Naveen Joshi
'This is Diwali, tomorrow Diwali is Diwali at Babubhai's house, wheat sheaves are smooth Divel Puravo, Divel Puravo.' At the same time, a group of 10-12 boys and girls stand from one house to another singing in a chorus, and along with the small torches made by wrapping cotton around the sticks of the araio-maraio i.e. akada plant, the bells of Diwali are rung at dusk… it was an innocent game. But what does today's generation of Kutch 'sleep on social media' know about the joy that was in it? In many places, if money is not available, he used to change the words and sing such a song in sarcasm, which many people will remember today. Four-five or six decades ago, Diwali in Kutch was truly celebrated as a festival of lights, because there were no road lights in the villages except in the cities. Home lights also come and go, Diwali is celebrated in the kingdom of darkness, the rosy cold dawn that still hears the footsteps of winter and the crowd with these aria-meraiya of the same evening goes out to add oil to the torch. The need is not for oil but for cash, there is more joy in big festivals like Diwali, so because the spending power is high, fives, tens, four annas or eight annas are collected from house to house. Then the leader of this gang brings cloves, phulzari, Lakshmi print or chakli print crackers from this money and together they all share the crackers or kutchi which is called 'Sangh'. Red-green-brown cloves are counted one by one and there is a commotion, the sound of red cloves is louder, the green ones are almost beautiful, so if they don't accept the one they have come to, they should be shot with a can of snake pellets in return. Children used to go away and burn the bullets and count the marks around their black eyebrows and brag to their friends that 'how many firecrackers I burst' if this!… Today's generation is far away from Araiya-Meraiya and such firecrackers. Araiya-Meraiya is placed on a nearby rock, so that many germs are destroyed, at that time a big firework display is considered a sign of prosperity, firecrackers burst individually, but many people gather to watch. At that time elders whose financial condition could not afford such expenses used to teach their children in Kutchhi with good words 'Thaka ta minin jo Sarkho j ai!' In other words, no matter when a firecracker explodes, whether it explodes or emits light, if he sees the Mayan movement, all of them hear the same, so don't insist on taking it…' Enjoy as much joy as the one that explodes. Many explain if you can set fire to 100 or 500 notes? No, this is the same. Whether today's generation is 'social media' or far away from the dust, one thing must be admitted, Diwali is a festival of the Hindu society from time immemorial, the celebration of which has not changed much. Diwali takes center stage in family discussions. The children who used to get Rs 1 every 20 years are now elders so the new generation will get Rs 10. Or 100 Rs. Gives means that the transaction of currency can be considered changed 100 times. A prominent celebration of Diwali in Kutch is still held today in both urban and rural areas, it may have declined but it has not stopped. In the new year, the barber-barber-hairdresser of the village goes out decorated with a small mirror in his pocket and wherever he meets the Garasdar, Kshatriya, Seth, Sarpanch on the way. So, saying 'Ram-Ram', take out a mirror from your pocket and hold it in front of that person's face, then the person who looks at the face with a mustache will take out two, five, ten rupees from his pocket and give it to Ganja and Malkay… Ram knows when this narcissism was associated with a festival like Diwali… Maybe even a small person can have the spirit of Diwali in it! Now one of the traditions which is declining is the tradition of making 'Kakalat', the streets of Kali Chaudas from dusk till night, circular pools of water on the four roads of the neighborhood and the middle of it with bhajis, vadas, cows, silently coming out from the house. The housewife used to go out with loto, chipotle, iron chisel and bhaji-chilli-carriage-bottle in her hand with the intention to remove the chaos and chaos of the house and to bring happiness and peace in the coming year. Returning home without speaking. Today, the increase in Griha Kankas and the decline in this ritual is clearly visible. In Kutch, there is also a tradition of removing 'adach' from the house on these days of Diwali, here too Grilahxmi of the house takes a broom in her hand and sweeps away the garbage from the house and pushes it away from her house. Due to this work of Grilahakshmi, prosperity in those houses increased – poverty decreased – the hands did not have to worry about spending money. When we talk about women empowerment, this emotional aspect of women in the house should be discussed.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
