Let Puja and Eid uphold spirit of human bond

---

Nilratan Halder This is festival time. Right at this moment the Bangalee Hindus are observing their greatest religious festival, Durga Puja (worship of the goddess Durga) spanning over long five days. The Muslims are all set to observe Eid-ul-Azha, one of their two greatest religious festivals. Beginning on October 10, the 'puja' culminates on October 14 through the immersion of the image of Durga and two days later the Eid will be observed through a special prayer and congregation and sacrifice of animals. Earlier, there was a tradition of sacrifice of buffalo before the temple of goddess Durga in certain areas although it was not widely popular. Subsequently, sacrifice of buffalo became a thing of the past either in this part of the then undivided Bengal or in the geographic entity now called Paschimbanga. However, the tradition of 'kolakuli' (social custom among both Hindus and Muslims to embrace each other as a gesture of universal fraternity of love and peace) is there on the day of Bijoya Dhashami. The Muslims also maintain the custom on both days of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha. So the two communities' great festivals nearly coincide and the exchange of greetings and the expression of warmth of hearts will have a meeting place on subsequent days. But these are only the outward manifestation of an inner spirit that has made both the 'puja' and Eid special. Durga Puja is essentially an invocation of power but one that is capable of killing the demon within. Durga symbolises power at its most pure and pristine that wins over the undefeated demon -one that banished all the gods and goddesses from heaven. Here again the subtle metaphor points to the frailty of the gods and goddesses who are heir to their follies and weaknesses. Now man has invented a goddess who is both his daughter and the mighty slaughterer of the evils that is always engaged in a combat with what he considers goodness in him. Locked their horns in a perpetual struggle, the good and evil simply define human life in this mundane world. Now man turns to the goddess who recaptured heaven from Mahishasur, the undefeated demon until she killed her and restored sanity and order. Equally Eid-ul-Azha celebrates the spirit of sacrifice and through the sacrifice, man's obligation to the Allah Almighty. The creator of this universe puts man to the test where the created has an opportunity to prove his devotion to the former. Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) successfully went through the test to prove his unreserved allegiance to the Supreme Being by making an attempt to sacrifice his son, Ismail. The message is loud and clear: it has to be a sacrifice of the most loved one. By doing so, man establishes a bond with Allah, the omnipotent and omniscient. Here is an attempt to rise above the mundane to attain a spiritual height where man can overcome his limitations. He must get over the many trappings of this world marked by self-interest of man that leads to all kinds of crimes. It is exactly at this point, the Durga Puja and the Eids have an undercurrent similarity. The similarity concerns an attempt on both occasions to rediscover the touch of divinity by which man can become a better human being. Their pledge to forget enmity and love each other comes from a sense of universal brotherhood. Unfortunately, religious occasions have become more ritualistic than not. Arrogance and hubris seem to have prompted people to put up a public display of pomp and gaiety. Devotees were supposed to burn their baser instincts at the altar of the purity of soul always in search of Truth -absolute Truth. Instead, people love to flaunt wealth by building as large an image of the goddess as possible and spending pots of money on decoration. Similarly, there is an unspoken competition to buy the finest and biggest bull available in the market to beat the neighbour. On the occasions of religious festivals, people of both communities become much too generous in spending a fortune on things that could easily be dispensed with. But a fraction of such unnecessary expenditure on education of the poor neighbours' children or treatment of the needy could make a lot of difference in making society a better place to live in. Expensive dressing, decoration and warm greetings for a day will hardly cure the malady within. There is indeed a need for keeping the spirit awake throughout the year. If the conscience is clear and alive, man stands little chance of compromising on issues that are uncompromising for ever. The religious occasions only gives an opportunity to revive the spirit and renew the commitment. This year, both the Durga Puja and the Eid-ul-Azha have assumed a special significance because the nation discovers itself standing rather perplexed before the scheduled election for reasons of political uncertainties. The two occasions provide leaders across the divide with a platform where they can reach out to each other in order to remove the hurdles that are likely to impede the smooth transition of power under a democratic arrangement. [email protected]