Thoughts On Traditions and Community Bonding…

The wake up alarm buzzed, I turned left and I turned right and wondered in the semi asleep state which day had just passed by and which day I was going to wake up to! I realised in a minute that it is Monday and this was just the start of another work-week and jumped out of my bed!

The morning chores got done mechanically just like any other day and I sat for my daily ritual of tea and news and a few minutes for myself before work activities would take over my attention.

From the next room came the reverberating notes of या देवी सर्वभूतेषु (ya devi sarva bhuteshu) piercing through the morning calm and reminding that it’s this time of the year. A quick look at the calendar told me that Mahalaya was a week away but Baba seemed to be in the pre-Puja mood already while I was figuring out how to run through the day.

This made me ponder over the mad rush in our lives today, the busy mornings, the traffic horrors, the usually useless work chatter, the social media addiction, the busy status all the while we are actually distanced from human values, meaningful conversations, friendship and social bonding.

Our lives have been reduced to mechanical sequence of activities while our parents did so much more and were more socially active in the real sense of the term. Baba’s tuning in to Mahalaya means how much these festivities have meaning in their lives. This wasn’t any different in our growing up days when we looked forward to the Puja holidays, counted days and waited for our exams to get over while at the same time not compromising with our normal school routine and studies. Each event had in it’s own time, place and meaning.

Today the festivities like Navratri, Durga Puja, Diwali are reduced to a day of break and the real social connect is missing. The gatherings, the gossips, meeting friends at the little roadside eateries, or buying that small piece of idol from the street side vendor which were part of our childhood are mostly missing today and reduced to a few selfies, photographs and social media posts. Back in the day, community gatherings and festivities, the preparation for the same consumed our time in a healthy manner unlike today when it has been reduced to just a few days break from routine.

I wonder again how much of the traditions, the festivities we will be able to carry forward or pass it on to the next generation. I wonder if we have failed our parents, our ancestors, ourselves for not being good enough in carrying the rituals forward in the true sense.

Our grandparents were displaced from their ancestral land, faced many a atrocity, and had to build up everything from the scratch. With the little they had in terms of wealth, or health they not only had re-established themselves but also never left the traditional values. In contrast, we who have moved out in search of bread and butter and some extra comfort have almost lost touch of almost everything. We may have the comfort of buying that pricey dress online but we don’t have many people to meet during the festivities, we don’t know whom to sit with and chat and talk about Puja shopping, talk about our lives in general.

This is where community is essential, we are now scattered and have lost sense of what is essential for our self development from a social point of view. Our academic circle may have grown but there is a stagnation there too and will always be there however society is so much an essential part of us that we will perhaps need to rebuild the same.

Baba’s listening to Mahalaya one week prior to the actual event shows how much culture and traditions are part of his being and cannot be separated. Our priorities are based on our calendars and very mechanical which leaves a void in our lives. I am not sure how we go back building a community again but I sure can say I am missing that and I sure do not want us to lose all the good and the beautiful!