Ugly pumpkins, ridiculous costumes and over-the-top makeup, trick or treating for kids and scary themed parties for the adults, the story of Halloween runs deeply in the Western culture. And these days I have been observing a flood of Halloween posts in my social media accounts . "10 ideas to celebrate Halloween with your kids..", "10 craft projects for Halloween..", "10 things to do at Halloween night.." There are parties happening for Halloween. Costumes are getting sold. Myriads of contests are posting spooky pictures and asking to share even more ghostly pictures. And amidst all this, I am puzzled, baffled and tickled.
I don't know if this is the notion of globalization or a modest thought to adopt cultures regardless of the geographical borders. Howbeit, I am sure about one thing that I hate the idea of kids celebrating Halloween here in India.
I have a few questions in my mind that I humbly want to ask those Halloween party people:
- How you are planning to explain Halloween to your young kids? A few days back I heard my 3 years old saying something as "Bhoot". I was already scared. I wanted to know who was seeding something like this in his fragile mind. I explained to him that there is nothing like "Bhoot" or "Ghost". And then he is seeing the pictures of people dressed up for Halloween; like a Dracula or a bloodsucker demon. I am clueless how to explain to him that although ghost and demons don't exist, there is a festival when we celebrate ghost and evil spirits. Oh, by the way, my 3-year-old still doesn't know about spirits yet.
- Should we allow our kids to talk to strangers next door? Now what I read about Halloween in relation to kids is; They are supposed to ask for either treats or tricks at the houses they choose to knock on. I so hate this festival in the Indian context. We all know how safe the streets of India are once the sun sets down. We are attempting to bring a holiday that celebrates horror to a country where intensely horrifying things happen in real life. This may be eerier as I fear of someone forcefully pulling my son inside his/her house and then giving me ransom calls.
- Are we not contradicting the themes of Indian festivals? Diwali is the festival of lights. Holi is the festival of colours. Rakhi is the festival of love. Now I can even see a point in Thanksgiving which is the festival of gratitude. But Halloween is the festival which celebrates horror and everything spooky. Lights, colours, gratitude, are completely opposite to the spreading of horror in the community. Indian festivals celebrate the victory of good over evil while this festival recalls evils. In navratri we worship girls as Goddess Durga who killed demons and now letting our children dress up like a demon may be confusing for their morale. Moreover, in our country where people are already very good in making bad tricks to cheat others, think of the offensive ‘tricks’ people would commit in the name of Halloween. It's so scary.
- Being here in India, do we run out of festivals that we are trying to import a new one? We had 20 consecutive days of them this month of October alone. And you still want to continue saga for some more days? I am out of budget now and my energy to shop is highly drained. I am in no mood for celebrating something like Halloween where tradition demands that people dress up in fancy costumes (Scary ones) and put on face paint of colours like blood red and black. I am all happy with Holi and Durga Puja where as well we play with colours.
Dear people, in India, there is no need to dress like a Dracula for a single day. Our surroundings already have a good number of such Draculas who are so merciless that they can do unthinkable kind of crimes with our kids. So, at least in the name of festivals, I don't want to celebrate evils. I see no point in Halloween customized in Indian framework. It is far more bloodcurdling than what this western culture festival sets in.
Keep your insecurities to yourself. Please don't preach it.
ReplyDeleteSame as hanging pumpkins at the doorpost of Indian new houses?
ReplyDeleteNow I am sure you feel you are right where you stand but can you really say that indian festivals are safe?Hundreds of people and animals get injured for the sake of celebration.Let's not even mention the environment.Just as you have rendered this festival pointless ,with the same reasons almost all indian festivals can be seen as dangerous and harmful.As for those "draculas" you talk about, crimes don't happen just in india,there are bad people everywhere.I could say a lot more but...
ReplyDeleteAlso this is the internet, open to everyone so please don't tarnish Indian people's image as being so close minded.
You say diwali is the festival of lights to celebrate the victory of good over evil but of the animals that die on the night of diwali the accidents that happen the pollution that envolpes the air around us & holi you say is the festival of colours in which most people to "celebrate" this "auspicious" festival burn their sins in great fires the night before only to commit sins like public intoxication and drug abuse the very next day and if you and your children are scared of spirits and demons and believe them to be real then please keep your stupid insecurities to yourself and let me ask this too who are you to tell us which festival we can celebrate and which we can't.
ReplyDeleteAnd also to correct you a bit halloween was in fact celebrated to make themselves and their homes safe from the spirits by offering them food and dressing up as souls of the dead on All hallows evening (halloween).
As a matter of fact most Indian christians celebrate the 31st October not as halloween but as All Saint's Eve which is halloween without the dress up,pumpkin carvings or trick'o treating.
If you say it is dangerous to explain Halloween to your kids, how do you explain Bhoot Chaturdashi to them?
ReplyDelete