These nine days !

jaishree9 · Oct 21, 2007

These Nine days Of Navratri, when the Devi is said to be Jagrat & accepts all pooja & prayers directly, feels so wonderful ,vibrant & alive, there becomes a different atmosphere.

I always become a bit more busy with fasting for nine days & daily pooja & every thing.
This time also it was daily pooja in the morning after Ghat Sthapna & chanting the Durgasaptsadi in the morning & Nine days navahanparayan Ramayana path in the evenings ( along with my Job ) . Every time when I Read Ramayana I fell that there was a direct hand of GOD in writing of Ramayana ,All so beautiful divine description can't be made without GOD.

The teachings ,the descriptions all carry a deep inner meaning . The use of language is such magnificent that one feel bewitched
.
I ate only fruits & milk for nine days & used to feel so light & used to have full control over my desire for other food materials but as soon as fasting was over my desire to eat all chatpata came back bouncing.

Than there were all Music of Garbas floating in the ears in nights & news about Dandia detectives in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on">Gujarat</st1lace> hired by parents to keep an eye on their daughters & sons during the Garba festival .
This is all due to result of amalgamation of all religious festivals with fun & modernization that’s why youth so like it becoz of all freedom they can have in form of religious ritual & they use it for their Mojjmasti. There are Dandia everywhere on large scale to small gali level ,how much for Fun & how much as form of worship of goddess I wonder!

The dancing itself has left all purity required of occasion ,it has turned in a big stage for fashion show ,mixing of boys & girls in name of garba & having all illicit affairs .
( Resulting in increase in sell of 30--40 % contraceptives & as revealed by a doctor on channel AaJtak & increase in 10 -20 % MTPs after Navratri by young single girls )

These 9 days when ur expected to curb ur humanly desires & ways of living ,fasting for purity of body & mind for seeking the blessing of Goddess Durga has become a 9 days mega carnival event for youth in all Gujarat & all the major metros & Rajasthan as far as I know ( I don’t know abt the south)

Then there was this national health survey ( ?? ) report Saying that 51 % of Women ( which women ??? ) have no complaints abt domestic violence by their husbands ,HOW REDICULUS . Even the smallest child who can’t answer back does not like to be hurt.

Now days with festival season I saw newspapers filled with all Big Adds & little news . The people like to convey their heartfelt (? ) congratulation on these occasions with large prints of all Gods & Goddess ,but I always feel that it is so wrong as after two days all papers will reach the Wastepaper basket somewhere or other with pictures torn & papers used to wrap Pan or Vegetables & anything even for cleaning of kids soiling , Thrown in the Bins regardless of the pictures of Daities & After some time torn & littering the road sides or garbage pit. This is total disrespect towards daities while on other side we are worshipping them in our Poojaghar & temples giving all regard to purity. :wave

Shanvy · Oct 21, 2007

hi jaishree,

Nice that you had a good pooja for all the nine days. and yes the ramayana is so beautifully written with messages for everybody...

But everything is losing it actual reason...navarathri was to teach us the control over our feelings and senses..but today...it is more of a reason to celebrate .....

all that you have written about contra, detectives, mtp shows us the sad state of affairs today. in south, most of us are still holding to the old cultures...of poojas and other things..but slowly the garbas and late nights are also becoming a part of south also....

who is to be blamed.?. is it the parents who want to show off....or the kids not having patience and understanding of our traditions and culture....

Nivedi · Oct 21, 2007

Hi Jaishree,

It is good to know about the way Navaratri is celebrated in your part of the world. I appreciate your will-power in holding on to urges of eating during the fasting period.

An evening of music and dance can be clean and pure fun, but the effects of commercialisation of festivities is pulling things to the wrong direction.

Anandchitra · Oct 21, 2007

dear jaishree
thanks for posting this wonderful thread. i so much liked to read
your writing about how you celebrate these special days of our goddess
It is so true that most festivals have lost thier real significance
maybe parents are to blame to some extent. maybe its the tmes
how many people really do strict puja and strict observance of rituals etc
it really is a pity whats going on. But i dont really bother about this disintegration
of values as we dont have much control over it. so I try and follow and do prayers
as i know and spend time meditating about the wonders of our goddess.
Thanks for this thought provoking post.

jaishree9 · Oct 22, 2007

Hi dear Shanvy,Nevedi & Anadchitra
Thanx for ur nice comments.
I do agree that this so called pollution of culture as how & why it happened ,Who allows it the parents?Kids ?or the commercialization of festivals ? Wheather this is right or wrong is a long continous debate & and actually we are unable to reach a verdict ,May be the TIME is the biggest changer of everything.
Regards :wave

Kamalji · Oct 22, 2007

Jaishree,

Glad u enjoy navratris and follow all the rituals.

I was reading the other day,that eating fruits and milk, and sweets,as u said is worse than eating normal food, as 1) these contains lots of sweet,2) we tend to overeat on the one meal that we have.3) And when Navratras are over, we go on a binge, so that makes us put on more weight that we may have lost during the fasting opf navratras.

I dont follow Navratras, for me all days are to enjoy, i dont keep special days.Your writing is very good.Regards.kamal

Reg Garbas, u are so right,let me put it this way, during Garbas, many girls get Garbwati.The spirit of Navratras is lost really, as this has turned commercial, and broadcast on TV.Thanks an regards.kamal

jaishree9 · Oct 23, 2007

Hello Kamalji
Thanx for liking my writing & concern abt the overeating binge I may feel but I didn't eat sweets at all. It was just milk tea ,fruits & juices I agree some wt loss & again gain is always there but I like fasting for these nine days.
It detoxyfy body.
For the Garba & unwanted pregnancies U have very aptly named Garbavati ,really a witty one.
Regards

Kamla · Oct 27, 2007

Dear Jaishree,

Very well written! I can understand your reflections on Navarathri which wandered from your personal feelings to what is happening around us today.
Those 'nine days' are really special because as you rightly put it, it is the celebration of the Shakti, the femininity ! It is heartening to note how you do not miss other chatpata khana during your fasting days. Shows your sincerity.
I am from Bangalore and all those many many years ago, when I was a young girl (!), garba and dandia were just as famous in my part of the city, its main populace was Gujerati and Sindhi families. Even in those days, it had a stigma attached to it and you can imagine the furore caused when one young and beautiful Gujerati girl got pregnant after those festivities and did not know who the father was ?! It caused a major scandal and was the headlines in all the local newspapers. I knew her well and that incident caused quite a shock !
Too many restrictions imposed on the young people can cause such havoc as they do not know how to use sensibly the freedom they get for a short span of time .....

L, Kamla

Anandchitra · Oct 31, 2007

Dear Jaishree
One more observation after my attending the local garba festivities. ALL the girls who attended say average age as 15-16 more between 14-18 wore the latest in fashion. They revealed more than they covered. REALLY!! ALl their mothers and fathers present right there. So really parents are getting irresponsible. Doubt if this trend will change.

Kamalji · Oct 31, 2007

Chitra,

You are right about the indecent clothes of the girls.I saw that here too in Jaipur.But worse was,the mothers too were equally indecent,deep cut necks,bare back,u know how it is.It is embarassing for a person like to me .I do not go for garbas, but was passing by and it was a traffic jam, and i felt these ladies are asking for trouble really.Watched on local TV and well what to say.

This is no more like the olden days, this is commercial, anmd every one wants to show off.Sad.

Regards.

kamal