Celebrating tradition and culture

Let us have more tolerance for people’s willingness to cross barriers and be truly joyous in their outlook to life and their interactions with all in the community. The last four months of the year, from Ganpati Puja to Diwali and finally Christmas and New Year are a period of fun, frolic and friendship and also a time to dig deep into our minds...

Every year, a day before the beginning of the Hindu festival of Navratri, over a thousand dolls stored away in the attic of our house are brought out of their safe packing and inspected for participation worthiness in a traditional Tamil festival called Golu. A tradition that we have followed for over three decades, this is one time of the year where every friend of ours irrespective of their demographic or religious background come at home in their finest dresses to participate in the colour, music and bonhomie that this festival generates.

Golu in the South of India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is a celebration of the Goddess Parvati in all her splendour, surrounded by other Gods and Goddesses, Gurus and scenes of everyday life in the country and in recent times the world. Traditionally, Golu consists of not just dolls and decorations but also colourful floor decorations (rangoli or kolam), daily puja and aarti, recitation of chants and daily preparation of a high protein dish of legumes called sundal which is distributed to all visitors. Primarily a festival by women and for women with gifts of coconuts, fruits, flowers, vermillion powder and betel leaves along with sweets and sundal, in modern days, full families including men participate and renew friendships. This year at our home, Uma and I were delighted to welcome college friends and former colleagues from APTECH, Zee TV, Zensar and our current organisations, 5F World, Pune City Connect, Social Venture Partners and Global Talent Track – truly many days to cherish and remember, as the pictures show.

Dussehra is celebrated in various parts of the country and the joy of India is that what was once very localised like Durga Puja in Bengal and Garba in Gujarat have now spread to add colour and festivity to many states. Case in point is my young friend, Janki who spent four days with us organising and executing the Golu programme and still found time to dance away at the Garba in Pune and visit the very famous Pujos in Koregaon Park. And while we run an entrepreneurial group of companies at 5F World and Global Talent Track with highly sophisticated and fiercely competitive leaders and teams, it was heartening to see the teams dressed in their festival best, participate with gusto in the office Dussehra festival and go out to Bengali Bhogs and evening Garbas. Indians love tradition and culture and however sophisticated our business may be, we are always happy to let our hair down and have a good time by revelling in each other’s company.

Let us have more tolerance for people’s willingness to cross barriers and be truly joyous in their outlook to life and their interactions with all in the community

Another interesting aspect of Indian culture and tradition is that it is preserved even more fiercely by NRIs and Overseas Citizens of India than even us resident Indians. After spending a somewhat wild twenty years in Bihar, where the festival of colours, Holi was celebrated with excessive energy and sometimes with colours that took weeks to rub off one’s skin, I had twenty years of relatively modest Holi celebrations in Nasik, Mumbai and Delhi. When a friend of mine living in the Pacific seafront near Los Angeles invited me to spend the Holi weekend with their family at the turn of the century, I had little idea of what was in store from me. From the time I reached their home on Holi eve to the time they dropped me at the airport thirty hours later it was non stop festivities, first with a huge dinner at their home and then the next day visiting the homes of dozen of their friends in the area with multiple dances and huge arrays of goodies to be partaken everywhere. Truly a throwback to the community feeling of small Indian towns in the seventies and eighties.

This is truly something we as Indians have to be proud of and it is heartening to find that not just state divisions but even community divisions do not come in the way of joyous participation. We may all have our views on TMC MP’s Nusrat Jahan dancing away at Pujo Pandals, but one has to give her credit for getting into the festive spirit as a true Indian. Let us have more tolerance for people’s willingness to cross barriers and be truly joyous in their outlook to life and their interactions with all in the community. The last four months of the year, from Ganpati Puja to Navratri to Diwali and finally Christmas and New Year are a period of fun, frolic and friendship and also a time to dig deep into our minds and rediscover what makes India so unique and our culture so inclusive. Long may it last!