The
‘festive’ thought as mentioned above could be interpreted as controversial
after the words that follow are swallowed up, and therefore I clarify at the
outset that there is no malicious intention behind this thought. There is only
the spirit of celebration.
The
Indian festive season starts around September every year with various
non-religious, religious and intra-religious festivals taking place almost
every week. Since all such events of worship or otherwise are now called ‘festivals’,
these get naturally opened up for everybody to participate. Like the
quintessential slogan given in West Bengal by the Chief Minister during the
Durga Puja ‘festival’, ‘Religion is mine, religion is yours; festival is for
all’. For example, in this year’s Christmas ‘festival’ on the streets of
Kolkata you would hardly find a ‘religious’ being among the thousands of intense
merrymakers. So then, everyone waits for the occasion from September to New
Year Day to participate which translates into roaming around, extensive use of
public transport and a lot of eating.
Business
enthralls on every Indian street with quick-bite stalls, fast food joints and
the usual restaurants each of which gets literally surrounded by ‘celebrating’
revellers. It becomes ‘binge eating’ in the truest sense of the term. And, it
is not at all a joke to indulge in this over a reasonably long period of 3 to 4
months.
While
it is definitely a positive development of religious occasions transcending all
barriers and allowing all across all religions to take part wholeheartedly,
there is a bit of a concern, at least for this nondescript writer.
You
see, after continuous ‘binge eating’ bellies around are sure to grow faster. In
fact, the human observatory data as revealed to this writer indicate this very
phenomenon. As you know, in India public transport is very crowded,
particularly during the festival season. Nowadays while travelling in a public
mode you need to be on your constant guard to counter the pushes and pinning by
the backpacks. Even non-celebrating normal commuters carry the omnipresent slinging
backpacks. And, they bulldoze through to create a space for themselves, maybe
just to indulge in the inevitable mobile surfing. Now, after bellies start
growing faster you’ll have the added misery of countering the front-packs too. No
alternatives. At least till the New Year pledges which may or may not contribute
to a bit flattening bellies...
