I have enjoyed Dussera like all children...the holidays, the feastival food, new clothes and the visit to neighbour's homes to see the doll arrangements in the homes during the 9 days.
Now, I see the doll arrangements on whatsapp messages sent by friends. Looking at the vast collections in the photos, I realize that as people have gotten 'richer', the doll collection and arrangements have become huge and run through the entire house in some homes.
Though the collection of dolls on display have increased, I don't see much change in the display style or new and creative ideas for the display of dolls. Some folks have so may dolls on display that the rows are simply crammed with the God, goddess figurines and one cannot appreciate the beauty of individual dolls. Sorry to sound critical but the rows of figurines look like rows in a shop displayed for sale.
I am wondering if artwork or museum curators should make the Dussara doll arrangements and give Dussera celebrators some new ideas. What do you think?
In 90% of the homes what we see is rows of dolls and some arrangements are 'settings' such as a green sheet or artificial grass with wild animals called 'zoo', a green sheet on a triangular heap with appropriate figurines dotted around and called Chamundi hill.
We really need more creativity and aesthetics to up our Dussera game folks! Please!
On another note, why are we Indians becoming more and more enamoured by the ideas of religious rituals instead of moving forward into becoming less ritualistic and more ethical, moral and spiritual? Why are we not progressing into following the spirit of hinduism than the rituals of Hinduism?
I can already hear the angry rants of my friends.. "We can't give up our culture...". My question is, is Hindu culture reduced to rituals and ostentatious displays of the concrete markers of Hinduism? Can't we go beyond that?
Three more concerns in the context of Dussera dolls:
1)Most of the figurines on display are painted with (I am assuming) paints which have a few toxic substances such as lead in them. This has to stop as these toxic substances definitely affect the workers (potters in villages of Andhra and Tamil Nadu) who make them and their families if doll making is a cottage industry. As far as I know these potters have skills but are so exploited by the middlemen that they make just enough for food and not much else. Imagine their health affected by the toxic substances they work with. The buyers of dolls are contributing directly or indirectly to their exploitation, ill health and other problems.
The toxic paints on images of Lord Ganesha and Durga have already polluted the waters of India and killed fish and other waterlife. For those who don't know about Hindu rituals, clay images of Ganesha are put in wells, rivers or sea after the Ganesha festival where the clay disintegrates(the clay image is not fired after moulding). Clay images of Durga, Kali are put in waters after the Dussera festival in places like West Bengal.
I pray to God that the potters and artisans are NOT using plaster of Paris as this is another major pollutant of the water bodies.
2) I wonder if these potters are aware that the paints they use have toxic stuff in them or their limited education in the terrible government run schools of villages keeps they ignorant?
Also most of these potters have (I am assuming again...I have not researched this) little education and so they really cannot fend for themselves from the middlemen buying their dolls for pittance, or their employers paying them a pittance. Andhra is one of the many places where Muhammad Yunus Nobel prize winning idea about microfinance for the poor has done the opposite of what he intended...the poor, illiterate and rural population of Andhra have been brutally exploited by ruthless, immoral moneylenders under the guise of microfinance loans. I don't know how many of these skilled artisans have become victims of these money-lending assholes.
3)Lack of education also means they have little exposure to a lot of things in the changing world and so factors which influence creativity are absent. It's possible they do what they are told to do and the people telling them what to do, being businessmen, lacking in creativity and aesthetics, give them mundane things to do . The extent of their creativity is asking for figurines of Lord Ganesha playing cricket!
Now, I see the doll arrangements on whatsapp messages sent by friends. Looking at the vast collections in the photos, I realize that as people have gotten 'richer', the doll collection and arrangements have become huge and run through the entire house in some homes.
Though the collection of dolls on display have increased, I don't see much change in the display style or new and creative ideas for the display of dolls. Some folks have so may dolls on display that the rows are simply crammed with the God, goddess figurines and one cannot appreciate the beauty of individual dolls. Sorry to sound critical but the rows of figurines look like rows in a shop displayed for sale.
I am wondering if artwork or museum curators should make the Dussara doll arrangements and give Dussera celebrators some new ideas. What do you think?
In 90% of the homes what we see is rows of dolls and some arrangements are 'settings' such as a green sheet or artificial grass with wild animals called 'zoo', a green sheet on a triangular heap with appropriate figurines dotted around and called Chamundi hill.
We really need more creativity and aesthetics to up our Dussera game folks! Please!
On another note, why are we Indians becoming more and more enamoured by the ideas of religious rituals instead of moving forward into becoming less ritualistic and more ethical, moral and spiritual? Why are we not progressing into following the spirit of hinduism than the rituals of Hinduism?
I can already hear the angry rants of my friends.. "We can't give up our culture...". My question is, is Hindu culture reduced to rituals and ostentatious displays of the concrete markers of Hinduism? Can't we go beyond that?
Three more concerns in the context of Dussera dolls:
1)Most of the figurines on display are painted with (I am assuming) paints which have a few toxic substances such as lead in them. This has to stop as these toxic substances definitely affect the workers (potters in villages of Andhra and Tamil Nadu) who make them and their families if doll making is a cottage industry. As far as I know these potters have skills but are so exploited by the middlemen that they make just enough for food and not much else. Imagine their health affected by the toxic substances they work with. The buyers of dolls are contributing directly or indirectly to their exploitation, ill health and other problems.
The toxic paints on images of Lord Ganesha and Durga have already polluted the waters of India and killed fish and other waterlife. For those who don't know about Hindu rituals, clay images of Ganesha are put in wells, rivers or sea after the Ganesha festival where the clay disintegrates(the clay image is not fired after moulding). Clay images of Durga, Kali are put in waters after the Dussera festival in places like West Bengal.
I pray to God that the potters and artisans are NOT using plaster of Paris as this is another major pollutant of the water bodies.
2) I wonder if these potters are aware that the paints they use have toxic stuff in them or their limited education in the terrible government run schools of villages keeps they ignorant?
Also most of these potters have (I am assuming again...I have not researched this) little education and so they really cannot fend for themselves from the middlemen buying their dolls for pittance, or their employers paying them a pittance. Andhra is one of the many places where Muhammad Yunus Nobel prize winning idea about microfinance for the poor has done the opposite of what he intended...the poor, illiterate and rural population of Andhra have been brutally exploited by ruthless, immoral moneylenders under the guise of microfinance loans. I don't know how many of these skilled artisans have become victims of these money-lending assholes.
3)Lack of education also means they have little exposure to a lot of things in the changing world and so factors which influence creativity are absent. It's possible they do what they are told to do and the people telling them what to do, being businessmen, lacking in creativity and aesthetics, give them mundane things to do . The extent of their creativity is asking for figurines of Lord Ganesha playing cricket!
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