One of the flames that fluttered on our terrace in Delhi in a Diwali night |
It’s only when
the greetings came via Whatsapp that I realised it was Diwali. Saturday is a holiday anyway and I used it
for completing the works set aside for the day as usual. The work took me to two towns on either side
of my village. There was nothing in
either of the towns to remind one of Diwali.
It was business as usual. Not
even an extra lamp was seen anywhere. No
diyas which were ubiquitous in Delhi where I lived a decade and a half
before I chose the quietness of this village.
No crackers which the Delhiites insisted on calling ‘bombs’ – “bum,” in
fact.
No, I don’t
miss the diyas or the bums. I like this quietness. I love the purity that wafts into my
lungs. I used to conceal myself at home
during both Diwali and Holi while I was in Delhi. Both these festivals are conspicuous by their
absence in Kerala except maybe in the big cities where people from other states
celebrate them.
Another memory |
That makes me
think of the diversity which marks India.
Half of Kerala’s population is Hindu.
But they don’t celebrate the two festivals which hold much charm for
their counterparts in other parts of the country. Perhaps, BJP will import the festivals soon
just as it has already imported gau mata. Beef has all but disappeared from the
state. Probably the Malayali
health-consciousness has more to do with that than BJP.
While I sit
and enjoy the quietness that distils through the night air from a sky stippled
with twinkling stars, let me wish HAPPY DIWALI to my friends in less silent
places. Let me also reassure them that
though we don’t have the Diwali bums
here, we have all the political bums –
a whole array of scams and scandals as raucous as they can get.
Political Bums! Haha that's sure not miss.
ReplyDeleteOur Babu's and Mani's can give the Yadavs of UP and Bihar a run for their money.
DeletePolitical bums ...good one
ReplyDelete☺☺☺
DeleteI didn't realize what a big deal Diwali & Dusserha was until I reached Bangalore. I had been to Bombay few years back, so knew that the Ganesha Visargan festival was huge.
ReplyDeleteIf we wait few years, we will see the evolution of these festivals in Kerala. That is what I think. Then that serene beauty of lit diyas decorating our temples and households will be a story to tell our next generation, replaced by the boom of the firecrackers and the noise.
Yes, there's a high probability of certain varieties of pollution hitting Kerala soon.
Delete