Bharat Chand

One of my acquaintances recently wrote on a social media post stating, "The festivals like ‘Teej and Swasthani must be thrown out of society." He attributed festivals as the main obstacles to the progress of our society.
Scrolling down his post, I found his post had drawn mixed reactions. Some commented it as the right thing while some posted neutral comments and some went even further lambasting the post as nonsense.
The constitution of Nepal allows the practice of secularity wherein anyone can practice the religion of their choice without any coercion. Showing solidarity towards all the festivals binds all the castes and creeds residing within the country together.

Festivals Connect
The point of discussion on this issue, to some extent, requires the understanding of how faiths and beliefs help people remain connected with their fellow beings. There could have been many arguments over the observation of the festivals we are brought up with. One of the important things about festivals is that they connect our sentiments, bring us closer with our fellow beings, and help us share our pains and sorrows that we are going through.
Let’s forget what is written in the Holy books about the observation of any festival, faith, or belief. None of the religious texts of the world tells anyone to be harsh on the followers of other faiths. Each religion is equally important.
Irshad who hails from the Muslim community is the one I have been in touch with following an incident I have had a couple of years ago at Gwarko, Lalitpur.
I met this guy at the hospital who by profession is the senior therapist with a humble attitude towards the patients visiting him.
My frequent visits to the department of therapy he headed increased our bond of knowing each other and then we ended up becoming good friends.
We two have been exchanging our solidarity by wishing in each other's festivals. I wished last time on the occasion of Id festival and he wished me on the occasion of Teej however it is observed by our women only.
Different Beliefs
Many people observing different kinds of festivals are based upon the faiths they have had and are still regarded as one of the chief means of celebration despite having the presence of other means of entertainment. How much-glued people have been towards their faith in one of the villages in India is worth mentioning here.
A village in south India consisting of two hundred families does not put locks at their homes even if everyone leaves the home citing the reason that their homes get protected by the god they desperately believe in. If anybody tried to go inside the house in the absence of the family members, he/she would be punished by the god, not by the people and people have been practicing it for a long even today.
Atheists may regard it as a nonsense act but it may be regarded as the foundational trait in the community where it is practiced as a norm of the society. The novice trying to build up the behavioral skills at home may regard it as a part of moral education. The faith among the Christians is that Santa Claus lands on the earth and gives blessings during the time of the Christmas festival. We have different faiths and these faiths cannot be overlooked through the eyes of personal opinion. One's personal opinion does not mean the opinion is a universal one for others and vice-versa. It is therefore wise to accommodate the faith of others as your own in a secular society, showing our solidarity than having put a barrage of comments to irate the feeling of others.
The festivals we observe in and outside of Nepal are our festivals, not only of the particular caste. If one does not like the festival of others it does not mean the festivals observed by others are bad and ours are good ones!
Tantrism
In one of the popular books by Amitav Ghosh, ‘Gun Island', there is a conversation between the Deen and his know-how professor Cinta about the practice of Tantrism. Ghosh through his character Deen makes him speak that Tantrism is only practiced in Eastern philosophy. But his professor Cinta denies this fact and shares with him that Tantrism is the way of life in France and Spain even today.
During the time of 1629, Europe was hit hard with the spread of plagues when millions of people died. But something miraculous happened in one of the cities of Italy. Corte Nova, a place in Italy remained unaffected by the deadly plague.
This miracle was attributed to the painting of ‘Blessed Virgin’ hung at the entrance of the place where people later built a church in the name of the girl and it is still regarded as a place of huge veneration and receives a huge number of visitors belonging to the Christian faith.
We have seen various high-ranking officials of other nations working in various capacities in Nepal having immersed profoundly with the festivals of all sorts observed in Nepal with pride. They not only show their solidarity by just expressing their congratulatory notes but also by becoming a part of it as well. They even wear costumes of the particular festival being observed too.
Alaina Teplitz, former ambassador of America to Nepal, had so many times made her public appearance and became a part of festivals, wearing the costumes that the festival demanded. Does it mean that she is a Christian should have stuck with the festivals observed by the Christians only? Should anyone have different faiths from others be discarded? If so, how could we maintain harmony among each other, one of the most important qualities to be had among us? If we respect the existence of plurality in our society, it is important to adhere to the existence of others.
Reforms
Equally important is to carry out reform in the practice of observing festivals and religious rituals.
A woman observing a fast for the well being of her husband during the Teej festival demands reformation: Would not it be necessary for a husband to go on fasting for the well being of his better half as well?
Religion is a personal choice of an individual. Freedom of expression
guaranteed in the constitution does not mean that a person should utilise this freedom to defame others. Nelson Mandela, after the end of Apartheid in South Africa, included the people of various faiths in his government without differentiating the people on the basis of race, caste and creed. He brought everyone on the same board and united South Africa.
Let's, therefore, get united to accept the practices of others and avow to respect the presence of all with no prejudices.

(Chand is an independent researcher)