| Saturday, September 25, 2004 |
| Hooligan festivals article |
The 'Hooli aaya re' story http://www.dancewithshadows.com/hooligan_festivals.asp has provoked, at least some friends, to respond.
Parul, now in Netherlands, wrote to me saying that street festivals are common in all countries and cultures. Originally religious or cultural, they were all converted to an excuse to party, says Parul. On the side, they are also good for the economy!
I frankly don't know much about such festivals abroad. I remember one instance of Peurto Rican anniversary or something like that in US that went out of hand and some 60 plus women were molested, stripped, and there was a report of even one rape.
Vikas, my friend in Delhi too feels that we should not generalise because of some bad experiences.
My take - (maybe not the articles author's) - is that these are originally rural festivals which have not gently transformed into urban melas. Holi, for example, in a village setting is noce and funny and hilarious. That is because you all kow each other there. Diwali is great with kids bursting crackers and having a whale of a time. In metros, especially Mumbai, they assume the role of one big hungama where there are no rules, no concern for others.. See, it really is not possible at all. Where in a city can one burst crackers safely? You know that rockets and flares are to be lit in high places with no residences, but where can you find a place like that? Cities are full of individuals with differing ideas of privacy, safety, space... Community frolicking will always be a tense, dangerous affair here.
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| posted by a correspondent @ 4:49 AM |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Me thinks most people need community frolicking; need to make whoopee; do things together - especially in the cities, which can be rather lonely. If you look at church communities in India, fun is more civilized because people meet every sunday, bond gently, do lots of things together and have lots more occasions to have fun. While the hindu communities are not convention-bound to meet regularly. The only sense of community they get is during the festivals and because there aren't so many festivals, things are so frenzied. People need to have fun and if they can only do it in the name of religion, and blast a few eardrums while they are at it, so be it.
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