IN MAURITIUS: On Faith, Pilgrimage and Individual Responsibility
Mauritius, the land of rainbow, a melting-pot of different shades of ethnic flavours, nestled in an exotic, sun-kissed part of the Indian Ocean, an island where temples, mosques, churches and other places of worship keep lining the scenery. This is Mauritius, where people are free to practise their religion, where public holidays are allocated on the occasion of a religious event for each ethnicity composing the Mauritian landscape. The government invests massively in these cultural/religions festivals; millions of rupees are donated to socio-cultural associations, put aside for the festivities, upgrading infrastructure among others. All local councils are also actively involved, forking even more donations, providing scavenging services, placing modules and banners everywhere as well as organising cultural programmes.
Therefore, Mauritians enjoy the full support of the government in the celebrations of their religious festivals, year after year, the point being that religion is part and parcel of our little paradise. Nothing is more beautiful than the vibrancy of the colours, smelling the nice intricate flavours of delicacies, witnessing the flow of the people, absorbed in the devotion of the Almighty and having all Mauritians, irrespective of their backgrounds, participating actively in all celebrations. A real canvas of unity in diversity; which is hard to find in other parts of the world.
However, this stunning canvas faces being ruined during/after the celebrations. Faith implies respect for the Almighty, respect for others but also respect for the environment. Unfortunately, the former is usually overlooked by many, in the wake of the festivities. While the maximum is being undertaken beforehand to ensure cleanliness everywhere, it is another scene afterwards. Numerous rivers become dumping spots, clogged and this seriously affects the creatures which reside in. Even people who go to these quiet spots to relax are bothered by the foul smell of rotting wastes in the aftermath of the festivities. Mauritians are known to be generous and continuously donate food and drinks during holy pilgrimages. But the streets are soon lined up with plastic cups, bottles, left-over food and disposable food containers. The bins are simply disregarded while many people have to endure the sight of some unfortunate few spitting without consideration for others. As regards to respect for others, it has been witnessed in recent years that there has been a slight decline in standards, where in extreme cases, holy pilgrimages are treated as a flirting path, characteristic of romantic movies and it is also not unsurprising to find empty alcoholic cans on the roadsides or stacked in the secrecy of the bushes.
There is where individual responsibility should come in. We are lucky to enjoy the celebration of all festivals in Mauritius and provided with the necessary support. It is our duty to preserve the environment to have consideration for others too. This is what faith is all about, coming deep down from us and trying to be better individuals while making the world an equally better place for everyone.
Eat, Pray and Respect the environment and others!
Comments
Religion and pollution. Are these two linked?
I do not agree to it. Disrespect for the environment is always here, not only at religious festivals.
just go to any public beach any day,you will see the same actions you mentioned.
so, we should not blame religious festivals or socio-cultural groups.
BLAME THE HUMAN SPECIES ONLY.
This is not a blame game. Rather, it is an aim to sensitise people that they should be also thinking about the impact on the environment, during these celebrations, especially since spirituality should be opening up our conscience and make us think twice or even more over the consequences of our action. I agree that pollution takes place on a daily level everywhere, but in my humble opinion, when people are in that mindset of devotion, should they not have more consideration and respect for everything around them?
Dear Bhawna,
...In Mauritius, we DO NOT practice SPIRITUALITY, we practice TRADITION. SPRITUALITY is a very strong word which means a lot of other deep things except what Mauritians practice. So, people just go and pray just because his neighbours are doing so. He just follows the same path. Human beings are followers by default.
...We are all polluting the environment, everyday, 24/7, by driving our car, by using detergents to wash our clothes and dishes, by using and abusing of pesticides, by throwing our old computers and, heed that well, by using the internet !
Yes, we need power to use our laptop, PC or Mobile and to generate this power, heavy oil or bagasse is being used, which is destroying our environment, anyway.Here also, you would agree with me that you are a polluter, Bhawna, like everyone of us.
Roads are being built where it shouldn't be built. Go and have a look at the atrocities being committed on the Terre-Rouge Verdun link road. Km squares of forests are being cut down, right on top of mountains! Tears rolled down my cheeks when I saw these wounds in our nature. The few garbage on the road of pilgrimage is nothing compared to these. Go at creve coeur and have a look and I would be grateful if you can write an article on what you see.
On that note, thanks and catch up!
Fortunately, many youngsters I come across on a daily basis do understand the real meaning of 'spirituality', hence a note of hope for our country. :-)
However, I do agree that pollution is still a massive problem, happening on all levels, everywhere. The point of my article was to highlight the contradiction between faith and responsibility. I've always believed that someone who is trying to attune himself/herself to his/her inner self and the Almighty also needs to be sensitive to what is going on around him/her and do his/her level best to revere the surroundings too. It is a 'give and take' situation. You are presented with a clean canvas, so keep it clean. This is the way it should be. We should try to open our minds up to the beauty around us and not ruin it!
Organized religion is the deadliest illusion that the human brain has produced. The world is currently in the grip of an undeclared religious war! Is the author blind, thoroughly brainwashed or hypnotized by the colored glasses he/she is wearing? Do we need organized religion to love one another? Organized religions divide. And where there is division conflict is inevitable leading to violence. If you belong to an organized religion in Mauritius keep your machete sharpened at all times!
This is another debate altogether :-)
But I will highlight that we need to love and respect each other, whatever our faith.
How can it be another debate altogether when the article deals with
religion and the stupidity of the government subsidizing organized
religions? If a particular group wants to pursue its self created illusions let it do so at its own expense. It becomes 'another debate' when the discomfort of the truth is felt. What the commenters are doing is moving from one branch of the tree to another. I am pointing at the root of this poisonous 'tree of illusion' feeding on the fear of our mortality. If we were all immortal there would be no religions with their stupid morality, tolerance, faith etc etc. We are all born with Goodness in our hearts. Then religion comes along and perverts this Goodness. Then the religion demands to be protected. Religion kills! You will kill to defend your religion. Those who belong to ANY religion are potential killers. Don't be fooled by their meek demeanour.
A just laicism allows religious freedom. The state does not impose religion but rather gives space to religions with a responsibility toward civil society, and therefore it allows these religions to be factors in building up society.
Joseph Ratzinger
Totally agree! Responsibility, respect and tolerance!
Nice piece,
I can't but agree that we do have a serious problem in regards to waste especially after religious festivals. I myself live opposite a river and I can say there are tons of religious waste thrown into the river after every hindu festivities. What i wished to ask is what is the solution to this tradition? I mean elders would throw a fit if you suggested throwing it in the bin ! It's always been the river or the sea , at most hanging garlands on a tree. Of course it used to be all biodegrable in the past , now it's collected in a plastic bag and thrown.
One really easy and practical solution: Composting! :-)
Well written.
We are in fact quite tolerant towards differences of religion, but most probably it's because most of us pay lip service to our respective religion. How many of us are simply not following a given religion because our ancestors did same? How many of us go to the core of our teachings? If that had been so, there wouldn't be that unbridled passion that comes out at every elections, fuelled by.... socio-cultural leaders? As for the subsidies, why is it that eventually taxpayers should finance religious/socio-cultural groups? Why should it cost a lot in order to pray the Almighty? If we are really religious, can't we afford to finance our own temples/mosques/churches/etc?
As for religious festivals, ought it not to have been an opportunity to uplift our spirituality? How do people equate mundane enjoyment accompanied by soiling of the environment, with religion?
It's high time our pundits/maulanas/priests give to their respective followers some simple lessons on civic actions, respect to the environment, respect to our fellow human beings etc.
Some great person, (perhaps it's Gandhi) said: the best way to serve God is to serve mankind.
Eat, and pray as much as you wish, but not at the taxpayers expense. Eliminate all subsidies to religious organizations and to the so-called socio-cultural groups.