Beyond Headlines An attempt to 'report a cause aright'
Afroz Alam Sahil BeyondHeadlines
Diverse colour! That’s what defines India- diversity in culture, religion, ethnicity, languages, politics, etc. Every day of the year is the celebration of this very diversity. Holi, the festival of colours, celebrate that very idea.
However, colours smeared are not always happy ones. Terrorists, often from across the border, but also indigenous; spill blood of innocent citizens. We do not even hesitate to kill our loved ones for sake of ‘honour’ or in bout of anger. Seldom, a day pass without news of some women killed for dowry, girl raped and brutally murdered or dead body found in suit cases.
Some play politics of colour – saffron, red, green. Some leaders do not even mind changing the colour of their ideology, if pays to do so (at least that’s what recent WikiLeaks reveal).
Life of some super rich is colourful enough, while inflation does not allow many poor to have even grains of food.
Drought has taken greenery out of villages and left many stomachs hungry. Meeting two squares meal a day has become difficult for many. Buying colour is unthinkable!
Our rich leaders’ think little of poor and even less number of projects actually reach on the ground. The colour of the festival of Holi will go in few days, but the changing colour of society will remain…
Bablu Singh, a poor rickshaw puller in South Delhi, says: “Holi or any festival has little meaning for poor people like us. Our urgent need is two squares meal a day. Festivals are for rich…”
Amit, another such rickshaw puller from West Bengal’s Malda district, says with tears full in eyes: “in villages at least, we would enjoy with friends…I don’t even imagine having some ‘colour’ here.”
Another such rickshaw puller, Kamlesh blames politicians for their dire state. “Leaders are busy earning for themselves. Who will remember poor like us?” he laments. He whines that leaders are seen only during elections. He is rather worried that on the day of Holi his earnings would be even less and would “have to hear the brunt of drunken rowdies.”
(BeyondHeadlines wishes all its readers a very happy and colourful Holi. Enjoy the festival of colour, but take care of other’s sensibility. BH also welcomes its readrs to share their views on Holi.)
Happy Holi to rich and poor…happiness is a state if mind until disparity is made to be realized and stark cruel reality sets in.Poor people are not necessarily unhappy people there is no gurantee of satisfaction or happiness for the rich either.There can a view too, that the poor have no taxes to pay,all schemes and reservation is for their empowerment,no bill (electric,tel,water,education). They hardly contribute to life security schemes of saving, investment but end up following the same values of the rich- give motorcycle, gold, etc as dowery at the time of wedding.
afroz bhaiiiii. bahut khub. its real beyondheadlines…
happy ho to beyondheadlines team
well mr afroz,,,keep it up
nice Afroz bhai……………………
Zabardast
Modification needed in Holi Celebration
India, a holi place of democratic set up, has been famous on account of its national and religious festivals. As regards to HOLI, it is known as religious festival in which Holika is burnt and in ecstasies people in majority are found on roads & in streets dancing and throwing colored water on their friends, bodies with a firm belief that they are purifying their friends for the life after death. But is it right? Here in this issue, I would like to divert your attention towards a thought needed to be modified.
As Martin Luther, the Professor of Witten Berg University, violated catholic Pop because he was selling the ticket of Paradise Consolidating his people to purchase the same in spite of all the evils they did in their lives, in the same pace, it also seems to me “Holi” is not celebrated on the touch stone methods promulgated in Vedas, Purans and Geeta. Religious Festival means an ideal festival having lessons of humanity for the people breathing on the earth, but on the occasion of Holi, the events we find are none but awkward dancing by the male and female, drinking more wines to please godess, throwing Gulals or Colored waters upon others in abusive manners etc.
In this regard, to find out the reality of Holi and the method of celebrating Holi, I consulted the books of Sanatan Dharma, the religion that Indians follow, but unfortunately or astonishingly could not find the events as indicated or the way of molesting others’ bodies with colored items in abusive manners.
Most of the Indian intellectuals opine that the religious festivals mean the festivals that lead us to the threshold of eternal success in this world and here after. In olden India, people maintained ideality in their festivals. For examples Dashahra is an old festival in which people decorate their houses with lights of various varieties at night and distribute sweet among their friends during Dashahra session. Consequently, the scenic beauty attracts people with a glimpse of ideality, and this is why people from various parts of the world like Dashahra and not Holi.
On Holi celebration, a loss of human lives along with properties are recorded everywhere. When on the occasion of Holi, chemicals are used in a different way they cause problems with deep effects. These chemicals in the form of colors takes lives and eyes of so many persons on roads and streets. In the atmosphere of open dancing, at some places, some civilized guardians lose their daughters, for they are abducted or kidnapped while people keep them busy or in intoxicated mood at moment of dancing and throwing Gulals or colored water upon others. If you contemplate the issue seriously, you will reach the conclusion that Holi elevates the rate of pollutions in water, soil and air. The reality is that when people in ignorance rub the various organs of their friends’ bodies with Gulals or red colors, it causes un-remedial diseases of various tastes.
This is why civilized people do not expose more in rubbing colors or throwing Gulals towards civilized people. It has been noticed that in the procession of Holi, some of gentle figures make efforts in solving their eyes with polluted colors.
In my opinion, a modification is needed to make “Holi” a festival of civilized culture, but the better modification should be based on the identity promulgated in the Geeta, Upnishad and Purans. It will be effective to save people from the blindness as well as the skin disease that appear because of harmful chemicals in colors being used for Holi celebration.