"Ignorance is not bliss"
Youngsters want to celebrate Holi with fervour and spirit. They start preparing weeks in advance. Things like where to go, what to wear and how the festival will be celebrated — are discussed. Girls are cautious about the quality of colours since their skin is sensitive and some are even allergic to colour. For boys, the festival of colours is all about masti and bhang. They are excited about the wet Holi. Thus, they order sufficient quantity of beer — for bathing as well as drinking.
Pichkaris, water balloons, buckets filled with coloured water, gulaal — everything is ordered in advance. After all, this is one festival where a little fun with the opposite sex is forgiven and forgotten easily. However, they are not curious about the reasons for the celebration of Holi. For them, Holi signifies the advent of summers and the exit of woollens.
Traditionally, it is celebrated by the followers of the Vedic religion as a harvesting festival. People celebrate the festival in high spirits with no differences of status, caste or creed.
The colours of Holi help in breaking the barriers of status and hence, affirm the essence of universal brotherhood. But I am sure our youngsters do not know the origin of the word Holi. It comes from a word Hola which means thank God for a good harvest. It signifies that evil will be punished by the mythical character of Holika.
Holika was the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashyap who ordered his son Prahlad to denounce Lord Narayana. When he failed in his evil designs, he asked his sister Holika to sit in a blazing fire with Prahlad. Fire could not burn Holika because she was blessed by God. But, in a turn of events, Holika was gutted in fire and Prahlad escaped unscratched.
Ras Leela is performed at most Holi functions. Also, Vrindawan’s Holi is famous and is remembered for the Gopis of Krishna. I am sure youngsters love Ras Leela. Ask them the the history behind the ritual and you will draw a blank for an answer.
I wish our younger generation showed a little more interest in knowing the reasons behind the celebration of these festivals. They should make an effort to understand the meaning behind them. Some of our young professionals do not even know the difference between the Mahabharat and Ramayan! They are well-versed with the Bible but that is due to their interest in the western world.
I do understand that the parents of my generation are a busy lot as they try and mix jobs to make ends meet. They lead a hectic social life which helps them unwind from their stressful jobs. However, the duty of the parents is to ingrain values which are inherited from the religion. In some cases, parents feel guilty of not spending too much time with their children. Hence, they end up giving in to the unreasonable demands of their wards.
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