The holy city being already soaked in the Holi spirit, the people, particularly the youngsters, are gearing up to celebrate the festival of colours by singing and dancing aside from smearing one another with gulal. The socio-cultural-spiritual organisation based in Haridwar, Shantikunj, has decided to send a different message altogether -‘banishing vulgarity and inculcating Indian cultural values in the youths’.
Expressing the need of celebrating the festival in a meaningful spirit and not just with music bash and colours, the coordinator of the programme Kedar Dubey said, “The poison of vulgarity has deeply eaten its way into our day-to-day life, reducing every festival to ‘hulla gulla’. The youths play music and dance to celebrate without trying to realise the significant message lurking behind these festivals that embody the Indian tradition. We are launching a campaign against vulgarity this Holi which shall be observed at 1,459 places across the country.”
The supporters of the movement would make a bonfire of obscene pictures and literature this Holi all over the country.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the international Gayatri Parivar head Dr Pranav Pandya said, “Holi would be celebrated as anti-vulgarity day this year. Our youths would stage rallies to awaken the people to the deeper significance lying behind this festival. Most of the youngsters today have forgotten the mythological and Vedic significance of the festival and think it is all about merry- making. On March 22 and 23 when Holika Dahan is observed our youths would organise a community bonfire at different places and burn the vulgar posters, pictures and books collected from households.”
Besides burning the ‘evil’, the positivity of the festival would also be highlighted, he said, adding that their mission is threefold- eradicating the disparity on the basis of gender, castes and economic status. The importance of making sacrifices in life by performing symbolic yajna would also be enunciated to the people at large, said Pandya.