A special day?

"What are your Deepavali plans?  Or you don't do anything?"

Even though she knew my answer, my sister asked me that question.

"Nothing here," I replied.

"Now, everyday is Deepavali," I added.

We recalled how even just a couple of decades ago making sweets at home was reserved for special occasions.  For birthdays. And, yes, for Deepavali. 

But, now, any day, any time, a person can have any sweet.  "Sweets have lost their value."

Deepavali has lost its charm.

Not that there is no religious dimension to Deepavali.  Of course there is.  But, in practice, the day was less about religion and gods, but more about sweets, new clothes, and socialization.  Sweets and new clothes were rarity, and it is this rarity that provided the excitement.

In this new world of abundance (for most of us--I am not ignoring poverty around the world) new clothes have lost their value.  Sweets have lost their special status in everyday life.  Socialization is now warped with Facebook and WhatsApp.  

Deepavali has become yet another day.  

We are awash with so much abundance that there is no special value for anything.  Those out-of-ordinary sweets and clothes, and interactions with fellow humans, helped us understand and appreciate the human condition.  A message on Facebook wishing one's 942 "friends" (who are overwhelmingly not friends when you need them) does nothing to understand who we are and how we fit into the grand scheme of things.

But then, I am not sure how many really care to understand the human condition.  Perhaps my expectations are disconnected from the reality that most care not about the cosmos and our brief presence here.

Perhaps I am merely being General Malaise.

So ... Happy Deepavali y'all ;)