So many Symbolics camouflaging the bare – Just watch it from outside or check in?

Symbolic #1

While observing Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday, a restaurant of New Delhi has offered a total reality show of offering “Chhappan Bhog” may be not directly to him but for common people followed by a lucky draw as well, as it follows every such event because common people are not supposed to get ‘chhappan bhog’ under any situation. Here common people may be not left privileged with two guarded symbolic items, first Modi Ji’s birthday on the front and a lucky draw on the back of the ‘bhog’, if consumed at the entry point. The lucky draw offers the winner who can complete the bhog a sum of Rs.8.5Lakhs and free trip to visit Kedarnath. On the same occasion, Indian government or may be Modi Ji himself has marked the importation of 8 Cheetah from Namibia, which was earlier announced extinct by the GOI in 1952. The preparation of these two symbolic narratives must be taken months to get executed.

Bare #1

India meanwhile has however reached the highest peak of unemployment, joblessness, retrenchment, shrinkage of new job opportunities, inflation calculated in both wholesale and retail price indices etc. Concentration of currency both in capital and money forms has reached an unprecedented condensation.    

On the other hand crores of money is found scattered on the floor and stored under ordinary cot, in luxurious resorts, in number of other institutions where a cabinet Minister (later sacked) and other public representatives including government officers were alleged involved in cases as filed as fraud appointment in school teaching, cattle smuggling and some other issues as two central investigative agencies are suddenly found hyperactive in West Bengal coming out of hibernation just before the festival. Although the success rate of agencies’ investigation not only in this state but also the country as well is not at all satisfactory in probing cases like the loss of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel prize and many of such.

Symbolic #2

Recently Durga Puja of all Bengalees around the world has received Heritage tag from UNESCO with obvious special reference to West Bengal’s phenomenal grandeur of the autumn festival. The controversy popped up however surrounding the ‘Heritage Tag’ has shown a massive intellectual split in Bengal and adjacent states successfully organizing Puja for years, even centuries. The first controversy logically raised by Bengalees of other states has raised a question whether the ‘Tag’ is given to only how Pujas are being organized in West Bengal only. The Tag however did not reasonably mention any particular region’s festival. Secondly, a chunk of intellectuals had started criticizing the state government for not mentioning the name of the History Professor behind the Tag, whose research project and submission of historical documents about Pujas to the UNESCO had earned this Heritage Tag to Durga Puja. The problem in both cases went so high that suppressed many other burning issues of the state of West Bengal and the country for quite a while. The state government has finally resolved the issue by inviting the renowned History Professor on the official stage of the Heritage Ceremony along with UNESCO Officials. What even the initiative could not resolve was the controversy whether the Carnival after Puja or during idol immersion programme earned the Tag or the sole ‘research’ had bagged the title. Basically the whole research project on Durga Puja was the documentation of the historical elements of the Puja and festival around it that included the contemporary aspects of the festival too along with the historical elements. So there is a normal two-fold aspect of the same, firstly, the contemporary aspects of organizing Puja i.e. havoc sponsors, huge floating of money, high budgeted pujas, explosion of online virtual shopping and finally the Carnival. Secondly, documentation of all such aspects as the contemporary elements of Durga Puja and large scale reach to the rest of the globe has doubtlessly substantiated the whole effort. The first is the production side and the second is documentation side of the same issue which both have earned the Heritage Tag.

Bare #2

We all have however missed out the consumption side of the same festival. If the production side of the festival has been substantial the consumption beyond all earlier limits has finally ensured in the name of people’s participation. Although people of specially West Bengal have been participating in the festival by enhancing their consumption pattern of new cloths and other purposes for years and centuries, the contemporary consumption aspects have transcended all earlier limits when both on physical and virtual medium people consume not only just buying but far beyond the limits of just buying. This however breaks the consumption pattern of any festival that on the other hand is suppressing the other social inequalities and unjust activities for years too. The havoc money laundering behind such effort on many other issues have deprived so many people up to their poor subsistence that opens up a different reality behind the festival.

Editor

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