There’s a notion, quite popular on Whatsapp and other forms of social media, which believes that Hindu festivals are unfairly targeted by elitists.
There’s a notion, quite popular on Whatsapp and other forms of social media, which believes that Hindu festivals are unfairly targeted by elitists and 'liberals'.
It’s as if the electrons of outrage are activated every time a Hindu festival nears which are painted as symbolic of the ills that plague society.
Diwali is the season to moan about air and noise pollution, Karva Chauth and Rakhi are celebration of unending patriarchy, whilst Holi is the time to remember water pollution.
Of course, there’s no denying that vulgar individuals use Holi as a mask to unleash their inner pervert but in general, the school of thought that popular Hindu festivals are mocked by the manor-born refuses to go away.
On Friday, India’s biggest selling English author, Chetan Bhagat weighed in with his words of wisdom.
While some feel that it’s a general disregard for Hinduism by ‘elitists’, Bhagat felt that it wasn’t so much about the religion as ‘elitists looking down upon the masses’.
He wrote on Twitter: “It's not so much Hinduism. Elitists in India just love looking down on whatever the masses do: how they celebrate Holi, how they celebrate Diwali, Hindi, Bollywood, Indian Television, their political choices. It's how they try to stay elite. Ignore them.”
As usual, Bhagat’s comments set off the lions with scores agreeing with him on Twitter with others pointing out that it wasn’t elitism to speak about consent. The debate followed the uproar after allegations that semen-filled balloons were hurled at girls in Delhi.
Here are some of the tweets that followed:
The debate about Holi is far from over, and will probably be rehashed next year also. Similarly, the larger point of whether Hindu festivals are being targetted by a section of the elites have no easy answer. Some would say, it is merely an effort to fill the lacunae present in the religion.
But in all that, Chetan Bhagat's reputation as the agent provocateur remains untarnished. Many believe he merely panders to majoritarian feelings, and tries to play the role of the underdog, not acknowledging his position of privilege. But Bhagat again managed to polarise opinion on Twitter, ignite a conversation, which probably was his intention from the beginning.
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