On festivals and rituals

‘Did you light oil lamps for Karthigai?’, asked a concerned MIL over skype, yesterday. A shrill sounding yes was my reply. Again, ‘Did you wear a new clothe while lighting those lamps?’ Again, a disinterested yes was my reply. She would have guessed I wouldn’t have done either just with my tone and thank God that stopped her from asking the next obvious question – Did you make the pori and kadalai urundais?

Honestly, I am such a sucker at these so-called-traditions. Practically, it is okay to follow the rituals if we have the luxuries of time and comfort. But then, we live in a land where the husband works round the clock on most of these festival days. And with me, who is just chasing both these fortunes of time and comfort even to complete my cooking, cleaning and baby-sitting routines, it is such a herculean task to even think of festivities.  But that is just the practical side to this.

Theoretically though, my belief stands elsewhere. Why exactly did festivals originate? My two cents on this. Those days, money wasn’t as much in abundance as we have now. New clothes were few and far between and eventually landed up in the households only on such festive occasions. Those were not days where sweets and savouries were available at local stores as we have them now. So, festivals were marked days to make such snacks at home and savour them. Atleast, as much as I have researched about TamBrahm traditions, there is never a sweet or snack that is repeated during the year on two festival occasions! Not many people ventured overseas those days and hence, these festivals served as a platform for people to meet and socialise. And yes.. We do attach a mythological connotation, calling it either a Naragasura or Kali or Shiva, just as a reason to celebrate. And then, there were certain facts and scientific reasons behind all this when they were conceived, but have in due course of time become null and void with the technological and climatic changes. Above all, festivals were a great source of happiness! But is it the same today?

We have money in abundance, new clothes enter the household every other day, some ‘X’ ‘Y’ sweet shop is found in every street corner, children and siblings are in far off lands and much else has changed. When my MIL asked about Karthigai, I could only giggle within myself. Apart from reasons such as Shiva showing up as a ‘jothi’ in Tiruvannamalai or the Tamizh month of ‘Karthigai’ being the birth month of Lord Muruga, the logical reason which appeals to me could be either of these – The month of ‘Karthigai’ is the coldest month of the Tamizh calender and hence lamps were lit for making the atmosphere warmer. And, it generally gets dark earlier than usual during this month and hence our ancestors chose to light up lamps at the gates for passers by to view the path. But, with street lights (burning or not!) rooted every ten feet and room heaters in almost all homes, not to forget the global-warming threats, is this festival still relevant? And how does it matter to me sitting completely on the other side of the globe? Does it bring the so-called happiness at all?

Culture is a very ‘happening’ word all of us are talking about these days. May be, there is a thought that I am not ‘culturally inclined’ (which I am actually not!) It was our culture for a married woman to wear a 9-yard-saree, to use those obsolete ‘kallorals’ for making idli batter, to use chimney lamps for lighting the house, and so much more. If we can now resort to jeans and tees, blenders and electrical lamps for our own comfort, then why insist on only a part of the ancestral stuff calling them ‘culture’? BTW, who makes these ‘universal’ rules? I am not a person who says a strict no-no to celebration. After all, this life itself is meant to be celebrated. All I am trying to do is reason out whether the idea behind the celebration is still valid. And may be, put in some relaxations in the rituals to suit the current scheme of things.

To me, the true meaning of the term ‘festival’ is just plain ‘happiness’. So, the entire activity becomes meaningless if the true spirit in it is lost. If such happiness turns into a mere hassle and more so, a hardship, I am sure I shall never be game for it!

P.S. - Every other festival and ritual need to be questioned based on facts and its relevance as of date. I have used ‘Karthigai’ here, just as an example. Otherwise, I have absolutely nothing against lighting lamps. The sight of lighted lamps is a visual treat and are, a joy to watch, aren’t they?