Today keralites at home in Kerala, elsewhere in India and abroad are celebrating Onam. It falls during the month of Chingam, the first month of the malayalam calender(solar calender, wherein the months have been named after the constellations through which the sun passes).
This festival is significant for two reasons. Firstly, legend goes that Bali granted Vamana(Vishnu in form of a dwarf - fifth of his dhashavathara) three foot lengths of land as desired by him. Vamana then enormously grew in size, covered the whole earth in one step, the whole sky with the second. For the third, Bali asked him to place it on his head. With this, Vamana places his foot on Bali's head and suppresses him to Patala(one of the fourteen worlds and one of the seven hells according to Hindu scriptures) granting him a wish that he would rule Patala and would return once every year to visit his subjects on earth. Onam is celebrated as the day when King Mahabali returns to meet his subjects. Secondly, it is also celebrated as the harvest festival in Kerala.
The specialities for Onam,that I am aware of, include a traditional elaborate feast, Sadya and a multi coloured floral decoration(with, sometimes, a lamp in the middle) on the ground called Pookkalam. Competitions are held for the best pookkalam designs. I watched one such competition on a TV news channel yesterday and I must say, they were pretty innovative and beautiful. The other activities include a vibrant elephant procession, Pulikali performers painting themselves as tigers, performances by Kathakali artists, women performing Kaikotikalli, a traditional clap dance and the very popular snake boat race called Vallamkali.
The most important part of this festival is that it is celebrated by keralites across all religions depicting communal harmony and a sense of oneness which is at a premium today and it needs to be appreciated and emulated.
Wishing everybody a Happy Onam!!!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
India@60
Well then... my thoughts are finally coming online:)
In the past week, we celebrated 60 years of Indian independence and it's time to look back as to how we have fared over this period.
I believe we have done pretty well as a democracy given the fact that British left us with hundreds of princely states and two colonies controlled by the French and the Portuguese. The then great leaders of our country had a tough job of not only integrating the smaller princely kingdoms into a democratic state, but also repair the damage caused by the partition. Looking back, I must say, they have done a wonderful job overall except in the case of Jammu and Kashmir which is hurting us even now. We became a full republic, in little over two years later, with the world's lengthiest written constitution with 395 articles and 12 schedules.
We've had 4 wars with Pakistan and one humiliating military encounter with China. We dismembered pakistan which led to creation of Bangladesh in 1971. We also tested nuclear devices in 1974 and then again in 1998 which led to our nuclear isolation till very recently. On the negative side, we had to experience emergency from June 1975 to January 1977 and also various communal riots which will remain as a blot in the history of our country.
Economically, we were always a closed economy till the early nineties when we had reached a stage that the Chadrashekar led government had to pledge India's gold temporarily. We had no other option, but to open up and liberalize the economy which the next government rightly did. Now, we are among the top economies of the world with almost 9% growth rate. So far, so good.
Now, we also need to look at as to how we have fared socially and one must admit that we have fared pretty badly when it comes to poverty alleviation, employment generation etc resulting in a huge divide between the haves and the have nots. This, I feel, must be the focus of our establishment in the next 60 years. Only then will this beautiful country of ours really become what Mohammed Iqbal wrote - 'Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan hamara'.
In the past week, we celebrated 60 years of Indian independence and it's time to look back as to how we have fared over this period.
I believe we have done pretty well as a democracy given the fact that British left us with hundreds of princely states and two colonies controlled by the French and the Portuguese. The then great leaders of our country had a tough job of not only integrating the smaller princely kingdoms into a democratic state, but also repair the damage caused by the partition. Looking back, I must say, they have done a wonderful job overall except in the case of Jammu and Kashmir which is hurting us even now. We became a full republic, in little over two years later, with the world's lengthiest written constitution with 395 articles and 12 schedules.
We've had 4 wars with Pakistan and one humiliating military encounter with China. We dismembered pakistan which led to creation of Bangladesh in 1971. We also tested nuclear devices in 1974 and then again in 1998 which led to our nuclear isolation till very recently. On the negative side, we had to experience emergency from June 1975 to January 1977 and also various communal riots which will remain as a blot in the history of our country.
Economically, we were always a closed economy till the early nineties when we had reached a stage that the Chadrashekar led government had to pledge India's gold temporarily. We had no other option, but to open up and liberalize the economy which the next government rightly did. Now, we are among the top economies of the world with almost 9% growth rate. So far, so good.
Now, we also need to look at as to how we have fared socially and one must admit that we have fared pretty badly when it comes to poverty alleviation, employment generation etc resulting in a huge divide between the haves and the have nots. This, I feel, must be the focus of our establishment in the next 60 years. Only then will this beautiful country of ours really become what Mohammed Iqbal wrote - 'Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan hamara'.
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