Let us give a silent mourning to holiday culture


Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Sep 2: Recently Karnataka Government declared a holiday to mourn the death of writer and Jnanapith awardee U R Ananthamurthy, who passed away at the age of 82. This ‘holiday’ added to the never-ending list of holidays given to schools, colleges and government offices by the central and state governments. So sarkari babus and school and college going students had a bonus holiday to ‘mourn’ URA’s death. Once again we proved that India is probably the only place where there are more holidays legal or otherwise than working days. Our country takes great pride in declaring holidays at the drop of a hat. Apart from holidays for religious festivals of different religions we add ‘mourning’ holidays and there are forced holidays due to Bundhs, strikes etc. Ours is a society that cannot boast of a work culture based on the philosophy of ‘work is worship’ widely prevalent in most countries.

To cite the recent example a friend of mine told me the other day that soon after Chief Minister Siddharamaigh declared a holiday following the demise of URA her son was constantly in touch with his college friends as they all wanted to go on an outing as colleges were closed. He had succeeded in gathering a group of 14 boys to be a part of the fun group. So on this mourning day they first went for a movie and after the movie along with their packed lunch they went to a nearby waterfall in their cars and bikes to return only in the evening. He had informed about it to his parents who were left with no option but to say yes as today’s youngsters dictate terms to parents than vice versa. This must be the case with many other students especially college going youngsters who cannot think of spending a day at home doing nothing. They get bored as they cannot imagine life without TV, computers, mobiles or enjoying with friends that also includes going on joy rides.

And the lesser said about government servants the better it is. This being a bonus holiday they celebrated it at home may be having an extra dish for lunch or watching some movie in television or in theatres to keep themselves busy and engaged. One cannot expect these babus to sit and mourn URA’s death all through the day and it is not fair also. May be many of them had an additional dish cooked at home and peg or too to overcome the sadness of having lost a literary luminary. In other words it can be said that by declaring a holiday the people of the state actually enjoyed that day thus belittling the very meaning of mourning. Being a Saturday it proved to be a prolonged holiday for some others who even planned to go on a short tour. So who actually mourned the death of URA?

This essay is not to disparage the greatness of U R Ananthamurthy. Agreed, he is a Jnanapith awardee, a writer of great standing whose recent political uttering had created quite a political stir in the country. What did we achieve by declaring a holiday on this day other than losing a working day? The saving grace was that it was a Saturday and we can say only half day was lost because banks work only for half day on Saturdays. But the moot question is do we really need a holiday to mourn the death of a VIP in the country who died at the ripe age of 82? It is not just URA we are talking about. The greatest respect we can pay to a departed soul is in the form of a two minute silent prayer. Declaring a holiday will lose the very sanctity of ‘mourning’ attached to the holiday. Every year we celebrate Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2nd which is a public holiday. Isn’t it an insult to the father of the nation that we refrain from working to mark his birthday?

There has been a rethinking at the national level to cut down the number of public holidays as we have too many of them confined mainly to the government and public sector organisations that includes nationalised banks. When these sectors are closed the entire system comes to a grinding halt disrupting the work which ultimately affects common people of this country. This is also crippling our economy to a considerable extent. The fifth Pay Commission had recommended cutting down public holidays and the central government had accepted recommendations as a result of which casual leave given to central government employees were reduced from 12 to 8.

The list of public holidays of a public sector bank for 2014 has shown 25 public holidays and some of these holidays come in a bunch which means they come in between the week at a stretch which employees often club with Saturdays and Sundays. This means even if there are two or three holidays they are clubbed giving the employees a long stretch of holidays. These holidays are also applicable to state government employees and public sector organizations. Come October 2014, banks and government organisations will get bonanza of six public holidays. To add to that twice in the same month they can go on a long stretch of holidays clubbing Saturdays and Sundays to the existing holidays thus bringing the government machinery to a complete halt.

Such situations can be avoided if employees are optional holidays to take leave according to their religious beliefs and requirements rather than give enmasse leave to all the employees. We in India lack the work culture prevalent in many western countries though we blindly follow them in many other spheres. If we continue the present trend we are setting a bad precedent for our young generations t follow. It is often said ‘too much is too bad’ and holidays can be enjoyable only when they don’t come too often.

  

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Comment on this article

  • Edmond Noronha, Kirem-Sharjah

    Thu, Sep 04 2014

    This is one of the best article i read in the recent days. Kudos to the writer.
    "Our country takes great pride in declaring holidays at the of a hat".
    And, again,
    "May be many of them had an additional dish cooked at home and peg or too to overcome the sadness of having lost a literary luminary". Well quoted.

    DisAgree Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • ruchir agarwal, mangalore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    The sudden holiday whether needed or not is a different matter.But the closure of banks too caused lot of convenience .

    DisAgree [1] Agree [11] Reply Report Abuse

  • ozzie, mangalore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    More holidays more lazy generation. Imagine farmers, cow taking holiday?

    DisAgree Agree [28] Reply Report Abuse

  • R.Bhandarkar, M'lore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    See...
    I wrote I and Florine enjoy holidays. Then all my phones started ringing. Therefore this clarification..
    TO WHOmsoeVER IT MAY CONCERN...
    Florine enjoys her holidays in Mexico, Timbaktu, Honululu ...etc..
    I enjoy mine in Sulthan Batthery Backo (Means behind Sulthan Batthery) Andekudru, Yeddapadavu
    etc.....
    Different places...O.k.?
    Otherwise she goes trekking, I at home do some cooking....

    DisAgree [1] Agree [18] Reply Report Abuse

  • JR,

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    WHY THEN GANDHI JAYNTHI IS D HOLIDAY AND WHY NOT GANDHIJI'S DEATH ANNIVERSARY NOT HOLIDAY ?
    HOLIDAY IS TO REMEMBER THE IDEALS.
    HOLIDAY IS FOR CELEBRATION LIKE CHRISTMAS BUT NOT FOR MOURNING.
    IF WE FOLLOW "WORK IS WORSHIP" CULTURE WE CAN PRAY GOD THRU WORK.
    THAT IS REAL MOURNING.
    WE ARE MOURNING ON BEHALF OF URA BUT WE ARE NOT GOING TO IDEALS OF URA WHO WAS AGAINST SUCH CULTURE.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [10] Reply Report Abuse

  • JR,

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    MR. URA HIMSELF PROVED BY HIS COMMENTS ON PM MR.MODI THAT THE AWARD WAS REWARD TO URA BY CONGI'S TO MISGUIDE VOTERS DURING ELECTIONS OTHERWISE SUCH COMMENTS WILL NEVER SUIT HIM AND HE COULD NOT KEEP UP HIS WORDS OF LEAVING THE COUNTRY.
    OUR STATE GOVT. HAS PROVED THE GIVE AND TAKE POLICY OF J.P.AWARDS BY DECLARING HOLIDAYS TO BANKS WITHOUT THINKING THE EFFECT ON INDUSTRY / BUSSINESS IN PARTICULAR AND PUBLIC IN GENERAL.
    WHAT IS WRONG IN CELEBRATING THE DEATH OF URA IN HIS 82ND AGE WITH COMA LIKE SITUATION.
    IT IS RIGHTLY SAID WE HAVE TO MOURN FOR THE HOLIDAY CULTURE WE ARE DEVELOPING IN OUR SOCIETY IN GENERAL AND STATE GOVT. IN PARTICULAR WITHOUT APPLYING MIND.

    DisAgree [5] Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse

  • Devraj Shetty, mangalore/sharjah

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    A thought provoking article by Florine..I enjoyed reading it. The punch line was 'So who actually mourned the death of URA?

    DisAgree [2] Agree [24] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    Only 15th August and 26th January should be public holidays.
    How else can fulfill Modi's dream of Making India No. One ...

    DisAgree [12] Agree [15] Reply Report Abuse

  • R.Bhandarkar, M'lore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    To tell you the truth I and Florine enjoy holidays. I interviewed her on a Holiday,which was however not posted here for reasons I do not know! Is it not Florine?
    Sath Saang Baala!
    Holidays have penetrated into our systems in any case.It requires more than a 'clinical surgery' for sure for cure.

    DisAgree [14] Agree [12] Reply Report Abuse

  • R.Bhandarkar, M'lore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    When Florine only will agree...Whose is this 3 disagree?
    Go take a Holiday all of you!O.K?

    DisAgree [12] Agree [15] Reply Report Abuse

  • William Tauro, Balehonnur /Dubai

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    For an urgent government transaction requiring my physical presence, I flew all the way from Dubai just to find the office being closed. I had to fly back without completing the transaction. What a waste of time and money. Irony is no one cares!

    DisAgree Agree [10] Reply Report Abuse

  • Dev, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    Right Progressive Thinking Article by Florine.
    Holidays need to be Holy-days which should be Optional Holidays for those who practice a particular religion on that day.
    Government work gets stalled & people suffer.
    Let there be National Holidays ONLY.
    No More Hartals & Bandhs which trespass Peoples Right to Earn & Freedom of Movement.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [15] Reply Report Abuse

  • JOHN R LOBO, Kaikamba/Dubai

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    Holidaymania - Credit has to goes to Congress Govt who paved the way since Aug' 15 - 1947 and successers followed the same. Now a days Work is worship is suitable in school books only

    DisAgree [7] Agree [10] Reply Report Abuse

  • Gabriel Vaz, Bangalore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    Putting an end the practice of declaring holidays for various reasons almost at the of a hat is a welcome suggestion.

    But then declaring a holiday as a mark of respect to a renowned and yet controversial writer like Prof U R Ananthamurthy is one thing. But what about this practice of our own elected representatives the most recent case being the Mangalore MLA J R Lobo, an ex-bureaucrat, demanding a holiday for Mother Mary's feast on Sept 8 as per Daijiworld report of 19-08-2014?

    If the penchant for declaring holidays must stop, should we not discourage the practice of declaring holidays for religious festivals barring some important ones that are celebrated all over the world or at least in most parts of the country?

    DisAgree [2] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse

  • Melwyn, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 02 2014

    Requesting the government to a holiday for September 8 also does not augur well. We as Christians must set an example of work culture. Yes, Sep 8 is an important day for us. But, we need not take unwarranted cue from others and bring about pressure to impose another holiday. May better sense prevail!

    DisAgree [4] Agree [34] Reply Report Abuse


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