Two pennies
If you have two pennies, use one to buy bread and the other to buy a rose — the bread will keep you alive, and the rose will give you a reason to live.
I believe this is variously reported as being an old Hebrew or Chinese proverb, but no matter the provenance, the profound truth it holds is only made more obvious by its very lack of obvious emphasis.
When the issue was deafening noise pollution caused by loud and entirely inappropriate (read undevotional) music during public festivals (severely amplified by the twin scourges of unfettered technology and political rowdyism), and the encroachment on public roads and severe traffic inconvenience as a result, I was nodding in wholehearted agreement. Yes, we definitely need the strictest of curbs on the use of those large walls of speakers (and may I add for those who apparently need the obviously meant but unsaid to be said in letter in order to be able to focus on the spirit of the point being made, for all celebrations of all religions and any other outdoor public celebrations, or any other events whether celebratory or not, as may be the case) inflicting a constant blast of hectodecibels of raucous sound day and night.
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I might even extend the same agreement (although perhaps a little more reservedly) to the point about encroachment and traffic inconvenience if it were not the case that this is a 24x7 nuisance and not limited to festivals and celebrations, and to a large extent this is primarily the fault of the urban and transport planning and enforcement departments of the civic authorities. Of course, if we can find space or make space to hold these celebrations without encroaching on public access roads that would be ideal, but unfortunately we live in a far from ideal world most days.
Where I draw the line, however, is the thinking that there should not be community festival celebrations, or, taking it even further, any festivals or celebrations at all. To me this is a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Because, to me, celebrations (festival or otherwise) are an integral part of our psyche, and in fact, they might be almost mandatory for the sanity, even upliftment, of the human spirit. Celebrations bring happiness and joy, however ephemeral, to people who might otherwise be struggling with life. It is a periodic escape valve for the rapidly expanding steam from the pressure cooker of everyday existence. And more so community celebrations.
And I say this because I firmly believe we are, and have been for hundreds of thousands of years, by nature and nurture, a social and tribal people, and we tend to seek and find our identity, and our sense of security, belonging, and meaning, in our communities, formed on whatever basis we choose — religion, region, language, locality (I’m looking at you Pune-4), or heck, even IPL team. And we celebrate so many things at both personal and commmunity levels — births, anniversaries, major life events, milestones, achievements, awards, marriage (and increasingly, divorce), the sowing, the harvest, the changing of the seasons, celestial events, even potentially imaginary beings with magical powers and qualities we publicly worship but privately cannot really be bothered to try and emulate, and yes, last but not the least, festivals. And these celebrations are perhaps also an important part of community bonding.
Now, while I will be the first to defend public celebration of festivals, I do also see that not everyone might be equally enamoured by what they might see as involuntary and enforced participation, not to mention any potential health hazards, and we need to be mindful and respectful of this to the utmost extent possible. And because we all share public space, it is our responsibility to take as much care as possible not to encroach or infringe on the basic human and civic rights of others, inasmuch as perhaps it is also their responsibility to be a little more tolerant of said encroachment and infringement, especially when it is within a reasonable limit, for whatever definition of reasonable one chooses. As PuLa said so eloquently — Shejaryachyancha radio thanana karat asel tar mi samajto ki to radio majhya’ch sathi lavlay, traas thoda kami hoto (if the neighbours’ radio is too loud, I imagine it is playing specially for my benefit so the annoyance is reduced).
To be clear, this does not apply to illegal levels of noise pollution, and perhaps there is a very valid argument to revise those acceptable levels further downward, and perhaps over time these festivals and celebrations will evolve back into their original forms before technology and political rowdyism took over, and perhaps I can only hope that this happens in my lifetime, and perhaps, in the meantime, all I can do is just buy the bread and the rose, and hope for the best.
I believe this is variously reported as being an old Hebrew or Chinese proverb, but no matter the provenance, the profound truth it holds is only made more obvious by its very lack of obvious emphasis
