Are We losing it??

As we enjoy this festival season, I think this is the most appropriate time to have a glance at our festivals. Being a catholic, the most festive occasions for me are Christmas and Easter. Christmas being closer to the year end and being a marketable event as we all witness has become commercialized. From December first we can feel the christmas-phere in everything around us that is economical. Either it's a shop, television ad or any other Christmas has influenced the way of life commercially rather than spiritually which it supposed to be though Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Being a kid of 90s I do not know what Christmas should look like as we all are born to the era of open economy. We may think that giving away an extra T-shirt we have or give someone something to eat would be more than enough for the sake of spirituality. But still none of the actions will touch the greater depth of Christmas.

Comparing to that I guess for whatever the reason that Easter is saved still. The noble causes of the Easter is still untapped by the mercantilism world.  But if we take Vesak to the consideration, though it is also a religious festival which observes the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha’s, it is sad to see that the true meaning of the festival has become obsolete.  Only few of praiseworthy practices are still remaining within the society.

Now the question is Awurudda (Tamil and Sinhala New Year). I wonder how many people knows why the events 'Kana muttiya','Aliyata aha thabeema' exist, or the in depth of meaning of the games and rituals.  New Year  is a glamorous and memorable event for all Sinhalese and Hindus. The harmony, coexistence plays a vital role there. It is a season where we feels the warmth of bonds and families but the sadness is slowly I'm witnessing it being commercialized as well. Slowly but steadily.

Will our next generation see the Aluth Awurudda just like the way I saw commercialized Christmas or will it be preserved?