The celebration
of Deepawali brings in some ways culmination to the season of festivals across
India. As 2020 nears it ends, the year has been of turbulence with the Chinese
virus induced pandemic continuing to create havoc. Unlike in the previous
years, without doubt, Deepawali would be muted in terms of celebrations and
exchange of visits among families. Yet the festival continues to remind of the
vast cultural depth in India and the unity that emerges across the diverse
traditions. Each region or state have their own traditions associated with
Deepawali yet across these diversities emerge a thread of unity that binds
India together. India is not an artificial construct as many have sought to
portray, but a cultural construct that existed for millions of years. Deepawali
has now spread abroad thanks to the numerous Indians who have moved overseas
for varied purposes. These Indians have carried their cultural traditions in
many ways and these are reflected in the way these are celebrated across the
world.
Deepawali
celebrations are now occurring in the rest of the world. Reports of crackers
being lit in a spectacle are coming from Dubai. Diyas are being lit in the
Downing Street in London. White House and the US Congress too celebrate
Deepawali. There are reports of celebrations from Australia, Germany and other
parts of the world. Most of the times, it is the Indians who are living there
lead the celebrations but the governments and the local communities too have
often joined the celebrations. When one observes these reports, it is
inevitable the Deepawali could be a smart cultural export across the world. In
an earlier post,
there was a discussion on the way forward for Indian cultural exports. As has
been stated before, it is worth to reiterate the superpower status would imply
a strong presence in the cultural domain. India has no option but to expand its
cultural offerings across the world.
It is just not
Deepawali that is something being celebrated or to be celebrated abroad. Many
Indian festivals are ripe for cultural exports. These include public display of
Lord Ganesha to Ram Lilas to Durga Puja pandals to Pongal Rodeos to Holi dance
and colour splash. Furthermore it doesn’t in any way imply that these festivals
would be celebrated only abroad. It would be good opportunity for cultural
tourism. As many tourists would descend into the country to watch these
festivals being celebrated, the spillovers in terms of culture and tourism are
tremendous. Imagine Deepawali being celebrated in Ayodhya or other places
through a display of crackers and lighting of diyas, Ramlilas or Durga Pujas or
Garbha attracting tourists in the North or Bengal or Gujarat, or the Ganesha
public celebration in Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka or Holi or Vrindavan
or other places in the country or Pongal Jallikatu in Tamil Nadu attracting
large number of people. These are precise exports that India should be
targeting in the first place. There are many occasions where the Prime Minister
has suggested directly or indirectly. In an economy supposedly driven by
markets, the societal forces must take the lead rather than waiting for the
government to follow suit. The government support can be indirect and tacit but
the society must take the lead.
At this stage,
it would not be uncommon to see a likely Hindu right wing reaction to these
suggestions. The reaction would obviously be more pronounced in the social
media, either in the public or the club sphere. The reaction would be the ban
on crackers that takes away the glamour of Deepawali. In recent years the
courts have imposed bans on environmental grounds. At best they have restricted
the hours of bursting crackers taking the zing away from the celebrations. The typical
reaction of Christianity as it expanded its footprints in Europe was either to
adapt the pagan rituals into itself or denigrate paganism to the extent people abandoned
the practices. As discussed before, the Broken Windows theory does give
insights on why Hindus are becoming sensitive to these bans and reacting
perhaps in some ways overboard. Yet the answer to these criticisms lies in
simple reasoning and lies within than without.
The problem of cracker
ban is indeed a serious one. There seems to be little justification for banning
crackers only during Deepawali when it is allowed and celebrated on other occasions.
The right to burst crackers is perhaps a fundamental right as much as it is to
produce a fire-cracker. The problem was discussed at length through a Coasian
formulation in this post.
Yet, one must wonder what is preventing this from being resolved. The answer
lies perhaps within the circles of what is described as the Hindu rightwing. There
is simply no willingness to solve the issue. They seem to keep the issue alive.
The issue comes into public discussion only in week or two before the Deepawali
celebrations. The moment the celebrations are over, everybody forgets about it
except for making some noise on Twitter. It is as if the RW fears irrelevance
if it solves this issue. What is needed is the RW to make efforts to resolve it
either through judicial means or legislative means through the rest of the
year. There is no inclination either to demand a ban on cracker bursting in the
New Year or during celebrity weddings thus taking the battle to the enemy camp.
Unless the RW plans to take to court on banning New Year crackers, there would
be no let off. Only when the other side gets affected, then the realisation
will emerge. Moreover, the RW capitalist intelligentsia which is keen on
funding number of studies have hardly commissioned any study on impact of
crackers on environment in Delhi or other places. Neither there have been
attempts to set up investment funds that would finance research and development
in green crackers or those crackers who emit less pollution.
Moreover, there
is no willingness to go for in public celebrations, a kind of an alternative to
the existing celebrations premised on private or club good. Public spectacles
of crackers bursting would bring people together, an element of bonding thus an
important step in unifying Hindus while reducing the pollution. These spectacles
are opportunities for tourism too. What the strategy would have to entail is
the resolution of the cracker ban issue well in advance rather than waiting it
for the last minute. This does not have to depend on the composition of
National Green Tribunal or ascribing motives to it or its over-activism. If played
smart, Deepawali would perhaps be a cultural export, the ability to execute
exists but question marks do remain on willingness. The willingness must not
come from the top but through a bottom up grassroots action.
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