Diwali: An ironical festival: why do we celebrate it?!!!

Diwali Time is here again. It’s the time people go crazy in India. It is the time when a lot of Hindu deities did a lot of great stuff incidentally in this particular time of the year which gives lots of Indians, who worship different Ista devatas and in the case of Islam, no devata but the formless Allah. However, as far as my limited knowledge of Indian Mythology goes, the story which is most familiar for me to understand the significance of a particular festival of Diwali in North India, is the comeback of King Ram Chandra along with his sibling Lakshman and wife Sita after 14 years of exile to claim his thrown in Ayodhya from his dutiful brother Bharat, who fulfilled the King's responsibility in his absence. The fateful day of their return in antiquity was marked by a natural obstacle of the arrival time coinciding with a night of Amavasya (a moonless light). In the absence of the moonlight, every house in the city of Ayodhya lit several lights (via dias) and the reception was brilliantly lit. The infrastructural set up under Bharat's leadership along with the support of the citizens of the kingdom resulted in a night to remember.

As it so happened, the period of exile just mentioned included participation in a war which has now been symbolised as the victory of ‘good over evil.’ A case of honour killing of Lord Ravana is also celebrated in India few days before Diwali. For those who might not know, Ravana was an evil genius who abducted Ram's wife Sita in an attempt to defend the honour of his sister who was incidentally insulted by Ram's brother, Lakshman. This insult had resulted in a physical injury, so I guess, physical assault by men on women was not unheard of even back then. So basically a mythological feud resulted in a war which was won by Ram and his supporters. Every year on Dusshera, an ‘inhuman act of burning someone’....sorry....’the inhuman act of burning three persons at stake’ is recreated when Ravan and his two companions, a brother and a son, are burned around 6 pm in the evening as the sun goes down. People find nothing derogatory,  immoral or sadistic in such celebrations. I don’t think that even Hitler, undoubtedly one of the most hateful character in entire history is celebrated with such vigour even though all might remember that day mentioned on history books when he committed suicide.   And while I might even submit to an interpretation of Dushera being a good event, (if someone exhausts me into accepting defeat by being over-zealous about this event being the best example of victory over good over evil),  Diwali is still hard to similarly digest.

My objection is based on what followed Diwali, which people tend to forget. Lord Ram, who fought a kingdom run by supposed 'demons' to rescue his rightful wife, separated from his wife, who by the way, also happened to be pregnant at the time, when questions were raised about the chastity of the tainted queen due to the time she spent in a foreign land under the reign of a man other than her husband during her abduction. The dutiful Ram, who ironically trusted his wife, left his feelings aside and sacrificed by leaving his pregnant wife. Celebration of a day when all was rosy for the couple who had returned after years of obstacles and difficulties seems justifiable. However, the joy turns sour after reflecting on the outcome of that marriage. What finally did become of Ram-Sita? To interpret this mythical story in contemporary terms, celebrating Diwali is akin to celebrating a significant memory for a couple who ultimately did not end up together. No matter how beautiful a relationship is, no matter how true love is, when the relationship is mentioned in past tense, memories turn bitter-sweet. Celebrating Diwali is like celebrating a special event for a couple after their break-up. Any normal person with reasonable amount of emotional quotient will agree that such celebrations are indeed in very bad taste. Forget the contemporary example, I shudder to empathize with our 'Sita' of antiquity, the single mother who tried to raise the King's twin, must have had to go through each year on Diwali. If Diwali has been celebrated every year from the year when Ram-Sita returned to Ayodhya, then Sita would have had to go through an emotional turmoil any heartbroken girl who loved and lost would feel thinking about the memories of a special day of a past relationship. So, in retrospect, celebrating Diwali is just so cruel.

Again, to think about Diwali in terms of contemporary vocabulary, let’s say, our country hosted a magnanimous event, Olympic games or marriage of two very important Indians, and the government invested a lot of money on decorations and infrastructural advantages for the day, I doubt, whether we will feel it necessary to attempt to re-enact such an extravagant event. What you might do, is recall, 'remember, that wedding was so memorable because of the food, the lighting, clothes.' That is where we would stop. But we don’t for Diwali, do we?

Last year, my reasons to get annoyed by the paraphernalia of Diwali were different. I mean, the separation of Ram-Sita was also on the back of my mind but it is not something most Right wing Hindus are even mature enough to hear. Anyhow, previously, the reasons which I voiced out were economical.  I remember having argued that festival time is a season of wasteful activities of gift giving, shopping, extra traffic and a lot on the pockets of people who do regular jobs, most of whom don't get a hike in salary or diwali bonuses during this festival season. Festivals do not let them budget the way such people would have done otherwise. I remember somebody arguing, saying, it is a time when the average working guy, the picture of whom I seemed to have painted, is capable of buying several things, because of special diwali discounts. I was also told that festivals give a reason for people to celebrate and that gift giving during this season doesn't raise any suspicions. I had counter argued that people should not wait for festivals to celebrate and that gift giving during Diwali always have social prejudices. A person might have spent some good amount of money on a Diwali gift. The recipient might not appreciate it much and take it for granted, thinking, 'of course, I deserve a gift on Diwali. I will reciprocate accordingly. Perhaps I can keep this gift I have received to re-gift someone else I don't want to buy a gift for, but still entertain.' The value of a gift which is becomes necessary in social situations is not as much as the value of a gift given for no particular reason.

The only thing that I find is commendable on Diwali was Bharat and the common citizens’ efforts to light up a place on a moonless night. What they did at that time was perhaps an achievement at that point in history. Now, fortunately, it’s not required. There are other achievements which me can celebrate. (But no, we continue celebrating burning someone to death and a good day in the life of a couple who ultimately separated.) On Diwali, if I have to give credit to anyone or respect anyone, it would be Bharat, who  I hear, was a wonderful Vice President to the President (so to speak) for the kingdom advanced and developed in terms of economics and infrastructure while the righteous king went on an exile and ended up costing more to the kingdom by engaging in a war over a family feud.  Unfortunately, in all these years of having been present in India during Diwali celebrations this event against my better judgment, not once did I ever find a figurine of Bharat. The market is flooded with figurines of Ram, Sita, Ganesh and Lakshmi but there is no space for Bharat(the good man) in Bhaarat(the country). And while I have nothing against Ganesh or Lakshmi, (for I am not aware of an obvious problem in their mythological story line) I frankly have no respect of a deity called Ram. And Sita just reminds me of a wronged heartbroken single mother who was the punching pillow for a horrible, indifferent and insensitive society, I'd rather not remember.