Holi Devotion with drugs, alcohol and sex...

 

 Alcohol

"When them man finish 'ooraway dhoor' (pick up the ashes the Phagwah morning after the Holika fire ), they walk around the village and sing chowtaal.. and every house, them a get a bottle of bush rum, dem time was bush rum" the man explained to me as we talked about alcohol and Phagwah.

Some Hindu organisations ask that Phagwah stay free from alcohol, but some devout Hindus and others will celebrate with alcohol.  

The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha has led in trying to make Phagwah and Hindu lives alcohol free

One evening after a chowtaal session, Pandit Rajin Balgobind recounted the story of Raja Parikshit and Kali (the asura, not the goddess). Kali, 'evil' resided in four places (and gold) - the place where there was gambling, where there was 'immoral relations between men and women', the places where there was violence; and the places where there was alcohol . 

Other Pandits have reminded Hindus and others that Phagwah/Holi is as sacred as any other Hindu festival. 

Some Pandits and leaders of Hindus don't bother though because they know that many Hindus enjoy alcohol at Phagwah, and they know that there are Hindus who thrive in the alcohol industry and they hope the ''moderation'  message will be enough even though the moderation can quickly escalate into the violence and destruction. Violence and destruction which are not sacred.

So the mixed messages about alcohol and Sanatan Dharma and Holi/Phagwah  will continue.. 

But alcohol is new to Phagwah, part of the colonising influence where other intoxicants were banned in favour of the alcohol made by the sugar estates .. 

Drugs

One of our favourite chowtaals in worship to Lord Shiva has this line 'Bhang dhatoora beil key paate ho'. Bhang is the drink/food made from cannabis leaves and flowers and used during Holi in India, and during Shiv Ratri. Some of the devotees might smoke cannabis. (ganja). 

India's laws do not criminalise Bhang, but criminalise ganja.

Profressor Binsley Samaroo had said that the Indian Indentured Immigrants brought the ganja seeds in their jahaji bandals to the Caribbean. 

They might also have brought the Dhatoora/Datura plants . Datura is more intoxicating and can be poisonous. It is not on the list of prohibited plants in Guyana but people might have cut them down or not grown them because of the danger.

In 1894, the Indian Hemp Drug Commission presented their comprehensive report on the use of cannabis in 'British India'. The report  concluded that India should not ban cannabi but do as they do with alcohol have taxes and so.  

The Commission reported the mixed views about ganja use and the comparisons with alcohol use.  

There is some story I heard that in British Guiana, the Hindu workers would have the leaves of some narcotic drying during Vasant, after the planting of holika, and they would smoke this and sing chowtaals.. and maybe when ganja was banned in the early 1900s, bush rum and other alcohol were used.

I can find no reference to this story apart from my fuzzy memory of old men talking.

In July 2022, one of the government representatives in INdia created some jhanjhat when he suggested to "replace liquor with bhang and ganja". 

The man felt that bhang and ganja use does not create the destruction that alcohol does. 

One of the men in the chowtaal gole asked me if I don't realise in many of the Bollywood Phagwah/Holi scenes.. the men (and now maybe the women too) are drinking alcohol.

 However, it seems that the intention is in some of the old film songs though  is about bhang...

Sex

Sex is also in some of the  popular songs. 

Heck, Rang Barse is now as much a part of Phagwah as is abeer and so. Bhang might be there as we all sing with Amitabh Bachan..

But well, you know.. the man is singing and playing Phagwah with his sweet woman while his wife is watching on. 

And the lyrics got meaning like "The beauty's pal slept on it (a jasmine bed), as her husband saw" ..

And as Bollywood used to show sexual harassment as 'love' ,  there are reports of sexual assault during the Holi/Phagwah season.

So yep.. Sex and Phagwah.. 

This year I see the translation of one my favourite Bartaals.." Chalo piya soi rahi akhiyaa alasaan vaarihaan"  This song has come down through generations.. the translation  goes like this..

"Come beloved,let's sleep, my eyes are feeling sleepy, oh yes
On a red bed is a golden embroidered mattress,
On top of that a bed sheet is spread, oh yes
On the bed I have sprayed perfume,
And sprinkled Ganges water, oh yes
Put your feet on the bed very slowly,
Or my elders sister-in-law will awaken, oh yes
Play with me the game of passion,
I am sold to you completely, my beloved , oh yes"

 

Of course  this might be in that intense Bhakti/Sufi tradition  where the beloved is 'God' and the passion might be the devotion and love and so .  I don't know the language enough to understand if there is gender of the one laying the bed and the beloved.

One of the men I sing chowtaal with said nah.. he not singing about adultery, he rather sing about bhang and datura...  I sing about all ..

Worship, Devotion and Gratitude

Some Pandits reminded Hindus that Phagwah is connected to the devotion of Prahalad for Lord Vishnu (done without bhang or datura or alcohol or sex).

I like the story of Prahalad, standing up to his father. The Hindu texts are amazing.. with all their supposedly contradictory stories. 

We are told to worship father and mother before God, but in this story, when the father says he is God, the son Prahalad stands up to him, disobeys his father, does not worship him.

Some children at a Hindu youth camp had asked about what can they do when their fathers send them to buy alcohol.  

In Guyana, many shops sell alcohol to children without fear of any charges or punishment.

The facilitator told them to say no. It was not Phagwah time so we forgot to bring up the Prahalad story. 

Other Pandits reminded Hindus  that this time for farming societies is for gratitude for the harvest, (hola means grain).  

And so Phagwah, like every day , should be a time for gratitude for all blessings. 

 

 Featured Image derived from one by Markus Spiske on Unsplash