This book is a one-on-one conversation between an Indian author and her non-Indian companion about a traditional festival (Thrissur Pooram) that belongs to India.
Whatever is traditional in India is always portrayed as wrapped in mystery or misunderstanding. Here it is unwrapped only to show that neither a traditional event nor the entire Indian heritage is anything mysterious but understandable.
Herman Hesse used the term "Philosia" to refer to Eastern philosophy. The literal translation of the word is "the love of seeing.". "Darshan" is the Indian term for it. It is the outcome of a constant inward search for the mysteries of existence. It continues to be India's signature faculty on the global map.
Indian heritage is not a relic of the past; it is still vibrant and relevant today. It exists throughout India in multiple aspects of life, including various rituals and festivals. Each of them is a reflection of the Indian psyche, which relies on Darshan.
Sreeja Raman has been a write-at-home mom for the last 22 years, bravely attempting her freelancing schedules and taking its toll.
An Indian bilingual writer, she has had her journalistic and narrative non-fiction pieces published extensively in newspapers, periodicals, and online platforms.
When guises as a copywriter, she writes taglines as well.
She has two published works to her credit: a book of short stories in Malayalam and an anthology of poems in English.
12 years ago, when I was assigned to do an English translation of a book titled "Thrissur Pooram, I never thought it would reinvent me by clicking the Delete@Username button of my past life. The book was the final word on the history, myths and current aspects of Thrissur Pooram, a traditional festival in Kerala. It was also the outcome of a long and thorough research done by my journalist buddy, Ms Priya.
Only after entering the intricate regimen of the festival backdrop, did I realise that its local flavour remains weird even to those who live in the neighbouring states of Kerala. After discussing it with my peers from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, it became obvious that the assignment was going to eat me up.
Nonetheless, translating every local term and every ancient jargon related to the festival was rather easy. But, to interpret its embedded meanings other than its expressionistic shade was daunting As well, my responsibility involved more than just reporting a festival or writing an academic article about it. Since this was a cultural event, it holds some heritage aspects also. As such, it is somehow linked to the ancient roots of this whole land, and this had to be communicated to the non-natives without losing the soul and spirit.
Brooding over the to-do list, I wandered around my land, both online and offline. Only then did I learn that most cultural festivals in India were listed as 'endangered', despite their augmented dispositions I was confounded at my ignorance of such a peril. Then I was reminded of the continuing allegations that our festivals contribute to environmental pollution and incite social injustices such as gender inequality, animal torture, and so on. When I countered this remark by pointing out the increasing participation in all the festivals, I was asked to check for myself if such a festival was just another socio-cultural practice or an occasion to rejoice.
An on-hand experience with an unprejudiced mindset will set you free if you are genuine. I genuinely wanted to know! To my amazement, I learned that most of the festivals have been stripped of their traditional significance and are now confined to celebratory mode only. Many of the festivals no longer have anything cultural to offer. Even the connoisseurs and aficionados were found to be miserably ignorant or apathetic towards the ins and outs of the event. When I inquired about other Indian festivals I was unfamiliar with, no one gave me a convincing explanation Do you know what is 'traditional' in India? I asked myself while accusing them.
On the way back, something flashed across my mind. A few years ago, when a couple of foreign tourists asked me and my fellow reporters about the cultural backdrop of some Indian festivals, we were also stumped. We stood pale as they recited a few Indian tales with a Western accent and asked us to note them down. Shaking off those timid moments, I thought, I ought to have some answers now.
Leafing through almost all the historical and religious books stuffed in the libraries and digital archives only left me in the red. Once again, I packed my bags and started to crack open my wanderlust. In a few months, I realised that what I was searching for was what Hermann Hesse once beautifully remarked as 'Philosia, the very thoughts of Indian philosophy. It is something to be seen and experienced, not to be read. Unlike other classical civilisations, it is not limited to academic papers or literary quotes in India but may be found throughout a range of different expressions. I realised, every art form, ritual, custom and worship retains it. In India, there is no philosophical notion that cannot be put into practice. It's both idealistic and spiritual inside out.
That info struck me like a lightning bolt to light up my way ahead.
On one hand, I noticed that when talking about spirituality in India, we tend to trip over the branded forms-Yoga and Tantra, which are mistranslated as 'exercises' and 'sex' (or sometimes an extended Ayurvedic massage) respectively in the tourism market. On the other hand, apart from this mistranslated commercial disposition, I could find an undercurrent of spirituality running through almost all cosmopolitan lives. It remains an obsession or a continuing tradition within, around and beyond the hullabaloo of rituals, pilgrimages, god concepts, temples or religion because it doesn't ask anyone to run away from the material world. I met scores of people who were completely involved in the pleasures of the world while leading a spiritual life. I could also make out that this is the one thing that unites 'the manyness of reality', which is India. Every cultural festival ends up being a display of its expressive spectrum of which 'entertainment' and 'enlightenment' makes the two ends.
This is when I realised, it was more than what my eyes could see, it had to be felt and experienced. That was a eureka moment for me.
I braced myself to answer all the questions I had left unanswered because of my ignorance, both fundamental as well as conditioned. Thus, I decided to extend an invitation to everyone who had fired questions at me, leaving me speechless and pale. In an effort to address their questions and explain what I had learned thus far, I began to reflect on my own experiences.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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