Every festival has its own meaning. Diwali for example is the day when good triumphed over evil. Likewise Pongal, the most famous festival of Tamilnadu, marks the beginning of the harvest season. One common feature of all festivals is that they are all national holidays & a chance to see the loved ones. But since the dawn of the IT era in India, I strongly feel that festivals only serve its purpose as a holiday & not as a great family unifier.
Answer me from the bottom of ur heart. How many of U go to our native places to see our relatives these days? Nowadays, festivals are all about watching TV & all those ‘for the first time in the history of Indian Television’ crap. We drag ourselves to the Pooja room for the mandatory Pooja only after mom’s repeated screams. We are too shy to say ‘Pongalo Pongal’, instead rush to the theaters to scream ‘Thalaiva…’. What happened to the nature bather bullock cart rides to the temple? Instead, we prefer the cozy, artificial A/C comfort of our car. We skip ‘Jallikattu’ at the village for WWE or TNA. All those innocent people in the village, with whose prayers we’ll always be, hardly getting to their favorite son of the soil’s face at least once a year. Traditional folk music is replaced by the Trans music of the discos.
This but gives me only one conclusion. ‘In the name of globalization we have not only mortgaged our brains to the west, but also mortgaged our culture.’ We have lost our identity. When are we going to get it back?
