Happy mute festival everyone!

This pandemic has created a sort of vacuum for the chirpy hearts out there who used to celebrate Dussehra with pomp and extravagance. For a country which is known for its festivities being cheerfully carried out by the people in the world throughout, this mute Dussehra celebration was not a happy news for any of them.

Both Ramlila performances and burning of the Ravana effigies were cancelled due to the rugged challenge posed by COVID, here in India. At popular places such as pooja pandals and Dussehra Maidans wherein Dussehra was earlier celebrated with a lot of pomp and cheer, celebrations marked an all-time low.

Pooja Pandals were not even erected at most places in order to avoid the large incoming of COVID cases inside out or the vice-versa. I think it is time to rethink the model on which Dussehra is based and which is victory of good over evil.

In kolkata, in one of the pooja pandals, Goddess Durga was depicted as a migrant walking back home, keeping in mind, the nationwide lockdown horrors and in Delhi, Ramlila committees deferred from bursting patakhas due to the city’s critical air quality woes.

There is a quick realization amongst the public that this virus doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor, upper class or middle class and this is precisely why, it becomes all the more necessary to take precautions and maintain social distancing at any place that we go.

This virus has taught us a lot of lessons and the first and foremost is that we need to preserve nature otherwise, we all know the results and this pandemic amidst the Dussehra has taught us to adopt minimalistic approach which means to stay home and stay safe for a better shared future.

-Mahima Ahuja