We, the Indians, as students, kept writing in our essays "Our country is the country of festivities, where each day of the year is celebrated as festival, either in one part of the country or the other".
When we refer to festivals, they are widely accepted, an expressive way to celebrate glorious heritage, culture and traditions. They are meant to rejoice the special moments and emotions in our lives with our loved ones, adding an structure to our social lives and also connecting us with our families and backgrounds.
Out of the numerous festivals we celebrate in India, few of them like Karwachauth, Teej, Savitri Poornima Kokilavrat, Savitri Nonbu Vritham, are specifically celebrated and performed by hindu women, in various parts of the country. These festivals are said to be performed by women for longevity of life and wellness of husbands avoiding food and water and worshipping the deities.
Many of us are advocating, these particular festivals as a sign of patriarchy, where the male community of the society gets the upper hand but wait a minute, here I am not going to neither defend the patriarchy nor going to buzz on detoxification and choice theory for fasting and celebration of these festivities.
I certainly agree that the origin of the festivals were definitely the part of patriarchy, where the women of the houses used to pray for the life longevity of the husbands, which was not applicable for men. Adding to it, women were forced to perform Sati, if the husband dies or forced to live the most difficult life with a concept of forbidden happiness.
It all started with a caregiving and nurturing attributes of the women and protector and provider attributes of men, which later became stereotypes and further developed into taboos.
But, in last two to three decades we saw drastic changes and much of work has been done towards the abolishing of this evil traditions and taboos of the society..
I admit, as of now, a very small fraction of the society which includes both men and women, could understand and consider, the patriarchy as a malign element of the society and working towards its eradication, but at least, there is a silver lining in the clouds.
Now coming to the festivities in question, we see, here also things are taking turn for e.g. spouses are also keeping fast, helping in household chores and cultural activities, which will make the path towards smashing the essence of patriarchy.
Although, the numbers are very less and just like a drop in the ocean, but if we look for a change, we have to acknowledge and understand that ultimately the drops makes the ocean and thus look for the bright side of the things.
Well, since I am writing this column, it doesn't mean, I believe in this longevity concept otherwise, Indian men would have the highest life expectancy in the world, which is not.
But I do believe in the prayers and positivity, which is the soul of any festival, we celebrate. During the celebrations when each and every member of the family participates, the entire energy of the house is working towards the thought of wishing, wellness and happiness of the family. And as rightly said by our ancient gurus, as per the Law of Attraction, the power of the mind translates whatever is in our thoughts and materialize them into reality, we may bring peace, positivity and blissfulness in the family
So, instead of dissolving the spirit of the festivals in the name of patriarchy and feminism, we should celebrate these festivals like any other festivals. We need not to follow the rituals as rules and should maintain a state of mind where we can mould the rituals, as per our capacity and choice.
Let the feminism, be there for empowering women while making peace with the other elements of the society including the festivals and let us not limit the festivals, the heart of our culture, to just patriarchy.
Nice blog. Very well written