formats. Here in Pune it is spread over six days. There are historical references of celebration during Shivaji era as well as in peshwa era. In famine ridden old days of bristish empire, people needed occasions to celebrate and most importantly eat well. Faral items were made only during diwali in the entire year. Now we can eat Chakli, ladoos anytime. New clothes were bought only once a year in diwali Pre independence days saw emergence of cultural social agenda in form of Diwali magazines. Post independence crackers got prominence as well as cultural programs like music shows drama. In post liberalization era, cracker menace was identified and also a phenomenon called Diwali Pahat gained popularity.
Let us now highlight each phenomenon unique in its association with Diwali Memoirs for atleast pst 3 generations and current one.
Holidays: One semester is over and schools break after a Diwali party, for Diwali vacations of 3weeks to allow students enjoy diwali as well travel. Some schools give homework which is spoilsport. But that does not dampen spirit of chidren and parents
Nature: Rains normally subside (last two years being exception), Nature takes its own course. There is typical aroma of seasonal flowers and air. Mornings and evenings are chillier with day moderate. I am sure most people associate that aroma of nature with Diwali.
Faral aroma: Another aroma paves way thorugh kitchens all over Pune, is smell of faral items mostly fried. Chivda, ladoo, chakli , karanji etc. Chakli being king of farals as its success defines total faral to be good or average. We kids used to love tasting samples freshly made braving few scolds from parents/grandparents/aunts
Killa and akashkandil; Once we had vacations, we used to plan structure of our clay fort. It used to be a mixture of modern city scape with old shivaji era forts. In one shot you can have four wheelers plying on road where shivaji and his soldiers used to be placed atop the fort and lord Shankar in cave with tiger. Clay idols were really attractive. Getting clay is becoming a task in concrete jungle. Its also time to make/buy an akashkandil or light to be hung from balconies/window. Some people do extensive lighting. That creates ambience.
Vasubaras: That’s the first day of diwali. Only part of celebration is puja of cow and her calf organized by some local politico. But it marks the beginning of festivities.
Dhanteras: Its lady’s Diwali. That’s also mark puja of dhan (money) and dhannya (grains): symbols of wellbeing.
First Cracker of morning: then comes the thirds day of narak chaturdashi. There used to be a competition where someone who lights first cracker of morning say at 4 am is winner. Nowa days cracker menace is identified rightfully so this tradition needs some bypass but idea is to maybe write the first rangoli or something.
Rangoli is drawn in every household on everyday. Creatively inclined are popular in Diwali
Abhyngsnan: You can associate Utne (multani soil), Fragrant Oil and Moti soap with this. All men folk are massaged and idea is to take bath before first rays of sun else you will get into narak (hell) .This was some threat for young ones .
Sarasbaug: After abhyangsnan, idea is to go the dev darshan or a temple. Sarasbaug was is immensely popular for its ambience. Everybody decked up in new clothes, a good sight seeing.
Faral with friends: On return, most families have traditional get-togethers to have joint faral where the faral quality was put to test. It also used to be marked with jointly viewing special programs on TV or some Marathi play VCD. I remember PL ‘s Varyyavarchi Varat on DD. Gone are those days.
Diwali Ank: getting to sleep in afternoon is must after early rise. Best way is to relax and read diwali special magazines. Good literary stuff.
Laxmi Pooja and Haldikunku: This is the fourth day . This is when goddess laxmi pooja is done. We can remember a lot of fire crackers in eighties and nineties where there used to be competition to light biggest cracker. Great noise pollution and decibel levels were really high. All lights were lighted up and ladies used to have haldikunku.
Diwali Pahat/cultural programs: Post liberalization era identified need of people to be involved in culture, music and drama. Thus a line up of programs was held and there was enthusiastic response for such shows. Nowadays these shows are held abroad also.
Deepotsav: Mjor temples, gardens are now lit up with earthen lamps in formation. It’s a sight to watch.
Padwa: This is fifth day. Here there is big lunch with a sweet dish. This also is time for husband to gift his wife. First diwali after marriage is very important and son in law gets gifts.
Bhaubij: This is sixth and last day. Now its sisters time to be gifted from brother.
Travel Plans: Diwali vacations had a window for those who could travel to faraway destinations like north /south or near destinations like Konkan/Mahabaleshwar. Also was opportunity to go to relative’s house outside town.
Cricket: Time to play and watch cricket as this new cricket season starts in Oct.
Charity: Some people do real good work to donate faral, colthes etc for needy. This angle of celebration has caught up.
There are some post diwali rituals like Dev Diwali or Tushi marriage which are not so wide spread. But Diwali season and vacations end with bright Tripuri Pournima leaving behind great memories and leave us longing for next Diwali. Wish you very happy diwali and prosperous new year.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
If gods were cricketers
Indian cricket team is ruling roost esp with current victory snatched from a defeat at Mohali. With VVS Laxman as hero.I read a cartoon where people demanded temple of Laxman to be undisputed in backdrop of Ram Temple issue. Thats led me to a train of thoughts. pls note i do not want to create any religious controversy nor i intend to insult gods. If Gods in heaven form a cricket team whose T shirt will they wear?
In India there is cliche. Criket is our religion and players are Gods. But here its reverse.
Lord Ganesha: He is opener. He is attacking. He removes all obstacles. He is master of arts. All evil fear him. So he has be Sehwag
Lort Kartik; Brother of ganesha, equally capable. But remains not so prominent; he is gambhir
Now comes trinity in the middle order: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh
He is creator, he created world , with whom everything starting, he cannot be created nor be destroyed. He remains on and on and on.. He is Tendulkar
He is saviour of world. He faces most trickiest solutions. he ends up winner in every incarnation. He is maryada purshottam, he is dravid
He is destructor, powerful , iconoclast, listens only to his own guts, he is ganguly
Where is Laxman: He is shesha. Accompanying vishnu in every incarnation. Remains sidelined. equally capable. creates great partnerships with vishnu (Kolkata, adelaide).
Now comes the king indra, dhoni; Leader on basis of his team of gods. Lucky, simple, has his own strengths like vajra.
we all know powers of nature. so they bowl out opposition
Suryadev: Bhajji with hot attitude and scorches opposition with spin
Varundev: Zaheer destructive yet productive
Vayudev: Ishant with pace and lightness. His putra Saved Laxman using sanjeevani booti like in mohali.
Agnidev: Shreeshant with fiery attidute and dance.
Yamdev: silent death : kumble with knack to kill opposition and yet be friendly. yam has most important role to maintain balance of life and death.
last pair of ashwini kr can be our spin twins ozha and mishra. they were twins. they were doctors. Here our pair doctors spin.
i think i have most gods covered . i know there are 33 crores of gods but search vedas or refer to any mythological serial list ends here. if experts know more, pls suggest.
oh kamdev i forgot; that has to be yuvraj....
thanks team india for all winning moments
In India there is cliche. Criket is our religion and players are Gods. But here its reverse.
Lord Ganesha: He is opener. He is attacking. He removes all obstacles. He is master of arts. All evil fear him. So he has be Sehwag
Lort Kartik; Brother of ganesha, equally capable. But remains not so prominent; he is gambhir
Now comes trinity in the middle order: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh
He is creator, he created world , with whom everything starting, he cannot be created nor be destroyed. He remains on and on and on.. He is Tendulkar
He is saviour of world. He faces most trickiest solutions. he ends up winner in every incarnation. He is maryada purshottam, he is dravid
He is destructor, powerful , iconoclast, listens only to his own guts, he is ganguly
Where is Laxman: He is shesha. Accompanying vishnu in every incarnation. Remains sidelined. equally capable. creates great partnerships with vishnu (Kolkata, adelaide).
Now comes the king indra, dhoni; Leader on basis of his team of gods. Lucky, simple, has his own strengths like vajra.
we all know powers of nature. so they bowl out opposition
Suryadev: Bhajji with hot attitude and scorches opposition with spin
Varundev: Zaheer destructive yet productive
Vayudev: Ishant with pace and lightness. His putra Saved Laxman using sanjeevani booti like in mohali.
Agnidev: Shreeshant with fiery attidute and dance.
Yamdev: silent death : kumble with knack to kill opposition and yet be friendly. yam has most important role to maintain balance of life and death.
last pair of ashwini kr can be our spin twins ozha and mishra. they were twins. they were doctors. Here our pair doctors spin.
i think i have most gods covered . i know there are 33 crores of gods but search vedas or refer to any mythological serial list ends here. if experts know more, pls suggest.
oh kamdev i forgot; that has to be yuvraj....
thanks team india for all winning moments
Ayodhya Verdict : A monumental Opportunity
Last week whole India waited with baited breath for Ayodhya Verdict. Finally it came as a big suprise for many. For once law went beyond the irrelevant minor technicalities and delivered a solution, which seems to be only way out of this mess created by interested parties (say politicians , leaders cross the spectrum starting from Babar himself, followed by bristishers, congress and BJP).
Following the verdict, i could not wait to analyze reactions to the verdict from all parties involved, armchair philosophers and usual suspect crowd. and i was totally disappointed. No politician in country has guts to stand out of crowd and make sense to public. let me explain
firstly issue like Ayodhya cannot be solved using normal civil court procedures. Its matter of coexistance and tolerance. If No one party can remain victor or loser, Then only the solution can evolve. I have heard from wakf board claiming that land belonged to them and events in 1949 and 1992 created dispute. This stand has certain limitations as its virtully beyond court to reaffirm what happenend in 15th century or for that matter to go and ascertain birth place of almighty. The issue has to be solved with a view beyond the myopic and convenient positions taken by so called secular parties and media.
It has been historically witnessed that victors always went on stamping the humiliation on losers. babar was no saint, he was a plain invader. That is a fact. So majority community could get attracted to sentiments aroused by sangh parivar to this basis that they wanted to be part in restoring their pride. That does not though justify sangh Parivars thought process which denies existance and rights of 20% of population. That also is myopic version of saffornization. you need to coexist with 20% population. Minorities also should feel themselves to be part of mainstream and stop feeling alienated or pampered out of political equations. In fact this factorial politics played by Congress and other opportunists has resulted in the poverty and misery of Muslim population. They should see themselves equal and take benefit of modern education, economical opportunities in India (to which whole world is attracted to) and assert their rights rather than always look to create arbic indentity always as outsider and the feeling of being victimized.
So Court which was the last establishment to solve this. It sincerely tried to resolve matters by giving out of box solution. Leaders and politicians etc failed conveniently as it was in their interest to let the confict remain unresolved.
Court has tried sincerely, went with its limitations and delivered a super verdict which paves way for coexistance and conciliation. Each party should now accept others existance as per directive and once for all resolve this tricky issue. I know we are not done yet. SC might over turn this and that will be a disaster. I sincerly hope matter does not go the SC which by all means will. I really pray equally to Ram and Rahim to give sense to all parties and let us live peacefully. Its a golden opportunity.
But i had fun watching reactions from so called secular faces criticizing court. Had the decision been reverse they would have claimed court to be untouchble and any criticism would have been sacrelage. Even some media stawarts were busy explaining how decision is wrong etc etc. Media always has taken convenient position . worst were snakes like Samajwadis who went beserk. There is no reason for Muslims to feel dissapointed as they should understand that it has given them rights as well. Coexistance and tolerance are key words here. And There is no reason for Hindus to feel jubiliated as again here coexistance and tolerance is key. No one has lost and no one has gained. Perfect balance and sanity is restore. I hope SC does not tumble this applecart. cannot afford to go back to 92/93.....
Following the verdict, i could not wait to analyze reactions to the verdict from all parties involved, armchair philosophers and usual suspect crowd. and i was totally disappointed. No politician in country has guts to stand out of crowd and make sense to public. let me explain
firstly issue like Ayodhya cannot be solved using normal civil court procedures. Its matter of coexistance and tolerance. If No one party can remain victor or loser, Then only the solution can evolve. I have heard from wakf board claiming that land belonged to them and events in 1949 and 1992 created dispute. This stand has certain limitations as its virtully beyond court to reaffirm what happenend in 15th century or for that matter to go and ascertain birth place of almighty. The issue has to be solved with a view beyond the myopic and convenient positions taken by so called secular parties and media.
It has been historically witnessed that victors always went on stamping the humiliation on losers. babar was no saint, he was a plain invader. That is a fact. So majority community could get attracted to sentiments aroused by sangh parivar to this basis that they wanted to be part in restoring their pride. That does not though justify sangh Parivars thought process which denies existance and rights of 20% of population. That also is myopic version of saffornization. you need to coexist with 20% population. Minorities also should feel themselves to be part of mainstream and stop feeling alienated or pampered out of political equations. In fact this factorial politics played by Congress and other opportunists has resulted in the poverty and misery of Muslim population. They should see themselves equal and take benefit of modern education, economical opportunities in India (to which whole world is attracted to) and assert their rights rather than always look to create arbic indentity always as outsider and the feeling of being victimized.
So Court which was the last establishment to solve this. It sincerely tried to resolve matters by giving out of box solution. Leaders and politicians etc failed conveniently as it was in their interest to let the confict remain unresolved.
Court has tried sincerely, went with its limitations and delivered a super verdict which paves way for coexistance and conciliation. Each party should now accept others existance as per directive and once for all resolve this tricky issue. I know we are not done yet. SC might over turn this and that will be a disaster. I sincerly hope matter does not go the SC which by all means will. I really pray equally to Ram and Rahim to give sense to all parties and let us live peacefully. Its a golden opportunity.
But i had fun watching reactions from so called secular faces criticizing court. Had the decision been reverse they would have claimed court to be untouchble and any criticism would have been sacrelage. Even some media stawarts were busy explaining how decision is wrong etc etc. Media always has taken convenient position . worst were snakes like Samajwadis who went beserk. There is no reason for Muslims to feel dissapointed as they should understand that it has given them rights as well. Coexistance and tolerance are key words here. And There is no reason for Hindus to feel jubiliated as again here coexistance and tolerance is key. No one has lost and no one has gained. Perfect balance and sanity is restore. I hope SC does not tumble this applecart. cannot afford to go back to 92/93.....
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