The Holi Fire

Hi,

Its too soon that I have come up with my second blog but I couldn't resist. As it is Dhulendi today(Holi-2nd day). I was at holi-pujan last night in our neighborhood and there was something I found not only disturbing but quite alarming. 10-15 houses in our neighborhood had come together to make a 'holika' out of woods and dried cow-dung. In the evening, when I had gone for a small tour of the local area, same was the case almost everywhere. People were celebrating in groups of 10-15 houses. In earlier days and a smaller town(Chandausi), I know that a single pyre of wood was made for a much larger group of houses. You might ask 'What's the problem?'. Problems are many, people are growing apart, one major feature of Indian society was its unity which is diminishing(atleast in bigger cities). But the issue I have in mind is wood. What happens when everyone starts celebrating a nuclear festival? More consumption of wood per person for the celebrations. The most alarming thing is that even though people do realize that the cost of wood is soaring, they make it a point to try and get as much fire-wood as possible(maybe as a status symbol). And what happened when they piled up woods in a heap? It took them an hour to get the fire going. There was no space for air(oxygen) for the combustion of woods. A much better model for the pyre would have been if the logs had been placed in concentric cones. It would have saved lots of wood, money and, of course, air. Another thing I might suggest is for everyone to go home and pray around their cooking gas at home. It is as holy a fire as you could get. It(LPG) is the one providing you with food now and not wood as was the case when logically people started to celebrate Holi for the ripening of Wheat crops. I am not against celebrating the festival, but one should realize that the situation when these festivals were started and now are wholly different. There lies no sense in burning the woods now and Holi is not the only festival in India to have this tradition of burning fire-wood. Wood is considered sacred but it is because it was the source of food, heat, comfort in older times. I would, of course, not suggest anyone to start considering petrol as sacred now. It would do to petrol what we have already done to wood and, directly as a result of it, to the forests. I don't think these thoughts of mine are going to start any change in 'traditions'(whether right or wrong, traditions are traditions and people do follow them) but I would like you to think and that is my work done for now. I will be back soon.