The Paradox of Onam

From the Onam celebrations at my school today 

Kerala has started Onam celebrations, the most colourful and joyful festival of the state. The schools in the state will be closed for a whole week from tomorrow. Even the government offices will not function for most part of the week. Onam is not just a festival, it is the heartbeat of the people of Kerala. 

The legend that sustains Onam is quite paradoxical. Mahabali, or Maveli as he is affectionately called in Kerala, was an Asura king. He was the paragon of goodness though he belonged to species called demons, Asuras. During his reign there was no corruption whatever. People possessed and practised all good qualities. In short, Kerala was a utopia under Maveli's tutelage. 

The gods became jealous. That's the paradox. Gods who should be happy to see humans living happily in peace and harmony became jealous! None but Vishnu himself decided to decimate the utopia on earth. He took the form of a dwarf named Vamana and deceived Maveli. The greatest king who ever ruled on the earth was expelled from his kingdom by the deception of a god. Another paradox is that the king was an asura, a demon. 

Gods are worse than the a demon in this legend. Onam celebrates the goodness of a demon and keeps gods away for a while. 

Appearances can be deceptive, Onam teaches us. Gods can be deceptive and demons may be far more benign. 

We live in a time which Shakespeare's witches would describe best: fair is foul and foul is fair. What comes garbed as religion is actually hate. The present king of the country travels the world preaching the ideal of One earth, one family, one future, when his devotees are killing whole communities of people who don't subscribe to the king's religious and other affiliations. You can be killed while travelling on a train in this country for something like wearing a skull cap. Your dress matters. Your food does too. Many other things matter too. Your house may be bulldozed if you criticise the king. Your office may be raided. A whole tribe can be dispossessed of their homelands within days in this new utopia under construction. 

It's sad times though we were promised Achche din [Happy days]. 

How do we celebrate in sad times? "In the dark times / Will there also be singing?" Bertolt Brecht asked that question. His answer was: "Yes, there will also be singing. / About the dark times." 

Let Maveli return this year too from the netherworld to which he was sent by the gods. Let us sing about his goodness. Let us celebrate the goodness of a demon if only to remind ourselves of the potential for goodness that we all have, even the demons among us.

PS. This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023