Change is a law of Mother Nature. Today everything has the touch of change including the celebrations and rituals of festivals.
Diwali has also undergone a complete metamorphosis.
The name Diwali itself is supposed to be a transformed form of the more correct word ‘Dipavali’ or ‘Deepavali,’ the literal meaning of which in Sanskrit is a row of lamps. Filling little clay lamps with oil and wick and lighting them in rows all over the house is a tradition that is popular in most regions of India.
Earlier, on the main day, the best part used to be the darkness approaching the night. The ritual of lamp burning used to take quite some time, even the dingiest slum hut used to acquire a glow of the earthen lamp and a traditional festive air of celebration. This was followed by a short prayer to Goddess Lakshmi, the Progenitor of wealth, with one rupee silver coin soaked in milk, few low-tone crackers, ordinary sparklers and rockets launched in empty soda water bottles.
To welcome Lakshmi into their home, people used to make floor designs of Lotus, the seat of Lakshmi at the entrance. Lights were kept on all night to ensure that She does not lose Her way. In South India, celebrations began with an oil bath before sunrise. Goddess Lakshmi is said to reside in the oil on that day and Goddess Ganga in the water.
Along with eating and exchanging sweets in plates and merriment in the air, there used to be gambling with small stakes and mostly in small coins. The other aspect was, of course, to wish for more money after appeasing the Goddess and the quickest way to get it was by means of gambling.
The Scene today
Diwali is not what it used to be, a Festival not seen as it is now and the reverence for the occasion is gone. Now it is fun, frolic, revelry and pleasure. The religious trappings have been pushed to the background, with the forefront occupied by the ritual of consumption, entertainment, merry-making and life affirmation.
The Festival is a consumer’s delight and producer’s dream.
The innocence of the Festival has been invaded by sophistication and scale in all its aspects. The earthen lamps are replaced by flickering strings of lights, neon and other innovations that make the flames gyrate to attract attention.
Fireworks are thoroughly professional, high-sounded with burst of bombs that pierce through the ears, high decibel sounds and a long string of crackers in thousands. Sparklers are feminine and used by children and women; loudness is masculine and thus handled by the daredevil men.
The art of pyrotechnics advances every year. The rockets soar higher; make kaleidoscopic patterns after bursting, with loud sounds. The whole neighborhood is littered with remnants of scattered pieces.
Seeing is believing. And the remnants of the crackers lie around for a while, as it is not for workers to work and clean but collect baksheesh (tips) from households.
Exchanging Gifts
The second aspect is the intensification of the practice of gift giving.
In most religions, there is at least one occasion when gifts are exchanged.
Hindus do so on Diwali day. Diwali candles have largely taken over the twinkling from earthen diyas. Nobody has the time nowadays to twist wicks out of raw cotton and to fill each individual diya with oil. To clean up the mess the following morning is another problem. But crackers and fireworks have come into their own, vying with each other for range, variety and eye appeal, also sadly, noise and smoke.
It is possible to drape the night in stars without an almighty bang that also releases a pall of smoke. Most of the money spent on Diwali celebration only seeks to project an image. But in spite of this element of consumerism that has recently crept in, Diwali remains one of the liveliest of Indian Festivals.
Until distemper and plastic emulsion appeared on the scene, every single urban home was lime-washed for Diwali for cosmetic reasons and to lay on a befitting welcome to Goddess Lakshmi, who likes homes to be clean.
Diwali is also an occasion for throwing away old, unwanted stuff.
Excessive consumption
Diwali is an important economic event today. The hidden persuaders work overtime to justify consumption and convincing people of spending money.
This season of gifts is marked by advertisements that offer the gift giver a variety of options, especially to the business houses that can get their logos imprinted on the items as a kind of PR exercise.
The festival has now come to be associated with conspicuous consumption on the one hand and indulgence on the other. The expenditure on celebrations has gone up by geometric proportions. Gambling is with very high stakes.
Gone are the innocent coins; in are the high denomination notes in bundles. People are on a purchasing spree.
Diwali sales beckon people to bargains.
The atmosphere is sabbatical and raucousness is not despised. Record albums are released; magazines issue special numbers; business ventures are launched.
Diwali is a time for the annual splurge, whether for gift shopping or for adding durable items to one’s own household.
The wagers
Frenzied shopping accompanies the festivities. Shops are decorated with flowers, lights, tinsel, and cater to large jostling crowds buying clothes, gold and silver ornaments, sweets and firecrackers. To celebrate the harvest, new utensils are bought. There is an air of extravagance and business is brisk with each shop vying with the other by offering better bargains. In some parts of North India, a few days of gambling precedes Diwali. Legends say when Lord Shiva and Parvati gambled, she won because she worshipped Lakshmi.
Hence the proliferation of shops and kiosks dealing in gifts and special packaging of sweets, chocolates, fruits, dry fruit and other sundries like purses, pens, table-sets of cutlery and stationery, sarees, crockery items, ceramic decoration pieces, plastic stuff; table lamps, containers, hampers containing consumables like pickles, jams, sauces, condensed milk and much more.
Traces of tradition
Candles and electric lights may take the place of the traditional earthen lamps; yet part of the celebration and a life little changed over the centuries when men and women decked in all their finery moved to the rhythm proper to the occasion still remains.
Throughout India, Diwali celebrations bring the luminosity of joyous spirit-visits to relations and friends, heart touching heart, mind and mind, soul and soul, warm greetings and exchange of sweets, crackers and fireworks-loud and thundering or sparkling Anar or a Phooljhari so appropriate to the sparkle of the heart and festive night.
Lakshmi and Ganesha are worshipped on the night of Diwali with all the traditional offering of sweets, flowers, fruit and money, even a brand new gold ornament or two, bought especially for the occasion.
The diya, lit in homage to Lakshmi, is shaped to hold four wicks and is filled with clarified butter instead of oil. Being able to keep the diya alight until the wee hours of the morning means that Lakshmi will be pleased to grace your home with her presence for the ensuing twelve months.
But diyas are fickle and gusts of wind unpredictable. As sleep tugs at the eyelids of merrymakers, most of them taking advantage of the technical advances today, like to play safe by leaving an electric bulb on.
Photos:
Pyrotechnics illuminate the Diwali horizon, as see at Waitakere Diwali 2011
Gold Jewellery tops the shopping list of many Indian women (Picture for Indian Newslink by Dinesh Parmar)
