The monsoon is increasingly on the wane even though cyclonic
depressions persist off and on in my part of the world. As the sky turns grey
and gloomy , friends and relatives scattered around are making enthused calls
to discuss their plans for the soon-to-arrive festive season. Early birds are
booking tickets for travel; enthusiastic shoppers are making the most of the
sale season and shopping till they drop- all in preparation to make the most of
the holidays in the coming months. And few like me, are looking at the red
marked days of the calendar with a fair amount of dread.
It is surprising and even unfortunate that when the entire
country is gearing up to celebrate a dozen pujas and festivals which dot the calendar
in the coming months, we, the people in uniform, are gearing up for nothing
less than a battle. For, in the present context, festivals assume sinister
proportions when it comes to the issues of maintaining law, order and peace in
the society. In my stints in different parts of the state, I have been
regularly observing, much to my discomfiture, that festive season is the
opportunity when our people think it is the ripe time to dig out old wounds,
flare up tensions and generally disturb a tenuous social fabric. Come the
festival season and our police stations are besieged by groups nursing wounds against their own group or
some hostile one, arising out of some inconsequential matter. Yes, we are there
to help out but what appears particularly disconcerting is that absolutely
regular and otherwise sane people become totally rigid, are unwilling to see
reason and sort out the issue amicably. Very often I have wondered as to why
these people want to waste their time and act like killjoys. Across caste,
creed, religion and race, haven’t we all been taught that festivals are the
time to forget all grief and grievances and to rejoice in caring, sharing and
giving. Sadly, it is not to be.
Come festivals, and people in the nooks of the country
suddenly turn violent, irrational, sectarian and chauvinistic. They are on the
lookout for opportunities to settle old scores and even out personal or group
grudges. It seems as if the feeling runs strong that the administration is
bound to deal with such nuisance with soft hands since it is festival time and
so the license to all mischief mongers to run amok. Therefore, what should
ideally be a time to make merry actually turns murky. I have often noticed that particularly,
processions involving idol immersions are actually open air discotheques for all the drunken
hooligans of the area who are also drunk with the confidence that they
outnumber the police personnel and the latter would turn a blind eye to most of
their wrong doings considering the sensitivity of the situation. Being held at
ransom on these occasions leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. One is helpless. Yes,
we do take a whole lot of preventive measures but nothing is enough to meet an entire
mass bent upon creating and perpetrating mischief.
Having ruminated and deliberated over this issue many times,
I feel that our social character and conduct leaves a lot to be desired. As a
society, we are increasingly portraying ourselves as an intolerant, impatient
mass given to lawlessness at the drop of a hat. Not an image to be proud of. Especially,
in an era where the level of progress and sophistication attained by a society
is measured in terms of the willingness and eagerness of the people to abide by
the law of the land. We blame a whole lot of factors for the present state of
affairs but I believe that primarily, as individuals and as members of some
group or the other, we are failing to evaluate ourselves. We are failing to
introspect, failing to understand that such base conduct does not contribute to
our self respect or win the respect of significant others in the long run.
As , we get ready for another festive season, another season
where groups of people will be ready to slug it out over some flimsy issues, I go
green with envy thinking of my friends and relatives enjoying themselves to the
hilt. As they bring out their festive fineries , special recipes and holiday
brochures, I try to think of some ingenious solutions to make peace between
warring parties so that the coming season is relatively peaceful. So much for
our bubbling religious fervor!
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