Time & Festivals

[Text and Photos by D.B.]

PT wishes you all a very Happy ‘Festive Season’. Well, it appears more apt to wish for the festive season instead of particular festivals as then the list would never end. With the starting of Navratras, Durga puja, Ram leela and a ‘coming-soon’ Eid, I must admit that I am toh fully drenched in the ‘feel’ of festivities. Being said that I must also make it clear that I am still writing this blog sitting amidst the ‘nature’ in a rural setting, which is apparently quiet, uninterrupted, still, undisturbed and serene – my college campus. The sound of crackers - a ‘pre-diwali delight’ for any child, the rush of market places, the preparation of sweets, the excitement of visiting places which have become ‘alive’ just because of public participation, deserts and ‘eye-catching’ decorations of shops and malls… I am missing all!

The ‘deficiency’ of festivals can be harmful, well, for an Indian at least. But thanks to our vast culture and our attachment with the ‘roots’, we have this natural tendency to ‘celebrate’ even in the darkest corner. The only thing different would be the way how we do it. Apart from the city’s dramatic and fancy ‘carnival-type’ celebration there lies a place where people still celebrate the festival just to celebrate ‘life’.

My childhood memory reminds me of visiting a Ram-leela Mela near my place with family. We used to walk down by a road, made inaccessible for vehicles just for the festival, with stalls and hawkers on both the sides, people of all classes coming up together at the venue, kids accompanied by parents.  All sorts sweets, chaat, jalebi, gajjak along with hand-made toys and similar sorts of ‘childhood-obsessions’ were displayed. All in all, it was the best ‘memory’. I dare say ‘memory’ as it’s not the same anymore. Five years back I visited the same mela, now the venue had changed, it was ‘posh’, stalls with ‘brands’, VIP and VVIP ‘reserved’ seats, newer technology on display and lesser ‘feel’ of the ‘mela’.

The 'celebration'

My physical shift from that metropolitan atmosphere to this rural setting made it possible for me to ‘see’ more. Two years back I discovered a similar mela in the nearby precincts. It was subtle indeed. Crowd of a very few people gathered together on a chilly evening, sitting on bare ground with a fence around, two-three vendors selling moongfali and gajjak, a tea stall and a stage set-up in the verandah of an under-construction district school and insufficient lighting. All the artists were male and it was, obviously, in local language dogri. Having a cup of tea there, watching the ‘same’ story in a ‘different’ way, was priceless. It brought the kid back in me.

The Actors and the Stage

Yesterday, I revisited the place. It was all same. Nothing, in these two years, could change the ‘feel’ of the celebration. Just the mic was new and the school is now there. Locals participating with same zeal, sitting on the ground, kids and parents and even grand-parents, same tea, same casual way of presenting the play – one person reading the dialogues from backstage (if you call that a ‘stage’) and the actor repeating the words, same cheers from the crowd and same sense of delight on the faces. People saw me clicking the pics and misinterpreted me as a reporter of the local newspaper.

The 'delighted' audience

What made them resist the change? And why the cities changed? Where does the need arise to change the way of presenting a story which is legendary in character – which itself cannot change with time? Time does change the patterns but why change when it is not for good? Mela literally means ‘to meet’, then why we are restricting people to do the same? Do we actually need a VIP seat; do we actually need a VIP when it is meant to be for everyone? Well, change is inevitable and we all start living with the changes we see. It’s we who have to decide what change we would like to bring in.

One of my friends told me about the organization of the ‘October Fest’ in Delhi, recently just like the ‘Tomatino’. I wondered, “Are we done with all the festivals we already have…?”

Recently I worked for a design competition trying to revive the memory of a Mela in the urban chaos and that is when I realized what is on the brink of becoming a ‘memory’ – The Essence of the Mela. Thus, I request you to visit a ‘mela’ nearby you this season and share your experiences on panwadi.tales@gmail.com