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Commercialization of festivals is the direct result of globalization.

Two questions might be creeping in your mind firstly, how is this commercialization related to globalization? And secondly, why are these festivals being marketed in such a large scale? Before going into further detail I must mention that this article concerns not only about festivals having religious backing but also with days invented post-industrialization, like Valentines Day. Globalization brought with itself a close nexus among the world different organizations. Post liberalization, suppose an Indian firm having a business in greeting cards was now directly interacting with a USA firm having a business in bouquets; both the firms supported each other logistically. Now the overseas department of that USA firm was maintained by its Indian counterpart, same was true with the Indian firm. This in all broadens the scope of commercialization of festivals. It further heightened the belief that why couldnt Indians replicate the same success which their counterparts did in USA. Also, liberalization brought with itself a new breed of entrepreneurs who wanted to experiment with the shores still untouched. Companies started giving out sales and offers like Diwali Dhamaka and Christmas Bonanza. But, Valentine Day with its family (Friendship Day, etc) was still an alien to us. Then all of a sudden companies migrated to a new theme. They started advertising their product around youth. More and more youth centric slogans started peeping out. Somewhere in the middle companies manufacturing Chocos, soft drinks, greeting cards, etc. saw an untimed opportunity floating in it. It leads to the emergence of Days like Valentines, Friendships, Mothers etc. The popularity grew with such ads and then so did the sales of the companies. Our society accepted most of them. But, few others like Valentines Day and Friendship Day are still looked at as somewhat defying ethics. People supporting such festivals and their commercialization claim to have a wider and broader thinking. They call themselves pseudosecular. On contrary, people not supporting such festivals and their commercialization talk about the degradation of cultural and moral conduct which is brought in by such festivals. Opinions will always stand but in the meantime, the big honchos count their profits. What comes to your mind when you think of the word festival? If I was asked this question a decade back, I would immediately picture lights, colours, sweets, sitting with the family at a puja, even church hymns and Christmas carols. But now, when someone mentions Diwali, I think of the new clothes in the shop window which my mother promised to buy me. Christmas makes me think of the wrapped boxes sitting under the miniature tree or on my bedstead or of the cool new products shown on TV which they claim are a must-have for the season. And I know it is not just me. Commercialisation has changed the way we look at anything in todays world.

Advertising has channeled our minds in such a way that we only think of what we stand to gain during a festival. Gone are the festivals I knew as a child back when nobody cared about what you wore or what you got as a present, but instead all that mattered was having fun and appreciating the day for what it symbolized. Weeks ahead of Christmas, Easter, Diwali, or almost any other existing festival, we see advertisement boards on the streets flashing their discounts and their specials, and turning on the TV means being shown about a hundred different advertisements about different brands and their attempt at spreading the festive cheer and using the season as an excuse to exploit the wallets of eager consumers. Commercialisation of festivals has eaten into the essence of why we celebrate these festivals and is also accused by many of being a sacrilege. A main concern, especially for environmentalists, is the commercialisation of Diwali, and the use of firecrackers, which cause various types of pollution, which make conditions worse for humans as well as animals. If we think of festivals as simply another way of indulging ourselves and spending money, it ruins the very purpose of the religious celebration. The effect of commercialisation can be seen especially in young children how many kids are there who are more concerned with why Christmas or Holi are celebrated, than about what they will be receiving for them? Festivals are not meant to be opportunities for financial gain for brands and companies. They are meant to be occasions for religious observance and for people to understand and respect the meaning behind them. OR Commercialization has far reaching effects on festivals across the globe. The impact of commercialization has marred the real meaning of religious and traditional customs. I express my views hereafter in favour of the topic. The growing trend of globalization has cast negative impression on age old beliefs. People tend to celebrate festivals not only as a customary practice but also as a means to exercise their spending power. In this way, festivals loose their real significance since their aim was first, to spread love and peace and second, to celebrate the festival keeping in mind the reason why the festival was being celebrated. How many people today celebrate festivals, keeping in mind the religious/ spiritual connection? There are also some religious stories and incidents because of which a festival came into being, about which a majority of us are still unaware and we do not even make an effort to find out about them. The main reason for which people look forward to festivals is a holiday from work to enjoy and relax. Many of them do not even bother about doing a religious ceremony, or thinking about any deity related with the festival even once. What excites them the most is showing off their

wealth by exchanging gifts. Even middle-class people are caught up in this trap. Earlier, people would take out time to wish friends and relatives, but now people tend to feel that they have done their duty by just sending an SMS. In fact their day should begin with pure joy and end with pure satisfaction, of doing a good deed, that is spreading love. Earlier, festivals like diwali and holi were family occasions. Diwali was celebrated by lighting small diyas and candles, having a small puja and burning a few crackers to rejoice the homecoming of Rama along with Sita and Laxman from his exile in Ayodhya on this day. Houses were white-washed and new clothes were bought. But now with commercialization its a pure show of money, people buy designer lights, loads of crackers of various varieties and the long-lasting ones, and burn them for couple of days before and after the festival. This not only causes pollution but also makes one forget the very essence of the festival. There would be very few people who still relate Diwali with Rama. Taking the example of Holi, most of us do not know about the story behind this festival which is regarding the sacrifice of Holika. Few years back, this festival was enjoyed by neighbourhoods by playing with colours, indicating the importance of various colours in our life and spreading love and togetherness. Now even Holi has become a show of wealth, and people hosting big parties, serving drinks and playing dirty holi with permanent colours, water balloons, mud, and eggs. Also during Durga puja, there is a lot of money spent to decorate the pandals. There is even a competition between the pandals of different localities which is ridiculous. Similar is the case of garba during Navratras in Gujarat where people dance to the tunes of DJs and celebrities are invited to colonies to show their financial solidarity also. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and not about pleasing each other with gifts. Believed by many, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. There need not be any Santa or bunny, but just faith in Him. There is also an exchange of cards on many of the festivals, besides mass advertisement for various sales in shops, discounts in restaurants, etc. when festivals are approaching. In fact few years back no one was even aware of festivals like the Valentines day, Fathers day and Mothers day.. By popularising these, greeting cards companies like Archies and Hallmark have had a profit. They look at it only with the objective of making money. Today Friendships day is given more importance than raksha bandhan. Thus, I conclude here by saying that in course of time, the true meaning of festivals will remain confined to the history books. To avoid this, we should work towards spreading the real significance of festivals.

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