“Why This Golu Veri Di?”

Now that Navrathri  is the current affairs, visiting few relatives and friends last weekend for the Golu, I realised that almost all the hosts talked a lot about ‘how difficult these days it is’ to organise the 10-day circus. It occurred to me then that why not have an ‘Online Golu’ instead of the real one. Ask me how?

For one thing, every year before Dassera you need to dig up the trunk boxes of earlier generation to unpack colourful toys of yore for display. Broken ones pain you after all you painstakingly collected them over years. The cost of buying new ones, which is shooting up along with onions and such other ‘essentials’ shocks the spouse. War ensues at home between daily needs and annual rituals, whether or not to replace the broken toys or/and also add to the existing variety. After all   budget provision is needed also for the fast-approaching Diwali purchases.

Come to think of it, the next ‘issue’ (‘prachinai’ the permanent word in TV Tamil Serial dialogues) in family front is how many steps are required for the golu, especially when the flat sizes are shrinking day-by-day. From nine steps your spouse steps down, like the real estate TV ad selling cheaper-cost-flat lowering his hand step-by-step, “Still less, yet lower, even low”, and bringing you to five steps, mumbling “Why this Golu Veri Di?” Finally, he has to climb (up and) down the stairs & loft, clean the ware and do the errands, worrying about the wear & tear of his veishty (lungi).

Not keeping a Golu is out of question. After all, you want your electronically-bombarded-younger-generation to know about Indian mythology, spirituality and tradition, though they care too hoots about these.

Coming to types of golus, in some nationalist houses, I found Indian Freedom Struggle depicted through display of Mahatma Gandhi, Bharathiyaar, etc. as a golu theme. Like the recent Tamil film titles on city or district names such as Madurai, Theni, my brother’s family had ‘created’ miniature-Trichy as a theme-based-Golu. You could spot Srirangam Temple, Rock Fort, Air port, Railway Junction, Kaveri & Kollidam rivers, etc. and the grandmother was so happy going back (to Tiruchirappali Town without ticket) reminiscing her nostalgic days.

Why take the trouble of arranging a real golu of multiple steps? Why not take only one e-step (few clicks), and leap into the virtual golu world? Cut & copy a variety of gods, goddesses by googling and paste them (as a collage) creatively on to your Wall (electronic I mean). Your contacts will ‘Like’ it.

You can even ‘show’ your golu to your cousin in Australia or Switzerland. You can have readymade Dasaavatharam posters (not Kamal Haasan’s film), Six-faced Murugan (not Quick Gun Murugan), Mall pictures instead of the traditional village sellers displaying ethnic stuff. You name it; it is there in the Net. You need to only cast a wide net to capture colourful pictures.

See the brighter side, friends and relatives need not be invited, they will in any case ‘drop in’ at your site virtually. No lame excuses for physically not visiting you, in their busy lives. Less travel, so you become environment-friendly. No plastic toys, plaster of paris material, serial electric lights and decoration. And think again, no sundal (Navarathi dish) which again creates a hole in the ozone layer (release of Methane). At last, it’s all gas you see!

No embarrassment of singing (as well as listening to them!) by visitors. In my sister’s golu, gadgets were broadcasting religious bhajans while we visitors were gossiping happily.  Even if we had asked our little children to sing in front of the golu, they would have the sung latest ‘kola veri’ songs and not Carnatic music as the elders would expect.

‘Why no golu this time at your home?’ asked my hosts and I replied, “If all the four members of my small family assemble at the dining table, this itself is like golu!” It’s is a rare occurrence (almost once a year affair). Everyone is busy eating in front of the TV, Desktop, Laptop, Palmtop, Tab, Mobile, and by mistake they should not byte, sorry bite the remote or the thin gadget instead of chips or burger!

Talking of eating, in the real-world golu, you need to cook a daily-variety of sundals for the guests. You can’t send them empty-handed. In fact I have been unsuccessfully trying to inspire my son studying engineering to become the richest and famous Bill Gates by designing a ‘cooking gadget’ that will receive sms from working couple in office, to automatically produce food of choice, like drum stick sambar, brinjal curry, and of course sundal, literally at the touch of a button. But the machine should re-order, cut vegetables, clean and wash the utensils itself.

Imagine the quantum of women power that will be released by this machine. What a drudgery cooking daily for four thankless members by millions of women (men still don’t go anywhere near the kitchen). I already read in the news that dosa or chappati-making machines are being designed to churn out hundreds in an hour. Womenfolk will really feel liberated and grateful. They can avoid the kit..kit.. kitchen. Men folk too will be pleased with this gadget and will quickly acquire one, even as they can altogether avoid matrimony!

-J Jeyes