To know India, know its festivals

It’s amazing how each of our festivals represent mythology’s leap into modern times, an epic’s entry into our lives. The people of Ayodhya were eagerly awaiting Rama’s return from Lanka, so he could be coronated after 14 years of vanvaas, which actually turned out to be an exercise in national integration, since there is hardly any region in India that does not lay claim to having welcomed the peripatetic king in exile.

I have with me a recent Hindi publication, Janh Janh Rama Charan Chali Jaanhi, by Dr Ramavatar Sharma, a Ramayana scholar who has catalogued the names, along with photographs, of 214 places across India where temples or ponds commemorate its protagonist’s itinerary. I have heard people even in the Andamans contending that their island’s name is derived from Hanuman. Rama’s loyal sevak is said to have flown there in search of some medicinal herb that would cure Laxman, who was wounded in battle. When Rama, Sita and Laxman returned to Ayodhya, its residents lit rows of lamps to welcome them. That, the victory of good over evil, is believed to be the origin of Diwali.

I am writing about Diwali for another reason. A reader sent me a critical comment about a line — ‘Yeh to limited logon ki Diwali hai’ — that appeared in my column last week. It metaphorically described how the current stockmarket boom has further enriched the superrich, while leaving the poor, even small investors, untouched.

“Do you mean to say,” asked the reader, “that the poor do not celebrate Diwali just because the Sensex surge brings no gains to them? The rich-poor divide in India has always existed, but it hasn’t affected ordinary people’s participation in festivals.”

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