Daily Fix
Conversation about this article
1: Kanwarjeet Singh (USA), March 24, 2013, 12:25 PM.
It is so typical of humans to forget the reason behind any festival and then indulge in self pleasures (one of the self pleasures is making sure others are miserable). Growing up in Western India, I passionately hated three Hindu festivals and one Sikh practice. I couldn't stand Diwali due to all the noise and pollution, not to mention all the smoke ... all of which made it a 15-day nightmare for my bronchitis and asthma. I never understood what pleasure people seek in burning things up and making sure that young kids, older people and animals are kept on the edge with those noisy firecrackers. I passionately hated Holi where I barracked myself in my home. I was never able to comprehend what pleasure people took in blinding (literally) people with their water balloons, mostly on unsuspecting strangers, since these were thrown from roof tops. What kind of sadistic nature would a mass of people have in using oil paint and cow dung to play Holi? Made me sick every single year I was in India. The third festival I sincerely disliked was the Ganesh Chaturthi - no, I had no issues with people praying to Ganesh and geeting the prasad - what I disliked was the vulgar songs playing at full volume, particularly when it was exam time. Finally, the most hated thing we Sikhs indulged in was the parbhat pheris. While the concept may have started with a lot of meaning when people could not travel long distances and it was a way to get people together, I think that meaning has been completely lost. Going into localities at 4-5 am and playing dholkis and chimtaas loudly and bursting fire-crackers is not a way to reach out to people. I nearly got beat up as a kid by one of the 'gurdwara uncles' when I protested that we need to turn it down. I think two parbhat pheris was enough to convince me how stupid this whole act was. I like it in the West where religion is your personal business and as long as you do not bother others, you are free to practice what you like. A simple procession through a city needs prior planning, hundreds of permissions, not to mention the money you need to shell out for the local public departments so they can better manage the crowds and traffic. This is so unlike the Guru Tegh Bahadar martyrdom procession which chokes entire cities and causes massive inconvenience to people, all in the name of religion.
2: Jagroop Kaur (New York, USA), March 24, 2013, 1:16 PM.
Kanwarjeet ji: Religion in the West is 'personal business'? What about Christmas? Two months of it ... not to mention the other ten months of preparation for it! And the Orangemen's parades. The St. Patrick's Day parades. The Santa Claus parades.
3: Kanwarjeet Singh (USA), March 24, 2013, 2:35 PM.
Jagroop ji: I am not saying the West is perfect but it is certainly way better in respecting people's time and being sensitive to people's needs. Have you ever seem a traffic jam due to an unplanned St Patrick's day or a 'pandaal' in the middle of a public road occupying almost 90% of the width of the road all in the name of putting up an idol and praying to it? How many times do you see in the West unsuspecting strangers being bombarded with anything like a water balloon filled with 'shit' and oil paint? Even the Mardi Gras or the tomato festival in Spain is more civilized than Holi in India - the common person has the basic sense not to go about making lives miserable for those who do not seek to be part of what they are doing. I call it the sadistic pleasures of India. As far as Christmas is concerned, I have never seen a group of church going people spill into the streets with musical instruments and make life miserable for others. No one has ever inconvenienced me with their months of Christmas - now that is what I am talking about.
4: Kulwant Singh (U.S.A.), March 24, 2013, 2:48 PM.
The article highlights how institutionalized the practice of rape is in India. There, even Hindu religious festivals act out the drama of women beating away the unwanted advances of men. Is this really something to be celebrated?
5: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), March 13, 2014, 8:41 AM.
Sher ji, what a treat. You remind me of John Gunther. Just in six lines, in a biting economy of words, you have encapsuled Sikhi. Since I wish to save this, may I quote you: "1. Gave people a scripture in the vernacular. 2. Opened up literacy and education for the masses. 3. Exalted poetry and music by intertwining them with the Word. 4. Expressly prohibited use of tobacco and mind-altering substances. 5. Put public service at par with worship. 6. Hailed the work ethic." The case rests. Hail thee, counsellor. I couldn't find a better wordsmith.
6: Nav Kaur (Sydney, Australia), March 16, 2014, 9:30 AM.
I admire the beauty with which you write about our Gurus, Sikhi and its traditions. A very Happy Hola Mohalla indeed. I am, however, a little upset and puzzled over the frequent association of 'bhang' with the festival. In a conversation with my father-in-law, who has spent most of his life in India, I was told that some 'nihangs' commonly distribute and drink bhang at the time of this festival. While I understand that not all Nihangs engage in this practice, I wonder how the association became so common in the first place.
7: Harmeet Singh (USA), March 17, 2014, 1:13 AM.
Holi is a public nuisance.
8: Sarvjit Singh (Massachusetts, USA), March 21, 2014, 12:39 AM.
Very nice article about Holi and Hola. There are references in our literature to when Sikhs, even our Gurus, celebrated Holi and Diwali culturally. Surely there is no harm in sharing our respective festivals, the way we do, e.g., Christmas in the West.
9: Kaala Singh (Punjab), March 05, 2015, 10:04 AM.
Tomorrow is Holi, please be careful as you will see drunken mobs all over India misbehaving with everyone and using harmful colours laced with chemicals which can cause serious harm to skin and eyes. In some places I have even seen people playing Holi with mud. I have never liked this particular festival.