22nd August 2010

Happy toh ho, par ungrajee mein na ho!!!


After a long time I met this classmate of mine. We were travelling in the same train to CST. We spoke to each other about what we were up to, the kind of work we did and so on. And then she suddenly said its Mahashivratri tomorrow. “I was married in so and so year on the day of Mahashivratri- when Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati. And you know what, it was also the 14th of February and it is so rare that the two come on the same day”, she said. “So, it’s a very special day for you”, I answered. She went on to tell me all about how she met her man and the boring details of their love story and how she kept a fast on this very day every year. She asked me if I too fasted on the auspicious day of Mahashivratri, to which I surprisingly replied in the positive. Just then the train approached Dadar station and it was time to say goodbye. As she made her way through the tired looking yet non-budging womenfolk, she turned around and said- 'Happy Mahashivratri'. “To you too” I said amusedly.

The first greeting that I learnt as a child which had a HAPPY to it was obviously Happy Birthday. Later I learned three more- Happy Diwali, Happy New Year-which was said once in a year, and Happy Anniversary which was used occasionally. Christmas was more ‘Merry’ than Happy.

I grew up in a Maharashtrian family which was very progressive and embraced the best of all cultures. We had friends from different religions, castes and sects and all walks of life and we were always eager to socialise and learn more about their traditions, festivals and food habits. I was extremely amazed by the variety that people from different parts of India had to offer. I remember going for Durga puja’s, having sheer kurma, helping make flower rangolis for Onam, decorating a Christmas tree, attending a satsang ………… People went about greeting each other, embracing, shaking or joining hands. They spoke a language I didn’t understand. But I didn’t care. Seeing people engrossed in the festivities, nurturing their beliefs and keeping their age old customs gave me sense of joy and peace.

I don’t know when and how it started, but I remember sometime when I was in college, I started coming across more and more people who simply used a‘Happy’ with just about every Indian festival. Happy Id, Happy Onam, Happy Gudi Padva, Happy Baisakhi, Happy Dashehra....and so on. Even the traditional- 'tilgul ghya god bola'- where you request or urge people to forget any past diffrences and come together, became Happy Sankrant. Similarly Holi became Happy Holi and then we wasted no time in learning to apply Happy to every possible Indian festival or celebration that we could think of. From Happy Navratri to Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, I have cringed whenever I have heard someone say Happy Rakshabandhan or Happy Bhaubeej( Bhai duj). Either it is our ignorance of a more traditional way of greeting, or our desire to show off our sophistication by using an English word , it’s a shame that we choose not to use the authentic version even when we are among our own people.

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Tomorrow is Rakshabandhan and Narali Poornima( where the Fisherfolk offer coconuts to the raging sea, requesting it to calm down). May I not say.......:)