THE FESTIVAL OF LIFE
F“The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals.”
— Siddharth Katragadda
estivals are not only celebrations but also the heartbeat of a culture or community. In fact, celebrating festivals is synonymous with keeping one’s culture alive. Apart from the religious and spiritual significance, festivals forge a sense of belonging, common identity and unity among people. They are instrumental in adding joyfulness and zest to everyone’s lives.
Broadly speaking, there are three types of festivals. The first one is a festival celebrating a momentous event in the life of a deity, such as Diwali, which signifies Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya. The second type of festival celebrates a significant event in the life of a holy person, for instance, the birthday of a particular guru. Lastly, there are seasonal festivities, such as Holi, which is a celebration of the spring season. According to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva, ancient India celebrated all 365 days as festivals. It filled exuberance and vivacity in the hearts of the people. The whole culture was in a state of celebration and every day was celebrated, whether it was ploughing day, planting day, weeding day, or harvesting. In the last 500 years, however, India was struck by poverty, which caused all the festivals to diminish. Apparently, only 30 or 40 festivals still remain. What’s worse, in today’s fast-paced life, we only celebrate 8 to 10 festivals annually in the country.
Festivals give us a sense of hope that makes us look forward excitedly to a joyful atmosphere and a sense of togetherness, celebrated with dance and music and by wearing new clothes and eating sumptuous food. In the current scenario, however, with a raging pandemic and the sword of a third wave hanging on our heads, we need to celebrate with a difference — by maintaining social distance and wearing a mask, washing hands and sanitising. Hopefully, we’d celebrate a new festival soon, once we bid a final adieu to this pandemic.
My dear readers, I hope that like me, you keep your culture alive in your heart and enjoy every festival with exuberance and ebullience. In the words of Sadhguru, “If you approach everything in a celebratory way, you learn to be non-serious about life but absolutely involved.”