Sree wouldn't have imagined such strong repercussion when he posted his thoughts on Pongala and the innumerable difficulties it brings to the citizens. This snowballed into a barrage of abuses with him being termed as anti-national, anti-hindu, sickular etc. Sree did the wise thing by simply removing the post.
It isn't uncommon these days for the people getting more and more hyper-sensitive about religion. The people have becoe aware and identify with their religios and cultural beliefs which inturn helps them to identify with their nation and fellow citizens. In a way it may be good to prevent a slippage into anarchy, while it becomes more and more difficult to identify yourselves with a neighbour of different ideas and beliefs.
India has always been a religin f spirituality, religion and Gods. Men of power realized that the easiest way to rule is to divide. Back then, in an agrarian society where mutual co-habitation was necessary for survival certain differences were tolerated for survival. Even then the society was not free of racial tension rifling ino riots.
Today in a scenario where individuals become independent in terms of his survival, he can coin his own thoughts irrespective of neighbour. But in an urban setup where physical spaces are less and information sharing takes place in a crazy speed throughout the breadth and width of the society, impact of religion and race could be catastrophic.
A decade ago Pongala was a local festival of the city where women spread out to few kilometeres to cook in the open air. In the eveining it was a prety thing to see the women crowding on public buses to rerach home. Even before that Pogala was a festival the rich household sent their servants to celebrate
Thanks to some marketing gimmicks of the temple and adoption by the media to develope this festival as some sort of cultural wonder plus world record fete, it got hold of public imagination. The film stars flocked into cook pongala in frnt of five star hotels. Various associations started even bigger cooking fetes of breakfast and lunch for the poor darlings. Then the sad truth that Devi would show her displeasure if you don't cook rice for her has made this a huge exhibition of vulgarity. People has to tolerate this show for the sake of national integration and secularism. All the shops and hotels close down. In the evenings over enthusiastic youths thrust cheap sodas into the faces of tired fat aunties. And all the garbage is cleaned out of the city by burning it all up.
Secularism is not tolerating bullshit
1 comment:
It was a business trick and the change came almost overnight. People are either hesitant to accept this fact or else they are afraid whether that would displease the authorities or at the most the Goddess herself.
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