Today, Hindus across the world will be celebrating the colourful and joyous festival of Holi or Phagwah as it is known. From a Guyanese standpoint, this, like some other locally observed festivals, has transcended religious boundaries to become a most anticipated national one. Guyanese from all walks of life, more importantly religious and ethnic groupings, participate to share in the fun and frolic that are associated with the celebrations epitomized by vibrancy and the fusion of colours.
Celebratory activities have grown across the country allowing for more focused congregations for interactions. This augurs well for national unity as it serves in many ways to bring people together. Over the years it was evident that the various levels of society are seemingly dismantled on that day as the diverse colours mask the lines of separation.
It is also demonstrative of the unison of our diversity and being true to the locally and embedded custom of the various ethnic groups sharing and participating in each other’s cultural traditions and celebrations. This is not just confined to Phagwah but very evident at Easter and Christmas as Guyanese generally do not see the religious boundaries, at least in that context.
That offers a wish for the spontaneous and by in large genuine camaraderie, not be confined to those particular days. The desire of many, if not all, would be for these to be built upon. That aside, these national festivals do offer, through their significance, pertinent lessons for the advancement of humanity. If these are genuinely heeded, then the forging of national unity could become less challenging. For that to work, the messages must therefore not be lost in the celebrations.
One of the overarching theme of Phagwah is that good will always triumph over evil as captured in the story of Prahlad who refused to submit himself to what his father, the King, dictated to his subjects. The young boy would not allow what he personally believed in to be expunged by the King’s whims and fancies. In simple terms, Prahlad stood up to his own father’s by refusing to allow a particular wish being imposed upon him.
His defiance was not without consequence as his own aunt, Holika, who was bestowed with the boom of being indestructible by fire. She urged the King, to have herself and Prahlad be placed in a fire convinced that the boy would be destroyed leaving her untouched. The King agreed and the rest is history. She was destroyed and Prahlad was unharmed. This aspect of the story is captured through the symbolic burning of the Holika on the night before Phagwah.
In the struggle between good and evil, one cannot get away with the statement, “The Devil made me do it”. We are all responsible for our actions and as a corollary, if “bad” is being done in our family, village or society, then one has a duty to confront it. The festival of Holi, like all the Hindu festivals, is associated with several narratives that are supposed to bring home not only the message, but to exemplify how we should act in our individual capacity.
From this standpoint of bringing all the various peoples in our multicultural nation together festivals like Holi does this. In the more than fifty years since it became a Public Holiday, Holi has been embraced by the widest possible cross section of Guyanese. If life is all about happiness, then Holi is the festival that brings out this more than anything else in Guyana.
Happy Holi!
