Sujava 1:35

Giri at 1630 hrs on 23^rd October

As the Indian festival of lights (Diwali) approaches, bringing with it the excitement and smiles on millions of human beings spread across the world, millions more continue to stare into a bleak and grim future brought about (in many parts of the world) by a continuation of deprivation of human rights and gross absence of governance and (in many other parts of the world) by the vortex of global recessionary trends.

So do festivals and celebrations such as Diwali have any relevance in today’s world? I believe they do, but not unless we are willing to innovate and provide a new proposition for the core of the celebratory causes that made such festivals acceptable to societies in the first instance. So how about the following propositions?

(a)   New Year celebrations (01 January) will be celebrated by a release of an annual status report on the UN Millennium Development Goals performance in each member state and a UN-subsidy that encourages tourists to travel to a LDC state and bring some additional tourism revenues for the LDCs.

(b)   Festivals that celebrate equinoxes and solstices and festivals that celebrate the seasons (in India these could be the harvest festivals in Baisakhi, Pongal in Punjab, Tamilnadu, Holi...) will include musicals and theatre that reinforce the messages of climate change impacts through wise and optimal use of agricultural resources.

(c)    National days (Independence Day, Republic Day, Liberation Day....) could be celebrated as “free speech” and “free debate” days for youth to congregate in public open spaces (stadia...) and engage in well-moderated debates on what is good and bad in the way nations are governed and what changes youth want to see in the next decade and how they want this to be done. These debates could may be moderated by a retired judges and could also be broadcast for the rest of the world to understand and feedback on their reactions.

(d)   Religious festivals (such as Christmas, Diwali, Id...) could incorporate a concerted communication campaign (involving small pamphlets) that aims to explain the reasons for why the festival is being celebrated, how the festival promotes societal-harmony and why non-believers can also join in the celebrations, if they wish to - all these with some sort of vetting by religious leaders across the spectrum.

So what do you think? Do you have some more and even-better propositions? Wishing you all a great week ahead and Happy Diwali to those who will celebrate this festival of lights.