What's in a day?

It was International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March, like this there is an occasion for almost everyday. There is environment day, world water day, even a day for lovers etc etc, its almost like the Christian calendar where each day is dedicated to either the beatification, birth or death of a saint or the Good Lord. The Hindu calendar/almanac is however devoted to more planetary matters – the waxing and waning of the moon, the position of the planets etc etc.

The Hindu calendar is more about finding the most appropriate/auspicious day for the devout, while the Christian calendar is about dedications and remembrances so that the faithful can find occasion to sup in the reinvigorating spring of dead sainthood, and also invoke the blessed trio in the words of that dead saint.

Now the Hindu calendar and the Christian – ok Gregorian- calendar are quite different and the world unfortunately follows the Gregorian calendar. It would seem that the dedicating each day to a saint has inspired the world to dedicate days to various issues that are worldly pertinent, therefore occasions such as World Women’s Day on the 8^th of March.

Now with a more vocal section of a section of a particular community against western influences and Christian evangelism it is strange that the likes of VHP, Shiv Sena and other sentinels of Indian culture have not seen such occasions as another example of the sullying of ancient traditions.

It is indeed surprising that these undertakers have not seen this day as another example of the west’s nasty tentacles surreptitiously engulfing India in a perpetual embrace. For Christ’s sake what is the difference between a Valentines Day and Women’s day – there can’t be one without the other (no offence to the gay community). These are both occasions created by the west, worse still one had semi-religious connotations while the other celebrates womanhood which should appear strange to this vocal section used to eating first at home. Furthermore, Valentine’s Day would not be possible without women so therefore logically these custodians of Indian mores should be up in arms against anything that celebrates women.

Is it that they want to conserve their energies for a yearly concerted blitzkrieg? It does take a Goebble like deviousness and an Eichmann like efficiency to trash a few book stores selling cards, ransack hotels celebrating and slap a few lovers. Or is it that these clay modelers adept at making a mountain of a molehill have not yet got enough putty.

Such days are all about communicating; it’s about messages being transmitted through various mediums. The idea is about finding better methods of packing everything into 24 hours. This is what the ideologues of this ‘bandar sena’ have taken home and have come up with their own versions of such ‘days’ – for example the ‘ghar vapsi divas’ celebrates the return of the animistic tribal, ‘bought’ into Christianity, to the Hindu fold. This is also supposed to be a not-to-subtle kick in the teeth to the tribe of fisher-of-men.

Such nominated days, like these, are also used by governments and ministries to spend pots of money on advertisements on what they have done and are doing. So full page advertisements are printed in every daily with mug shots of the PM, the Chairman of the UPA and the head of the ministry, while rarefied conference rooms are booked for intellectuals debate.

The occasions have also become opportunities to get people to spend, so the Leela Galleria in Bangalore markets this day as one to get in touch with ones self through some yoga maestro and his beautiful socialite wife, while lounges plan to have welcome drinks and some jewellery shops promising discounts on gold.

One gets the feeling that these are used to make up for the lost 365 (depending on a leap year or not). Why should the world wake up, on the 8^th of March, to the importance of women (yes women are included in ‘world’). This is not an open invitation for the ‘you know who’ to go around slapping people and destroying property all the year round, Ram knows that they have found enough excuses in their version of Indian history to do so. These occasions are milestones, points to take stock and move forward – continuing, no bettering what was done in the last years.

* I have just been told that articles have been written about this - but I would like to add my two bits.